You probably know that in 2009, more than ever the Internet is the place to be for cost-effective marketing – but do you know how to maximize your online marketing investment? We’ve singled out five facts and five key tactics for e-marketing success to jump-start your online marketing program this year:

FACT: Canadians are among the most frequent Internet users in the world.
The average Canadian is online approximately 17 hours per week, and 78% of households have access to the Internet. With such an active community, the Internet offers highly visibility and effective advertising and marketing opportunities on and beyond traditional websites.

Extend your marketing reach as far as possible with banner advertising on a topical blog, shared content, user-generated content and forums, as well as websites related to your business.

FACT: Internet users are on the hunt for information – your goal is to provide it.
With over 108 million distinct websites as of February 2007 (according to the Netcraft Web Server Survey), you need to work to capture audience attention. That’s where Search Engine Optimization (SEO) programs come in. read more »

This year, hit the ground running to get the advantage in a challenging economic climate. Sure, the forecast is stormy, but that’s all the more reason to plot an assertive marketing strategy to position your business ahead of the competition as conditions improve. Start with 6 key marketing resolutions and commit to keeping them throughout the year:

1. Define Success

How can you work well when you don’t know what you’re working towards or how you’ll get there? Review your business and decide what your priorities are: increase sales, penetrate new markets, or diversify product offerings. Next, set concrete goals for the year, and monthly benchmarks to monitor progress. Reject ambiguous goals, like “Sell more”, which is difficult to measure and impossible to achieve, in favour of a specific definition of what success is: “Increase sales by 5%”.

2. Plan the Work – Work the Plan

Take your budget and plan expenditures by quarter and by month – there is no point in being conservative all year and having budget left at the end that could have been used to drive new business, or aggressively spending early in the year, tapping out your budget by summer. Look at your clients’ spending cycles, industry events (tradeshows, etc) and internal goals; allocate resources to items that are vital, then spread the remainder throughout the budgetary year. read more »

When it comes to visual appeal versus usability in web design, which one
wins? Flashy websites with slick design may attract initial interest, but that
interest is lost if visitors don’t find value-added content. That said, clunky,
outdated sites that offer a wealth of tools and resources often don’t showcase
that content because they fail to attract and hold visitor attention. Finding a
balance between the two is key.

Functionality
Website functionality is a hybrid of site
architecture and content: both need to be at their best and working together.
Visitors want to find the information they need quickly and easily – when they
can, they remember having a positive experience with your website, and your
company. If you don’t guide site visitors to the material they want, they won’t
be coming back. Not only that, they are likely to seek the information they need
elsewhere, possibly from a competitor.

How can you effectively guide customers through your website? Scrutinize
every word of content and make sure every sentence adds value. There’s no room
for any information that isn’t vital to gaining new customers or keeping the
ones you already have. Even so, content should not just pitch your company, but
position it as the go-to resource for the information potential customers need
to solve their problems. Maximize the strength of your online presence by using
your website as a resource rather than a sales tool; you gain a reputation as a
full-service business and an authority in your field.

Tips for user-friendly functionality:

1. Include tools, calculators, and interactive elements so customers can help
   themselves.
2. Delete in-house terminology and short forms in favour of customer-focused
   language easily identifiable by site visitors.
3. Make each page self contained and self-explanatory – readers can’t be
   expected to be familiar with every page of your site.

Visual Impact
Design speaks louder than words in the
world of websites, so it shouldn’t take a backseat to content. Instead, it
should showcase content in an inviting and egaging way. Presenting a unified
visual strategy is vital to web success: A website must be consistent with the
overall look, feel and message of your company brand.

Every design element has the ability to attract or repel in mere seconds, and
it can be difficult to overcome bad design and outdated visuals, even with solid
value-added content. Customers distracted by heavy design, glaring colours,
difficult to read typefaces, and inconsistent graphics are likely to seek out
alternative sources of information and view your company as a less professional
option.

Tips on visual impact:

1. Use only a few colours in your page design, and integrate your existing logo
   shades.
2. Avoid animation that looks impressive but does nothing for your
   customers.
3. Your website needs to be universal – verify display quality on all screen
   sizes and load-up times for all connection speeds.

If you’re thinking of building or redesigning your website, download our new
Website Checklist for a detailed outline of the key things you
should consider in the process.

Building a brand that will resonate with prospects, customers and employees
is critical to success, and your online presence is a vital part of an overall
strategy.

Like just about everyone else who’s forked over a fair sized chunk of their
year’s marketing budget to achieve a killer online presence, you’re looking
forward to a rush of new sales, right?

Bad news: it isn’t going to happen. And that doesn’t mean your website isn’t
good – it’s more likely because your website’s been left to go it alone.

The simple truth is that for most businesses, a website is a sales tool, not
a sales vehicle. So if you want to dramatically boost sales and see your website
as an ideal place to find new prospects, you need to incorporate the same
techniques used in face-to-face selling to make them convert. That, of course,
begins with prospect follow up.

About 80% of the sales initiated through website contact are made
after several contacts have been made. Why ? Because people
rarely visit a website and immediately buy (unless it’s an e-commerce site), so
if you don’t maintain ongoing contact you’ll miss out on a significant amount of
potential new business. Don’t let that happen – make the most of every selling
opportunity by offering your site visitors information of value so they will
tell you who they are in order to get it. Case studies, white papers, check
lists, guides and e-publications encourage visitors to come back regularly
looking for fresh content – ask them to identify themselves and you can actually
notify them when that new content becomes available, along with whatever else
you’d care to promote. Once you’ve established the contact, follow up with more
of the information they’re looking for and your chances of getting them to buy
will be far greater. Here’s how to begin:

• Credibility = Trust
  The more useful and relevant
  information you provide to prospects, the more belief they will have that your
  business can be trusted. By offering credible information that delivers value,
  you demonstrate that you know what you’re talking about. As a result, site
  visitors will be willing to provide you with their email addresses so you can
  give them even more – they may even fill out short surveys to tell you what they
  really want. Before you know it, Presto! A brand new prospect list is
  born.
• Playing With Emotions
  With every message you send to
  your new list, you should emphasize the “want” your product will satisfy. Saving
  money? Saving Time? Adding convenience? Remember that people buy first because
  they want and second because they need, so your messages need
  to address both the emotional and the tangible.
• Building Value
  Each time you contact your prospect the
  value of your “offer” should grow. It might be a limited time bonus, special
  discount or something else you know your prospect will appreciate. By limiting
  the time available to act, you work to push your prospect toward making a buying
  decision.
• Making it Real
  Once you’ve hit the emotional element of
  decision-making, be sure to focus just as pointedly on the practical. Give
  prospects sound, logical reasons to buy, based on facts. Pinpoint the results
  they will see, the savings they will realize or the efficiencies they’ll gain.
  Be specific and use examples – pie in the sky just isn’t credible.
• Positive Reinforcement
  Testimonials in the form of case
  studies work well to attract prospects with similar “pain” to your customers.
  Because, if you can eliminate your customers’ pain, it stands to reason you can
  do wonders for your prospects’, too.

Now – take a good hard look at your website. Does it offer value? Does it
give prospects an opportunity to ask you for more? Does it give you an
opportunity to learn about them? If it doesn’t, shouldn’t you be doing something
about it?