| ffiliate Marketing | | | | exit points, which have the effect of making the |
| Merchant products are promoted on 3rd party | | | | money spent on sending the client to the site |
| (affiliate) websites. When visitors click through from | | | | redundant. |
| the affiliate site to the merchant site and make a | | | | • Affiliate Marketing - These days may clients |
| purchase then an agreed fee is paid to the affiliate. | | | | are using companies such as Tradedoubler and Miva |
| If you advertise your products online, affiliate | | | | to drive traffic to their site. However, the number of |
| marketing is an efficient way to generate additional | | | | times I have seen companies use the extra |
| business. It is a cost effective form of advertising | | | | functionality such as product feeds that these |
| for merchants, and a simple way for affiliates to earn | | | | Affiliate Marketing companies provide, and then under |
| revenue from their website. | | | | utilise them is staggering. By again targeting the users |
| B - Banner Advertising | | | | directly to the product/service they are searching for |
| Banner advertising generally has a low response rate, | | | | you are reducing the chances of the customer |
| often yielding about 2 visitors per thousand banner | | | | leaving the site before he/she has evenviewed your |
| impressions. Despite the relatively poor value of | | | | product. |
| banners for driving traffic, banner advertising can be | | | | G - Gift Vouchers |
| particular useful in certain circumstances such as | | | | Gift vouchers can be a good way of influencing users |
| raising brand awareness. | | | | to your site to buy a product/service. Not only can |
| C - Categorise | | | | this be a good way of adding conversions, it can |
| Structuring your site well can be worth its weight in | | | | increase your customer loyalty as well. |
| gold, not just to users of your site, but also to | | | | H - High earners vs Low returners |
| search engines. A well structured site in terms of | | | | Differentiating what products/services offer the |
| infrastructure (i.e. directory structure, page naming | | | | highest return on investment is often one of the |
| convention) will not only tell your visitor what the | | | | best ways of increasing your bottom line, and as a |
| page is about quickly, but also provide the search | | | | result your return on investment (ROI). This may |
| engines with an idea of what the page is about | | | | sound like common sense, however many companies |
| before it is indexed. | | | | overlook this, and continue offering products or |
| D - Differentiation | | | | services that never make any positive ROI. |
| A unique Marketing Campaign that allows a company | | | | The same applies to search engine marketing as a |
| and/or its products and services to stand out from | | | | whole. For example, If you have a pay-per-click |
| its competitors. Having a niche product or service | | | | campaign, and are using very generic terms, you may |
| makes the job of marketing your product or service | | | | find by tweaking the terms, and making these more |
| much easier. If your service is not unique, it is often | | | | specific, you decrease the amount you are spending |
| possible to identify a “unique selling | | | | on your PPC campaign, and increase your ROI as a |
| point” of your product or service. | | | | result. |
| Focus on your unique selling points, those products or | | | | I - Informative |
| services that differentiate you from your | | | | Having a site that is informative, interesting and |
| competitors, and ensure you portray these to your | | | | unique is one of the best ways of keeping visitors |
| potential customers. | | | | coming back to your site, whether they be human or |
| There are many aspects that can make you similar | | | | robots. Visitor loyalty is invaluable. This can be |
| to your competitors, so ensure your unique selling | | | | achieved via a number of ways whether it be a niche |
| point is clear to your customers. This can make a | | | | product, well written technical articles, your |
| significant difference between success and failure. | | | | companies own PR or even just something that is |
| E – E-Mail Marketing | | | | just unique, funny or controversial. |
| Using e-mail as a means of communicating commercial | | | | J - Just keep it simple |
| messages to an audience (Direct Marketing) can be a | | | | Over complicating the conversion process is often |
| profitable addition to your marketing strategy. | | | | the biggest barrier to obtaining a successful sale. |
| This could take many forms: | | | | Many companies place barriers in the way, giving |
| • Targeting your existing client base with | | | | customers more reasons to pull out of a sale before |
| additional services or products. | | | | completion, whether it is up-selling, over zealous data |
| • Targeting your existing client base with the | | | | capture, or an inaccessible website. |
| purpose of enhancing the relationship of a client with | | | | A recent client’s buying process involved 10 |
| its current or old customers and to encourage | | | | clicks from site entry to sale completion. By reducing |
| customer loyalty and repeat business. | | | | the number of clicks required to complete the sale |
| • Targeting your existing client base with the | | | | from 10 to 6, sales increased by 400%. This involved |
| purpose of selling 3rd party products for a fee. | | | | streamlining the buying process, ensuring that the |
| • Purchasing a list of client email addresses | | | | customer completed in as little time as possible. |
| for the purpose of marketing your products to a | | | | In the modern era, time is money. Therefore time |
| new client audience. | | | | can be expensive so keep the time required to make |
| • Adding your advertisements to e-mails sent | | | | a purchase to a minimum. |
| by other companies to their client base and | | | | K - Keywords |
| marketing your products to a new audience. | | | | Research thoroughly the keywords that your |
| Direct marketing is popular with companies online as it | | | | website can realistically be ranked for. If you have a |
| is: | | | | new website in a highly competitive market then |
| LOW COST : Compared to direct mailing or printed | | | | ranking naturally for the major terms will be close to |
| newsletters the costs are negligible. The advertiser | | | | impossible, so consider less competitive and more |
| does not need to pay for production, paper, printing | | | | targeted terms. |
| or postage. | | | | Higher levels of visitors do not necessarily mean an |
| IMMEDIATE : It is instant, as opposed to a mailed | | | | increase in sales. A more focused set of keywords |
| advertisement, an e-mail arrives in a few seconds or | | | | may mean lower traffic but the quality of the traffic |
| minutes. | | | | can lead to a better ROI. |
| TRACKABLE : It is easy to track. An advertiser can | | | | L - Landing Pages |
| track hits, conversions and rise in sales. Real-time. | | | | This is another asset of search engine marketers |
| FAR REACHING: Direct marketing can reach | | | | that is either over-optimised for search engines or |
| substantial numbers of e-mail subscribers who have | | | | under-utilised for visitors. Both can have a detrimental |
| opted-in (consented) to receive e-mail | | | | effect on sales conversions and ultimately your ROI. |
| communications on subjects of interest to them. | | | | If you are using landing pages for any of your online |
| F – Focus | | | | advertising/marketing, it is highly advisable to keep |
| Keep it relevant! | | | | these landing pages tailored to their requirement. You |
| There is no point spending hundreds or thousands of | | | | will find that by sending potential customers directly |
| pounds on advertising on your site, and then sending | | | | to the area/product they are looking for, you will |
| a potential customer to a non-related "landing page". | | | | significantly increase your sales as a result, and |
| There are two scenarios as regards online marketing | | | | ultimately your ROI. |
| where this is especially true, namely | | | | M - Mod Rewrite |
| • PPC advertising - Send your customers | | | | A Mod Rewrite engine is a piece of web server |
| through to a targeted page. Many companies send | | | | software used to modify URLs, for the purpose of |
| clients through to the homepage, or worse, a non | | | | making your dynamic URLs more user friendly to |
| related page to what the term is. By sending | | | | customers and search engines. |
| potential customers through to a relevant page, you | | | | A rewritten URL is easier to use if it is short but |
| reduce the number of clicks required to find the | | | | descriptive. The URL should have some text |
| product, at the same time reducing the number of | | | | describing the content, but should not be too long. |