Top ten considerations for an effective marketing strategy

Nowadays, the web 2.0 offers so much to customers that to make an impression, it is absolutely vital to stand out, and create value for customers. Now, that is very easy point to identify, the real question is how to get there. Undoubtedly, a good online marketing strategy is crucially needed.

A good place to start, as Freemarketingzone.com suggests, is having clear ‘who are you’, `who are your customers’ and ‘what do you have to offer’. In other words, to work out what your modus operandi is going to be like, you need to understand what are your customers looking for, how do you want to be perceived as a brand and how does your offer fulfils those objectives.

There are several marketing blogs and websites out there that offer their own versions of what are the top 10 tips to get where you want to be within the online marketing world. Having read loads of them I found several common opinions; the following list is what I would call a consensus answer:

1) Apply Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

In order to be seen by customers and potential new customers you need to make sure your presence in the web is easily findable by maximizing exposure. Another big plus of this strategy is that it can generate a lot of traffic that is tangible, easy to measure in order to track how your popularity is doing.

2) Create Dialogue

Opening a blog, comment section or any kind of space where customers can interact. It is one of the basic ways of reaching customers with a personal feel, developing a relationship where they can actually engage with the company in a reciprocal way. This is also a great opportunity of getting feedback and valuable information that could cost millions to get only through traditional market research.

3) Be an Specialist

Don’t try to reach just about every user that you possibly can. The more specific you can make your strategy the better. With so much overload of information out there, web users look for very specific and customized content these days; specialized content will make the brand look more trustable, not to mention that it will be surely more helpful and knowledgeable, good reasons to make customers visit more often.

4) Diversify

A single website is not enough to turn viral. Try to find different channels or mediums (relevant to your target market of course) that you can use to spread your message across the web.

5) Keep the activity flow going

The addition of new material is very important if you want to keep your customers hooked to your online platform. This constant activity not only will improve the websites, blogs, etc. day after day, but will also create an image of innovation surrounding the brand.

6) Be Consistent

We want out brand to be easily recognized. Even though maintaining creativity and diversification are big part of the overall strategy, we must keep in mind that we don’t want the brand image or concept to change. Also, coherent internet content will help the brand to build a solid reputation within the online community.

7) Don’t be Pushy

One interesting observation that I encountered several times in my research is how customers are repelled by techniques and strategies that come across as pushy, such as spam emails. As Webmastercourse.com says, you should “help your customers to buy instead of selling”.

8) Be Open to Publish Content Beyond your Platform

Look out for other websites, blogs, electronic magazines and newspapers that are receptive of voluntary collaboration and material for new articles. This is an easy and effective way to get publicized, creating even more online presence.

9) Be Willing to Spend on Online Marketing

It is a fact that there are many expenses to be prepared for when executing an online strategy: the web hosting, the team creating the content, being included in search engines, etc. On the other hand, online marketing is one of the fastest and most popular ways to get brand names recognized, so the effort spent pays off.

10) Track your Results

Measuring the outcomes of every online move will lead you to find out what strategies worked out and which ones didn’t. Just like the old saying, “If it ain’t broken don’t fix it”, a good strategy is to keep the tactics that work simply until they stop working.