Internet marketing is the process of using the internet to market yourself, your products and your services using the internet.

Like all marketing, the purpose is to increase exposure and sales. The only difference is the medium, or tools you use to achieve these objectives.

5 of the most common ways to increase your sales and exposure using the internet are:

1. To have your website show up when people search your products and services in Google
2. To create a Facebook page
3. To have a Google places account
4. To have a LinkedIn account
5. To send your prospects and current customers an email newsletter

3 reasons internet marketing is different than traditional marketing.

1. It is a lot more cost effective. There aren’t flyers to print, TV ads to produce, and glossy ads to produce. Since the internet is an intangible way to connect with people, the production costs can be much lower.

2. Interactivity. Many types of marketing are a two way dialogue. Where consumers can give feedback on your offerings and respond directly to your messages. While this can be challenging when faced with less than positive feedback, it is beneficial to actively engage the consumer.

3. Measurable. Advances in technology allow just about every online marketing activity to be tracked and measured in a way that traditional media cannot. This is beneficial as it tracks your return on investment

3 reasons you should seriously consider implementing internet marketing:

1. Your competitors already have. If you are like most people, Google is the first place you go for information. Chances are, at least some of your competitors are on the first page of results and are getting the resulting business from that exposure.

2. It’s more effective. Sending out mail outs or doing print or radio advertisements that connect with consumers when they aren’t necessarily in the market for what you’re offering leaves room for them to ignore your message. However, if your company is present when consumers are actively searching for your products and services, they are more likely to contact you, as they are already in the buying or pre buying mindset.

3. It produces results you can measure. Instead of hoping that a marketing activity will work, you will know for sure. This gives you more power to direct your resources to areas that are providing a return on your investment.

Summary: The benefits of internet marketing are: decreased marketing cost, improved ROI and the opportunities for increased business.

How do I start Internet Marketing?

The first thing to do is meet with an internet marketing professional that can discuss your needs, goals and budget. Make sure that you research their track record though, as the internet marketing industry is unregulated, you should base your choice of provider on references and proven results.

“It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is the most adaptable to change.” Charles Darwin

How my discovery into Yellow Book Internet internet marketing practices could save you thousands of dollars.

In this short but informative video learn why it doesn’t pay to buy Internet Marketing from a provider better known for their yellow pages:

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The New Media Group is a Calgary based website design and Internet Marketing firm that specializes in serving small and medium size businesses within the real estate & construction industries. Our services include website design, internet marketing and graphic design.

A short video on how to increase your Calgary business’ bottom line by 10-20% by using Internet Marketing

As you probably already know, it’s much easier to get a satisfied client to buy again then getting a brand new customer to purchase from you.

Although this is common knowledge, it’s so surprising to me how many of my Calgary based clients don’t internet market to their existing customers consistently. A really easy and affordable way to do this is through email marketing. By capturing and using your customer’s email addresses to stay in contact with them, you accomplish several important goals.

1. The first and foremost is that they don’t forget about you- It’s not your customer’s job to remember you – it’s yours. Often the repeat sales cycle can take years to fulfill, and in that time they would have no doubt been made aware of your competitors in some way or another.

2. The second goal is additional sales. Often there are peripheral products and services that you offer that your customer may not be aware of. Whether it’s ongoing maintenance or accessories or cleaning products for your core offering, imagine if you could increase these peripheral sales by 10%-20% – what would that do for your business.

The major obstacle for many companies is that their customer’s contact information is all stored in paper files, and it would be an endeavor to convert this information into some kind of digital format.

Despite the perceived magnitude of a task like this, the benefits are ongoing. Once you have a digital list, you can leverage it as much as once a month to contact your customers via email or internet marketing.

Now, a lot of the feedback I get is that everyone gets a lot of spam mail already, and no one wants to be the company that comes off as that pushy, aggressive company.

Well you don’t have to. There is a wrong and a right way to email market and the key is to get your customers to open your emails.

If you’re always asking your customers to buy something from you, surely they will get sick of your emails and view them as annoying, which wont increase your sales or your company’s reputation at all. The best way to have your customers happily receive email from you is to deliver value.

What are common problems your customers have? What are they concerned with? If you speak to solve their issues, you will position yourself as a helpful expert- someone they can trust. In return, you will stay present in their memory when they are ready to buy again. Also, it positions you so sending out the occasional sales pitch won’t annoy them.

Probably the best part about email or internet marketing is that you can track your success very easily using built in statistics through the email marketing software- so you can tweak your messages accordingly. Two very popular programs are Constant Contact and Aweber- both of which cost under $40 a month.

We are a Calgary based Internet Marketing and Website Design Firm. If you have any questions about how to use email and internet marketing to help you increase your Calgary business’ sales, please don’t hesitate to contact us using the form below.

A short but informative video on Internet Marketing.

Sources:

• 85% internet usage in AB & BC- Statistics Canada http://www.statcan.gc.ca/daily-quotidien/100510/dq100510a-eng.htm
• Consumers Subjected to 5000 messages a day- Book, Fascinate by Sally Hogshead, her website can be found at-http://sallyhogshead.com/
• Internet Usage surpassing tv –http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/technology/canadians-internet-use-exceeds-tv-time/article1508091/
• Internet surpasses tv as the most essential media- http://www.marketingcharts.com/television/internet-surpasses-tv-as-most-essential-media-12499/?utm_campaign=rssfeed&utm_source=mc&utm_medium=textlink

The three major brands discussed here are: American Express, Mountain Dew & Papa Johns pizza: Original Articles here: http://www.usatoday.com/money/advertising/2010-05-10-socialonly10_ST_N.htm

and http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/technology/internet-use-in-canada-continues-to-grow-statscan/article1563383/

Find out how this local drywalling company was getting sabotaged online, and learn how to avoid or manage this situation if it happens to you!

