Sketchworks » Online Marketing

How to Create an Effective Online Advertising Strategy

Mark — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 03:39:48 +0000

These days, any business can easily launch an online advertising campaign. But it takes skill and strategy for it to be effective. It involves thinking strategically of how to establish a true connection with the most relevant members of your audience and meeting their needs at precisely the right time. This may seem like a fairly easy thing to do, but if not done properly, you could end up wasting a lot of time and money. Here are some critical tips you should focus on to ensure that you get the most out of your next online advertising campaign.

Choose the Right Communication Channel

When deciding on where your ads will be placed, it’s important to choose an online communications medium that allows you to define a specific demographic or profile for your targeted viewers. Social networking websites, web communities, and news sites are some of the best channels to place your ads. These sites are high in traffic, offer a broad demographic of users, and allow the most flexibility when defining your audience.

Get Picky About Your Audience

If you’re looking to get the best return on your investment, you must be very specific about the types of users who will see your ads. Sure you want your ads to be seen by as many internet users as possible but it means nothing if most of them have no need or interest in what you’re offering. The idea is to reach the most qualified and relevant members of your audience. Not only will it bring in more quality leads, but will also be easier on your wallet.

Speak Your Audience’s Language

Too many times companies spend big money on online ads that don’t connect with the their viewers. Your campaign must be tailored with your target audience in mind. If you are advertising new computer software, your ad copy should include words related to that industry.

Monitor the Progress of Your Campaign

There may be times when your online ad campaign may not be as successful as you’d hoped. But it’s important that you monitor your online campaigns closely and take note of factors that influence their success or failure. This data will help you understand what improvements can be made on future campaigns.

5 Reasons to Invest in Social Media Marketing

Mark — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 17:06:48 +0000

So why should you bother to explore social media as a marketing channel for your website or business? After all, you could stick to link exchanges, search advertising or the purchase of banner and editorial ads on sites relevant to your target audience. But social media offers many benefits that you just can’t get through other communications channels.

Here are some reasons why you should consider using social media:

1. It’s natural.

Its a natural way to increase traffic to your website or business. It offers spontaneous exposure for your company’s brand to large groups of people from all over the world. This differs from paid advertising which can be expensive and risky.

2. It can increase your sales and leads.

Once successfully mastered, social communities can be a great source of web traffic on top of any traffic you are already receiving from search engines.

3. It offers more control.

While you can’t easily increase your search engine traffic, social media traffic can be very easily controlled through strategic marketing.

4. It’s lower in cost and yields a higher return.

It’s free to sign up and to maintain an account on social media sites and the only costs involved is your time. It would take you thousands of dollars to invest in other online advertising channels, but social media can give you that for free.

5. It works well with other marketing efforts.

Social media is flexible. It can and will fit perfectly into any advertising campaign targeting other websites or search engines.

Very frequently, business owners don’t realize the potential of social media sites. But it may be just what your business needs to get to the next level.

Branding is Not Just a Logo

Mark — Wed, 13 May 2009 14:01:56 +0000

Many companies, especially start-ups, tend to misunderstand what true branding really is. A lot of companies think that building a strong brand is simply designing a logo. But while logo design can be a very significant part of the branding process, it’s not at all that simple. While the overall branding of a company can include a logo, it can encompass a number of other things like a symbol, color combinations, or even design features. Branding is a very strategic and involved procedure used to separate a company from its competitors, build its reputation, and create or improve the “personality” for your business through a distinct connection with customers.

If done right, branding can greatly contribute to the future success of your business, offering benefits that you would’ve never imagined.

Recognition

A strong brand is generally regarded as one that people will recognize, often even if they do not know about the company or its products or services. For example, The Nike brand name is known throughout the world, people can identify the name and logo even if they’ve never bought any of their products.

Image of Quality

A strong brand projects higher quality products and services. It is often true that if you show a person two identical products, with only one of which is branded; they will believe that the branded item is of higher quality.

Projects Experience

An effective brand allows your company to appear to be well-established and extremely experienced within your industry. A lot of times, your company would appear to be more reliable and trustworthy than an unbranded business.

Multiple Products

If your brand is successful, it allows you to offer new products and services. You can literally put your brand name on new products and customers will be more likely to buy it. For example, Sony sells televisions, music equipment, consoles, camcorders, DVD players, video players, and more all under the Sony brand name.

As you may have realized, investing in a great branding initiative will help you exponentially grow your product or services and offer benefits that will take your business to heights you never thought were possible.