3 Essential Ingredients for Online Marketing Success
#1 – Relationships
In the early days of Internet marketing it was possible to be succeed with little or no relationship with your customers.
It’s interesting that the ability to sell products and services online without a direct relationship with the buyer is what led to the practice of spamming, which of course is not tolerated at all today.
Whether you are marketing online or offline, your success is dramatically enhanced if you have previously earned the trust of your community. Social media is obviously a significant component for accomplishing this online.
The more you integrate with your community, the better you will be able to relate to them. It starts with being likeable. The next step is to be helpful by sharing valuable content.
#2 – Content Marketing
Content marketing is a process of sharing valuable information with your community that helps them to solve many of their own problems. It’s not intended to replace your professional services, but to illuminate your capabilities.
The most common concern is giving away so much that your prospects don’t need to hire you. That is indeed possible in some situations, but it’s a risk you have to take in order to expand your circle of influence.
The true intent is to make your prospects better buyers of your products and services. You are not selling – just creating alignment with those you can best serve. This is why the best form of content marketing is honest and authentic. Done properly, it humanizes your business, which thereby enhances its trustworthiness.
Your content marketing is somewhat like talk radio – and you are the host. You are sharing useful information in a conversational manner with a little entertainment that keeps the listener engaged.
#3 – Direct Response Marketing
To this point I’ve used the word process more than once. Online marketing is indeed a process – and one that shouldn’t be rushed. You wouldn’t make a marriage proposal on the first date would you?
Once you have done the work, you can and should make a proposal with direct response marketing. If you have ever written a sales letter or designed a postcard campaign to bring in more leads, then you understand the art of direct response marketing.
Direct response marketing is copywriting that serves to elicit an action, such as picking up the phone to call your office, purchasing your product online, or visiting a landing page on your website.
You have to consistently move your community to act in some way, because every time you get your community to take action, it predisposes them to doing it again.
There is definitely an art to making these 3 elements work to your advantage, but with practice the results can be amazing.
You can learn more about content marketing here, and from the following recent articles.
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Personal vs Business Social Media Accounts
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