Internet Marketing Online in a Web 2.0 World

Internet Marketing Online in a Web 2.0 World (2)

| 6/09/2007

by Jake Challenor

Public Relations (PR) is often the backbone to a well crafted marketing strategy. PR is the human element that reaches beyond traditional advertising and marketing activities to establish and foster that ‘brand connection’ – but traditional approaches no longer gets maximum results.

Like it or not (and you’re better off loving it) we’ve now entered a Web 2.0 world – and Australian organisations, big and small, need to re address their entire online business strategy. For the purpose of this blog, Australian enterprise must re-think their entire marketing mix if they’re serious about surviving (and thriving) in this new domain-crazy world.

Fact - your customers now spend more time online than they do with traditional media. This reflects a huge shift in society. Clear and simple, online marketing is where it’s at.

Once upon a time a PR professional would fax a press release to a journalist – today, that’s almost laughable. Fax became email and now it’s all about blogs and RSS feeds straight to a journo’s desktop.

PR has evolved from press releases, newspaper articles and radio interviews – these activities not nearly as important as they were five years ago. [Online] PR is now all about organic search, blogging, e-newsletters, online magazines and podcasting.

Are all these [Marketing 2.0] elements ranking highly on your list of marketing priorities? They should be.

If you’re business is yet to make the 2.0 transition, here’s five suggestions to consider when developing your online marketing and PR strategy:

1. Blog Like Crazy. If you don’t have one, get one. Blog on your website, and find out what blogs your customers are reading (because I guarantee they are) and prepare a list called ‘Blogs of Influence’.  Create a relationship with the editors of those blogs and submit articles – regularly. All blog articles should be 95% educational and 5% call to action (in that order). Not only will regular blogging position your organisation as a credible resource, it can have a hugely positive impact on your search engines results.

2. SEO (search engine optimisation) will make or break your online strategy. Over 80% of web site traffic is generated through the major search engines (known as ‘The Big Four’) – Google, Yahoo!, MSN and Sensis. SEO is an extremely specialist field that pays big dividends for organisations that invest in on-going SEO for their web site. Where you rank in The Big Four search engines will have an enormous impact on your business, and ultimately your online success. Best advice – look for experience and proof of results when shopping around for an SEO service provider and package.

3. Email Marketing is an extremely cost-effective solution to keeping in touch with your database. Most organisations are doing it – but very few can actually boast of great results. Like everything that evolves, email marketing has become somewhat of a science. You’ve heard the saying before, ‘Content is King’ – this same principle applies to your e-Newsletter campaign. Research suggests that monthly is the most effective frequency for most companies, and educational content (as opposed to product reviews and client testimonials) will gain the highest level of readership and response from subscribers.

4. Video/Podcasting is often missing from online marketing plans. Straight up, these two (potentially very influential) mediums aren’t for every business – but they do have their place in the online marketing mix. Whether it’s creating and sharing a podcast to educate (and entertain) your target market, or volunteering yourself for interview on other WebTV and podcast channels – these are both effective ways to reach new markets and set your organisation apart from your competitors. No doubt you’ve also heard of Utube.com? The user populated video website, that even our PM John Howard is using to communicate with the nation. Producing viral video content will get people talking about your business.

5. The Facebook Phenomenon will (very) soon become standard practice for enterprise - globally. Creating and growing corporate profiles within major social networking portals, such as Facebook and MySpace, encompasses everything that is Web 2.0 meets traditional marketing (and PR 2.0). It’s hip, targeted, cost-effective and powerful. Social networking portals are made up of niche communities who openly share their interests and passions – when it comes to marketing spend, you can’t get more targeted than that. More than 90% of content within these web sites is user generated and public domain – allowing you to gain invaluable insight on your target market and find out exactly what consumers think of your business, products and services.

These five suggestions for Online PR are well worth exploring further, and hopefully one or two of these ideas will make their way into your marketing mix.

Wiliam, Australia’s leading web site design, development and online marketing firm, have a team exceeding 60 professionals in online strategy.  Our experienced professionals are industry leaders in creating online marketing strategies and web site marketing plans. Contact Wiliam for more information and advice.

tags: SEO ,  Corporate Blogging ,  Online Trends ,  Email Marketing ,  Web 2.0