The justification for prioritizing online marketing is simple: over 80% of enterprise customers looking for a product or service start their search on a search engine. Nearly ALL of those customers use Google to conduct their search. So why not throw your entire budget into search engine optimization (focusing on Google) and into Pay-per-click (focusing primarily on AdWords)?
Winning the online prospects isn’t as simple as what we call “findability”. While that’s highly important, there are some critical aspects of being findable:
1. WHERE you’re found (your site, blog, article sites, etc.)
2. WHAT is found (trends/insights, articles, press releases)
3. WHEN you’re found (curiosity, research, purchase intent)
4. WHO finds you (decision-maker, user, admin)
5. HOW you’re perceived once you are found
Because findability is so important, the two main strategies in this arena plus some suggested quantifiable deliverables include
Search Engine Optimization (SEO): developing backlinks, 100 per month minimum, as well as improving the quality of those links is one key component of SEO. The other part of successful SEO is dynamic content generation. You should expect to constantly improve your current movement in Alexa Ranking (though this is NOT the be all, end all sign of success or failure in SEO). Most importantly, it is wise to focus efforts on best-performing key phrases from a CONVERSION stand point. Are the customers who find you in the natural results buying/contacting from the current key phrase initiatives? That's what we want to see.
Search Engine Marketing (SEM) also known as Pay-per-click: Quite possibly your best strategy, pound-for-pound in your entire online marketing strategy. Through PPC, you have the most control, the most agility and the most data to work with. Metrics here are simple: increase conversions by increasing qualified impressions and click-through-rates; decrease cost per conversion incrementally month over month; introduce cross promotional targeting with other marketing initiatives and specific location targeting with relevant landing pages to create the right information and feel for your customers, depending on their needs and segmentation.
Lots more to come - but findability through search engines is an important place to start.
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