ONLINE MARKETING: How much should you be spending?

Transcription

1 ONLINE MARKETING: How much should you be spending?

2 How much should you be spending? You aren t in business unless you re online So being online is priceless. Traditionally it was believed that unless your business was an online one, like an e-commerce website, you didn t really have to invest in internet marketing. This is no longer true, as consumers now turn online for every facet of their lives. From paperclips to painting services, it doesn t matter what your business is, people are trying to find you online. Over 85% of searches for products and services are happening online. If you believe that because you re not selling anything online you don t have to worry about your presence, you are losing customers. Do I really have advertise my business online? There are many reasons why customers would search for your business online and based on what they find they will make their decision on your product or service. We ll go into details on why it s important to be online before we discuss the costs, so you can better understand the true necessity of having an online presence. Choices, choices, choices Which do I choose? Do you know all the competitors in your industry? We live in a land and a time of opportunity. It is beautiful to see everyone taking advantage of the information and resources out there to do what they love, but it also means that you have a lot more competition for your market share. Consumers like

3 choices and they like to shop around; the only way to ensure that they buy from you or use your service is to constantly be reminding them that you exist. Americans spend an average of six hours online a day. 22% of that time is spent on social media, 21% is spent on searches, 20% reading content, along with some time dedicated to online shopping, s and communication, and other multimedia sites. It s an incredible number, and during all those hours, consumers gain information on all the different choices they have. They are reminded of the things they need and tempted by the things they want; everything under the sun is presented to them. The amount of time that people are dedicating to these outlets should excite you because you don t have to find consumers, they re looking for you! All you have to do is be there, and be ever-present, so they can find you! Basically, there is a giant x-marks-the-spot on internet marketing, and all your competitors see it, so ignoring it would just be hurting your business. So do you really need to advertise your business online? The better question is: do you want to stay in business? Your customers are on the internet right now, sifting through their options, debating on which business is better, more responsive, looking at the rankings, the social media, reviews Are they going to find you there? Are they going to like your brand? How much money should I be spending on Online Marketing? There s a couple different ways you can look at this price tag, but one of the more important realizations is what kind of internet marketing you want to invest in. You need to have an online strategy to attract and retain business. One of the most important services you can invest in would be search engine optimization (SEO). 21% of consumer s time is spent on internet searches, so how do you rank? 75% of users never scroll past the first page of search results, so it s pretty obvious your business wants to be right up there when a potential customer searches your key words. That is what SEO does. It optimizes your brand for search engines. Searches are

4 one of the top drivers of traffic to your website and 93% of online experiences begin with a search engine. If you re looking to drive traffic to your website, you want to be ahead of your competitors when your services or products are searched online. There are many methods that drive your rankings up; blogging for your website, link building and key word targeting to name a few. If you can optimize for your own business website then you need to definitely be doing that, but if not, you should definitely make the investment. Another important investment would be your brand s social presence. From social media, you can be discovered by someone searching a related hashtag or from seeing one of their friends Like your business page. You can also gain business by creating buttons on Facebook like Book Now or Buy Now. Another reason it would be important to find you would be for the consumer to confirm you re a good, reputable business. Not only do your posts speak volumes about what kind of company you are, but your reviews can make or break your sales. 88% of consumers trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations. They could be searching your social media to make sure you re a responsive company who cares about its customers. Do you respond to comments and questions? Do you have a lot of Likes?

5 People determine what kind of business you are without ever stepping into your store. If you re waiting for them to walk in to make your case and sell them, you will be waiting forever, because consumers don t have time to waste. They will make their decision based on their online findings, and if your company doesn t make the cut because you re not found or they don t like what they see, it s a customer lost. So how can you put a price tag on having an incredible online presence that can double or triple your client base? What s the value to you of growing your business to levels you never imagined? In the current internet-driven market, if you re not online, you re not growing. Remaining stagnant while your competitors move ahead of you will deplete your customer base and reduce sales. So the price you re willing to pay to continue staying in business, is the price you should invest in online marketing. For affordable and amazing service, make sure you call us at or contact us online today! Here at Digital Resource, we specialize in SEO and social media management, as well as, website design and management, reputation management and more! Call us for all your internet marketing needs or if you have any other questions today!