With the internet now commanding over 12 hours a week on average, and over 20% of people’s total media consumption, it’s logical for marketers to work out how they can reach customers while they are on the internet. Strategies fall broadly into three areas:
1. Come up in search engine searches
Getting customers while they are actively looking for your products and services is a no brainer.
• Google Adwords – this is a paid way to come up on page one. You don’t pay for your ad to be shown, but you do pay if they click on it. There is a significantly lower click through rates for these ads on the right than on natural results on the left, but you can’t beat a guaranteed page one position on Google. Sing out if you need help to set up or manage adwords accounts. Many people find it complicated and don’t understand how to use categories, groups and alter ad text to improve click through.
• Search engine optimisation or seo. This involves reworking the text on your pages, link building and updating website structure to add keyword-rich landing pages so you come up on the left
• Directories e.g. Yellow Pages online. Of course this means they will see your competitors too.
2. Get in their inbox
• E-newsletter – either opted in from you, or insert content in another one they already subscribe to
• Viral mail or funny video forwarded by friends – less common these days
• Purchase e-database (one that doesn’t contravene Privacy Act). There are a number that send customised emails to your choice of demographics for a fee, with guaranteed click through rates of 25%. We also have access to similar mobile phone databases.
3.Come up on sites they are visiting
• e.g. Facebook wall (30% of time on internet is spent on social networking sites – Facebook is #1 followed by You Tube and Twitter in NZ), daily newspapers (editorial or online banner), Trade Me (normal listings work better than display ads in our experience), stuff.co.nz (locally press.co.nz), real-estate.co.nz or even more targeted, car accessories etc… At Alexanders, we can produce a report for your target market showing exactly the most visited sites and which ones allow advertising. Then we can arrange a campaign on multiple sites that you can test to see which one performs best for next time.
Note that in NZ, 21% of media time is spent on the internet, and only 5% of media time on the newspaper. We suggest moving some of your traditional newspaper spend to online and would love to help you work out a strategy for this part of your budget (we do traditional advertising too so can give a balanced opinion).
I personally detest pop ups; can’t imagine who would click on those! If you are interested in quality online marketing that is a logical and intelligent way to attract traffic to your site, have a look at our internet marketing services. Happy to give suggestions (we normally work with New Zealand companies with head offices in Christchurch or the South Island).
Tags: Internet Marketing
