Business Marketing and Advertising 101
Where is your website headed? How many new visitors can you attract to your new website in its first month? How many customers are you going to have this year? Is your business going to be established as the top brand in the industry? The answer to all these questions depends on one factor alone – how good your marketing and advertising efforts are.To further understand marketing and advertising, first we need to establish these two terms. While the average Joe may consider marketing and advertising to be a rather similar term, in reality there are several key differences.
Advertising is the process of transmitting a promotional message, via any type of media, for the purpose of persuading an audience to purchase a product, participate in an event, and so on.
While marketing necessarily involves advertising, it is in fact, a much more global term. The term “marketing” also spans all other aspects of promoting the product or service. These include market research, pricing, brand building, sales strategy, and many other aspects.
If you are not sure where to start, consulting an advertising agency may be your best bet. Professionals who were responsible for creating marketing plans for many other companies are trained at helping you get started from the ground up.
If you are looking to perform your own marketing, you may want to read a few books on the topic. A free and valuable resource to start with is Claude Hopkins' classic “Scientific Advertising” ( http://pge.rastko.net/dirs/pge/pge05/100010/e100010.htm ).
Advertising on the Internet is usually done using banners of different sizes, featured listings or sponsored links, and e-mail marketing.
Search engines offer Pay Per Click advertising opportunities, where your sponsored listing appears in their search results for specific keywords you select, while you only pay for actual visitors clicking on the link to visit your website. Google, for example, operates one of the most popular PPC advertising section called Google AdwordsTM ( http://adwords.google.com )
In today's Internet, niche websites on almost any topic you can think about probably exist. This makes it much easier for you to locate the best possible advertising opportunities by digging through the plethora of websites in your specific niche, and selecting the best ones to advertise in.
If you have a website selling golfing equipment, for example, a quick search at Google would reveal tens of golfing forums, and thousands of golfing related websites. Many websites offer different type of advertising opportunities – you can usually find out more by contacting the website owner via e-mail, or clicking a small “advertisers” link which is usually standard on websites offering such a service.
It is always recommended to keep reading new material on marketing, to keep up with the industry changes, and position yourself for the best possible results. A marketing blog with a writing style you relate to, or a friendly marketing community is probably the easiest way to achieve this.
However, the truth is - the smallest factor can make or break an entire business plan. There is one golden rule to creating a successful marketing plan – and that's trial and error. You need to constantly experiment with different pricing, a different sales process, headlines, and just about any other factor.