Building an Effective Traffic and Marketing Strategy - Another Tip - Internet Marketing Australia

Networking

One of the areas that we often overlook in building our Marketing Plan and Strategy is networking. It is important to network with other entrepreneurs and business owners who have been successful in thier marketing efforts. This does not mean responding to every auto-ad you get, but rather, creating real relationships with successful people.

There are local organizations in every community that are composed of successful, networking business owners and entrepreneurs. Among them are your local Chamber of Commerce, but there are many others. It is well worth your time to get involved with some of these organizations to create a close network of mentors and associates who can either tell you how they overcame obstacles or share ideas with you on how to meet the ongoing challenges of growing your traffic and market.

Getting involved with charitable organizations in your community and online is also a good networking tool. Not only do you expose your business to positive press, but you are also spreading your brand in a positive way. 

No matter what your face-to-face efforts, be sure to create and distribute freely business cards or brochures, describing your product or service. I know a general contractor who gets a great portion of his business because his wife chats with people in supermarket lines and freely offers her services at several charitable organizations, all the while discussing her husband's fabulous work. While this may not work for you, imagine if all of your employees were spreading such positive attitudes and enthusiasm about your business on a daily basis. Word-of-mouth is invaluable, but you must put yourself in the position to spread word-of-mouth and sometimes that means stepping a little outside your comfort zone, especially if like me, you are a little geeky.

Email Blasts

If you are considering doing an email blast through a marketing group, please be sure to check and make sure that they are following and complying with all spamming regulations and are not sending emails to bogus accounts. There is a huge market in mass email blasts and if you google this subject you will find hundreds of companies at all sorts of prices. You will also want to check with other people who have used the service. Don't just read the testimonials, shoot an email to the references and see what they really think.  I once sent emails to a list of references and it turned out that the references did not exist. Not all companies do this, but it will only cost you a little time to make sure a company is legitimate.

Some companies offer an additional service in which they create the email for you. If you are a little unsure or are not comfortable creating your own mass email, then you should consider using this service. If you are going to spend the money to have it done anyway, for a few dollars more you can make it much more effective and worth the expense.

Ezines/Newsletters

If you are just starting your business and are learning about building traffic and enhancing your market, please don't be discouraged if it takes a little time for your ezine or newsletter to catch on. Remember how many times you see the opt-in when you are cruising the net. This is not a "fast" way to get traffic flow to your site. 

As with any business, newsletters and ezines are a great way to build traffic, but they are also not the fastest way, so remember that this is a slow, steady trek, not a race and you most likely will not see your ezine grow at a fast pace. You may see an e-ad now and then talking about building your ezine list rapidly. Be sure to read the find print on these ads. I haven't seen any yet that guarantee an increase by x amount in traffic within a specific timeframe. Building traffic just isn't something that can be done overnight.

Marketing Strategy Tip

While all of the above items should be included in your Marketing Plan and Strategy, you should remember that they are only a part of your overall strategy. Do not overexert yourself on one piece of your strategy, rather put together a general outline then make a second more detailed outline and keep getting more detailed until you feel you have a complete and detailed strategy that someone who has never been involved with your product or service can understand.

If you are the only person who understands your marketing plan and strategy then you have not been detailed enough and have left a lot of gaps that can quickly fill with bad news.  Fill those gaps before they become problems.

Include in your plan contingencies for the unknown and unanticipated problems. If you are creating or selling a product, include in your plan a contingency for not being able to get parts. If you are selling a service have a contingency included in your strategy for not being able to provide the service yourself. And, be sure to include how you will deal with these contingencies. Who is an alternate provider that you can use if you need parts, who can provide your service if you are ill.

Pre-planning is the benefit of a marketing strategy and plan. After completing your marketing strategy and plan you should be ready for any unexpected problems. Or, at least have a good idea of which direction to take if they occur.