There are advantages and disadvantages to working as an Internet marketer within an agency, but I’ll save the disadvantages for a rant for some other time. I think one great advantage is gaining exposure to many types of business models and facets which definitely results in a greater appreciation of the potential and complexity of Internet marketing. When I say complexity you may be wondering how on earth Internet marketing could be so complex, but it is so totally foreign to some business owners and marketing managers that it’s sometimes difficult to even speak the online marketing language without getting that deer in the headlights stare. I mean in this day of rapid ecommerce growth and Internet expansion and with the mention of Google and Yahoo in the financial news almost nightly still there are droves of professionals in charge of corporate growth who don’t really have a clue where Internet marketing begins, what it is, or what it could mean for the future of the business.
Let’s face it, there are some businesses that shouldn’t really focus on the Internet as a revenue or marketing tool. The corner drug store or gas station shouldn’t give much thought to Internet marketing. And there are some large companies who manufacture and sell niche products and are in a monopolistic situation and they know exactly who their client is. In these situations Internet marketing shouldn’t be a strong consideration.
This week I had an interesting experience while giving a presentation to a large group of presidents, managers and the CEO of a large medical device manufacturer. After the presentation and brief discussion about their marketing and IT needs the CEO announced that it was evident that his team needed more forethought and he requested another future meeting with our team to discuss the larger scope of the project.
But their focus was really on the Web development and IT aspects of the project and not so much on the ever so important Internet marketing opportunities, despite the overwhelming evidence of huge demand for their products and the fact the FDA would soon pass approval for their selling of their products to the general public. It was so obvious, plain as day, yet the entire group of executives couldn’t see it. And the idea of the venture being called a project was an indication that these guys really needed educated about the potential on Internet marketing, and they needed to understand where their company stood in comparison to their online competition.
Online marketing is a project in many situations. But for companies that have potential to do large volume of ecommerce, whether it be online transactions, leads, or brand awareness, Internet marketing should never be considered only a project, it should be included in the annual marketing budget and considered a marketing strategy as essential as the traditional print and trade show marketing.
Consumer product companies understand that their consumer audience can be reached online and these companies spend millions per year in online marketing dollars just to brand their products to their target consumer. Smaller consumer product companies are spending several hundred thousand dollars per year to market their brand and conduct ecommerce transactions. This kind of marketing can hardly be justified as a project.
So where does a small business begin with Internet marketing and how do you measure the value? Luckily getting into Internet marketing doesn’t have to be expensive. A direct response online marketing campaign can be developed and employed at a fractional cost of traditional marketing. Google Adwords is possibly the easiest place to get started. You can launch a search engine marketing campaign on Google within hours and manage your budget so closely that you can’t possibly go into debt unless you just simply set your budget too high and ignore the campaign. Then link your Google Adwords account to a Google analytics account to measure the actual performance of the program. Once you see positive results you expand the program to something that will provide greater impact.
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