I was looking at http://maps.google.com/ the other day searching for a contractor, when I found this local drywalling firm’s listing. The listing said there were 2 reviews which I clicked on. They are displayed below:
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Rip off artists ‎‎

By jensinclair47 – Oct 30, 2007 Rip off artists and unprofessional!!!. I highley recommend that you look around and price out contractors before you choose one. Do NOT use ******* stucco, you can get a much better price somewhere else and better service.‎ maps.google.com 3 out of 3 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful? Yes – No – Flag as inappropriate

Do not Use ! By BurN3D – May 20, 2009 Worst drywall & taping forever, and they backcharge a lots, be carefull dont use ********* if you dont want to be screwed.‎ maps.google.com 3 out of 4 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful? Yes – No – Flag as inappropriate

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Obviously, this is a bad situation, and it unfortunately could happen to you without you even being aware of it. Lucky for them, I knew an individual at this company and I called and informed them of the situation so they could manage it… but what if I hadn’t?

There are now literally hundreds of websites out there that offer the public the ability to review your business. In most cases you will never know about the review or take the steps to address it, unless you check the Internet regularly by “googling” your company name.

Make sure there aren’t any bad or bogus reviews about your company that could potentially sabotage the hard work you have put in to build and maintain a good reputation. If there are, try to contact the individual to rectify their concerns.

As there is no way to remove the reviews yourself, you either have to ask the complainer to remove the posting, or ask happy clients to review your company in order to balance out the reviews your company is getting.

Along with http://maps.google.com/ Yelp is also a popular peer review website: http://www.yelp.ca/calgary

Not as harmful, but still prevalent are websites such as:

• http://thiscity.com/
• http://www.foundlocally.com/

Known in the online world as “directory” sites, they will list your company information without your consent or knowledge. This is great additional exposure as long as their information is accurate and complete- check to make sure that your phone number and address is correct, and your website address is included.

In summary, managing your online reputation just got a lot more time consuming and complicated, but if you want to ensure a squeaky clean online image, make sure you do these checks at least once quarterly.

For more information about online directory sites, peer review sites, placement in google or internet marketing please feel free to call 403 614 6708.

04. 09.10
Exposure to online advertising is fundamentally changing the way consumers shop, according to research from Yahoo! and comScore, Inc.

The study, which examined the impact of search and display advertising on in-store sales for five major retailers, showed that consumers exposed to online advertising tend to research or ‘pre-shop’ online prior to purchase, and this behavior ultimately leads to increased in-store sales. These highly-engaged ‘pre-shoppers’ spend an average of 41 percent more in-store when compared to consumers not exposed to online advertising.

“Although recent research cites 89 percent* of consumers shop for information about products online, less than 7 percent** of retail sales actually take place online,” said Amy Vener, Senior Director of Retail Category at Yahoo! “This means retailers have a prime opportunity to engage this audience of ‘pre-shoppers’ through online advertising to capture incremental sales in-store.”

Source: ComScore, Inc.

03.22.10

5 easy ways to increase sales and decrease expenses: Spring Newsletter:

With the economy slowly rebounding, many small business owners are looking for inexpensive and effective ways to improve the bottom line. Here are a few basic pointers to get your week started off right.

1. Keep in touch:

As I heard one business coach say, if you haven’t been in touch with your customers in 90 or 120 days, they are not your customers. Make sure to stay in regular touch with your past customers. It will make them feel like they are important to you, and you will increase your odds of getting repeat business.

2. Spread your expertise:

You are an expert in your industry, why not use the results of your years of experience to position yourself as an expert in your field? Spreading the word to colleagues, clients and friends is a great way to keep in the forefront of their minds when they are ready to buy. Start a blog where you can write brief articles on “How To” or join an industry website as a contributor -these are all inexpensive and easy ways to soft sell your services.

3. Promote, Promote, Promote:

Countless studies have shown that companies who advertise/promote during an economic downturn are more likely to be remembered than those who don’t. Try free or inexpensive promotions such as email newsletters, starting a Facebook fan page, going to networking meetings or distributing mailers for a few cents each.

4. Loyalty:

It seems you can’t go anywhere these days without being asked if you have a loyalty card. Whether it’s M&M meats, Petro Canada, Safeway or Shoppers Drug Mart, these successful companies know the value of rewarding repeat customers. Find a way to do the same; have a contest, send thank you cards, or offer pricing discounts. It’s much easier to maintain clients you already have than getting new ones.

5. Measure the results:

The most important and most neglected part of marketing is by far the review. Reviewing and measuring your efforts is critical to know what works and what doesn’t. It’s the only way to identify and eliminate those activities that are simply a waste of time and money, and make every dollar count.

We now offer The Marketing Measuring Stick- a service that will monitor all your promotional activities and report to you which ones work, and which ones don’t. Why leave it to guesswork when you could know for sure what activities are costing you money, and which are making you money?

Click here to learn more about The Marketing Measuring Stick