Internet Marketing is all grown up…Let’s treat it that way.
Internet marketing does not need to be treated with kid gloves, so why do businesses still treat it that way? It’s time to put your online actions under the microscope.
The more I’m in this business, the more I see larger companies and organizations moving towards highly analytical approaches to their online marketing. This makes sense, as it’s such an important touch point for brand building, creating awareness of new products and services and making transactions. It certainly pays to know what’s going on as these companies pay for ad placements, buy up massive amounts of keywords in their pay per click marketing campaigns and invest significant resources in ongoin web development.
It’s the rest of the business world that scares me. In particular, I’m referring to those medium to small sized businesses that have stuck a toe in the pond, but haven’t yet jumped in. These are the organizations that I speak with who say things like, “We have an AdWords account, but we don’t really pay attention to it.”
Hold on a minute. What? How does this happen? I’ve never spoken with someone who said, “We advertise on Fox, but I don’t even know what commercial we run, how much it costs, or if it gets us any business.” Now, the latter piece of that statement might be true, but most certainly not the first two. Somehow, the Internet in all of its youth seems to be more of a pet project for a lot of small businesses instead of a serious, accountable marketing channel.
The tools are there to see where your dollars are going, if you’re getting a return, and most importantly it provides you with information to continuously adjust and optimize. So if you’re going to do it, really do it! Or, you could call someone like Netvantage and we can help! We’re nearing the end of the adoption curve here, and it’s time those at the end of the curve gain a proper understanding of how Internet marketing works so we can prove its effectiveness and place it in its rightful standing next to traditional marketing channels.
