Home | Internet Marketing


Six Essential Steps to Internet Marketing Success.

By: Dan Jeremiah

Six Essential Steps to Internet Marketing Success.
(Reviewed by: Sam Nayad)

Running any internet business without a sound marketing plan is like trying to cook without any heat
source. The ingredients are in place, prepared and cut to perfection, the recipe is precise and
clearly defined, the utensils lined up in perfect order, - but no result.

While the principles here apply to any marketing plans, this article makes special reference to internet marketing plans.

Why is internet marketing so essential?

A well-planned and executed internet marketing strategy is a prime mover for any business. Business
success stems from:

1. Having customers
2. creating appropriate marketing plans
3. promoting your service or product
4. expanding your sales volume
5. retaining your customers
6. growing your customer base.

Brief overview of internet marketing essentials.

1. In internet marketing the first act is to discover where your market is.

A profitable market is created when you identify underserved customers and offer
them products they want or need. Underserved customers may be found by

* regions,

* those overlooked by major suppliers, creating services or

* products that address specific problems or concerns or identifying needs that have not been suitably
attended to.

2. Stand out from the crowd:

This doesn't imply you have to be the best at everything [though it certainly won't
hurt]. But in your internet marketing strategy you do need to have a USP [Unique Selling Point] in at least one market. Create and emphasize a unique aspect of your product or service that isn't available in
a competitor's offering. Your USP could be in the products's features, in your delivery
methods, in pre and post sales follow-up or in customer interaction strategies.
Be different and avoid the lemming effect. In internet marketing for example,
offering free ebooks has become an over-applied enticement with questionable value.
Find out if there really is a want for yet another ebook. If your ebook has a USP, it
may bring dividends. As just another generic 'free gift' it fails to excite, incite or
generate any desired action.

3. Inciting customer action:

Does just having a USP, a right market and a great product guarantee a sale? Not
necessarily. Potential customers are bombarded with a stream of advertising
messages. They have too many options, too many substitute products and too many
slick marketers chasing their dollars. You need to apply well thought out intellectual,
logical and and emotional motivation The most effective is in developing a
relationship with your intended customers.

4. Developing a relationship.

In one word - communication. Advertisements alone are not communication, though
it certainly helps create awareness and brand identity. But in applying this particular
strategy, communication is designed to build a relationship where trust, loyalty, and
even a certain amount of 'fondness' or familiarity is built between seller and customer.
The primary goal is to create an emotional bond, so most decisions to buy have an
emotional element and is not driven by intellect or logic alone.

5. Developing your market size:

Having mastered the art of the psychology of buyers, market size is crucial to
continued business growth. Large organizations or established marketers don't have a
problem in finding customers, as they have access to generous advertising budgets,
and have created strong brand awareness. Who doesn't know McDonalds for burgers;
Dell for computers, or Sony for audio and video products?
So how do you expand your market? Direct Mail has limited value as most
recipients toss them into the garbage bins. A very few file them away for a possible
future source reference. Blasting email ads invites extensive use if the delete key -
even easier than tossing into the garbage pile.
Some effective methods may be free samples, 'demo ' products, regular newsletters
about the business/service and its USP, Choice location or easy access.
Methods differ between brick-and-mortar businesses and internet businesses, but the
underlying principles are the same.

6. Closing the deal:

Until this happens, nothing else has any value. For a deal to be closed, a prospective
buyer needs to:

* Be attracted to the product or service

* Be convinced the product or service serves their specific need or solves a particular
problem.

* Have no doubts about the product's quality, ability and applicability

* Have a convenient and reliable and secure way to pay for and take delivery of the
product or service

* Have a guarantee on the product's performance and recourse to appropriate action
should the product or service fail to deliver as promised.

Internet Marketing strategies need a great deal of creativity and time. Well thought-out and
implemented internet marketing strategies however, offers returns many times higher than the effort invested.

Copyright Dan Jeremiah: www.vmsbonline.com This article may be reproduced with the all content and links included without any editing.

Article Source: http://www.articlesinsight.com

You have access to much more information on a variety of topics, including internet businesses at www.vmsbonline.com At the site, click on the button that references the topic you are interested in. Each topic offers about 20 pages of information, including links to resources and further references. While you're there, check out the current free download if it will be of use to you. Dan is a writer, researcher and trainer who helps maintain vmsb as an internet resources site. The site fills a useful function by collating information that is scattered all over the net onto one integrated location. His articles are usually reviewed by experts in that particular field, before publication.

Please Rate this Article

Not yet Rated

Click the XML Icon Above to Receive Internet Marketing Articles Via RSS!
Additional Articles From - Home | Internet Marketing
Sign Up for a free account or learn more.
Member Login
Submit Articles
Top Authors
Most Popular Articles
Submission Guidelines
Article RSS Feeds
New Stuff
About Us
Site Blog
Links
Link to Us
Contact Us
Privacy Policy
Terms of Service
Sitemap
articlesinsight.com » Copyright © 2006
Links | Terms of Service | Submission Guidelines | Contact Us | Andy Hudson | Privacy Policy | About Us

Powered by Article Dashboard