Internet Marketing

It comes down to a few things…

The right tool for the right job and…
well frankly, your priorities, time and budget.

“Internet Marketing” as you know takes many forms. There are many individual areas of specialization and expertise. There are entire industries built up around each of these marketing channels, companies who specialize in each field and individuals who have made their career developing their expertise. As a result they’re -very- good at it. We’re proud to know some of these folks and can testify to their abilities and significant achievements.

Are you guys really expert at all these things?

Shhhhh.
No, we’re not. 😉

Personally, no. Collectively though, most definitely yes. Here’s the deal. We’ve been working in this internet marketing space for many many years now personally active in a range of disciplines. What we’re not expert at our partners are. We’ve sat on the agency side of the table. We’ve sat on the client side also. Too often large, all encompassing agencies are simply beyond the budget limits of many businesses and organizations. And frankly, many “agencies” subcontract as well. We get those calls too.

Conversely, working with individual specialists puts the business owner in the position of acting general contractor managing multiple specialized trades or doing without access to as-needed specialized skills. Further, it requires that you, the client have the time, expertise and insight to be able to monitor and ascertain quality work and ROI. Frankly, there are some performance measures not always apparent to the casual observer.

So, what’s the benefit to you…

the business owner, organization administrator or marketing manager?

We can start where you can start given the scale of your enterprise, your niche, needs and available resources. Further, we can scale with you and evolve given the ebb and flow of continually changing needs and market conditions.

No herding of cats here. We have long-standing, existing and cooperative relationships with some of the most accomplished and talented individuals within specialized fields. Virtual teaming. It may be a foreign or scary concept to those new to it. We propose that to a great extent and for many, it’s the future baby.

May we help you? Contact Us

Affiliate Marketing
Content Marketing
Email Marketing
Link Building
Mobile/Local Marketing

Search Engine Marketing | SEM/PPC
Search Engine Optimization | SEO
Social Media Marketing
Website & Marketing Analytics
Video Marketing

Affiliate Marketing

From the perspective of the online marketer, affiliate marketing provides the opportunity to engage in an online form of commissioned sales. In broad strokes an array of “affiliates” work with you to send you traffic. To the extent that this traffic converts to desired actions, sales, registrations, leads etc. you pay them a commission. Of course there’s much more to it and your mileage may vary. The advantage to the marketer is that it holds the opportunity to manage

your marketing investment because you’re only paying for results. Similar to employing a conventional sales force, effective communication and program management coupled with the strength of your offer and compensation will largely determine your level of active participation and program success. Therefore either in-house program management is needed or outsourced through an Affiliate Network and program management.

Content Marketing

The quality and timeliness of the content on your site is arguably the single most important aspect of your site. Of course design and usability are important. Further it’s not an either/or proposition, you need all of it. We propose however that it is the content of your site that should be your first priority and too often we see shiny packages of website that contain weak or poorly optimized content. Quality content is your best bet on customer engagement and conversion. Quality

content is also your best SEO. We can help you where you are at. If you have the time and motivation to do-it-yourself we can provide training to fill the knowledge gaps for on-page optimization. If you’re producing the content already but simply want to hand it over to an expert to optimize and post, we can do that for you also. If though you simply need an expert to do the content creation for you we have plans available. Contact us and we can discuss your current capabilities and needs.

Email Marketing

No, we don’t provide an email marketing solution. Some are better then others of course, there are trade-offs and we too have our favorites. What we find though is that too often the content of business and organizations emails is very poorly suited to the email medium. Further, the email solution they’re typically using have capabilities far exceeding what the marketer is actually using. Huge missed opportunities. The resulting misdirection and under-utilization results not only

in diminished performance for you the marketer, more importantly it’s too often a disservice to your community of subscribers. Are you using the right tool for the right job? Are you using it to it’s fullest advantage? We’ll work with you to redefine you email marketing strategy coupled with sound content marketing principals and fullest leveraging of your chosen email solution. So if you need assistance drafting, editing, formatting and managing your email marketing channel talk to us.

Link Building

Second only to the quality of your content, the quality of your organic inbound links are among the most powerful determinant of your search performance. The problem is link building, done well is neither quick or easy to do. It’s hard to do well. This is why so many online marketer either don’t do it or employ quick-n-dirty shady tactics that will cause more problems then they’re worth. Not all links are created equal and frankly there are links that you don’t want. This is a discipline where you really need to know what you’re doing.

We’ll do the research and provide you the strategy tailored for your business and target market. Couple this with expert execution and over time we can develop for you the breadth of value-add inbound links that will deliver real value for you. No smoke and mirrors here. You’ll be provided the strategy road map along with regular status updates so your can see performance. Are you getting the search performance you need? Chances are you need a better link strategy and performance.

Mobile / Local Marketing

While separate internet marketing aspects, because these two are so tightly inter-dependent and mutually beneficial, mobile marketing and local marketing are typically pursued in tandem, and for good reason. There are two fundemental truths that guide how we reach and engage target audiences online. First, major online brands not withstanding, it’s long been established that the lion’s share on online searches for goods and services do in fact have local intent. Most people, most of the time are looking for local solutions to

satisfy what they’re looking for. The concept of “Buy Local” is alive and well, even online. Secondly, the explosive migration of online engagement from desktop/laptop to the smartphone and tablet is undeniable and a game changer. Ignore at your peril. These two marketing efforts are tied tightly together because that greater portion of local search is being done… on your customer’s smart phone or tablet… while they’re out in your community, on your premisis or attending your event. Are you prepared?

Search Engine Marketing (SEM) – “Paid Search”

Also known as Pay-per-click or PPC most commonly refers to paying for traffic on a range of targeted terms and phrases. You the client set your budget and depending on market conditions (price) for selected terms, traffic volumes and smart targeting for conversion rates… you get traffic. There are many advantages and best-use cases for SEM / PPC. It must be structured properly and managed smartly however or it can quickly become misdirected and cost prohibitive. With SEM/PPC the marketer enjoys the key

benefits of easy cost control, immediacy and tight linking of causality; all things that are more challenged with traditional SEO. As a result smart SEM coupled with SEO is often a winning combination for many internet marketers. While SEM can be part of your ongoing and integrated internet marketing strategy it is particularly helpful for those newly online or entering into a new market segment where they’ve not yet gained traction via other means. Might SEM / PPC work for you? Let’s talk about it.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

Search Engine Optimization has been, remains and will continue to be one of the fundamental and essential knowledge base and skill sets any serious internet marketer will need to engage to reach their fullest potential. Periodically we will see assertions that “Content Marketing” undermines the need or value of SEO. While the world of search continues to evolve it remains that this could not be further from the truth. We too advocate for the core value of quality content. Great content alone however, uninformed and without benefit of SEO practices will not get the levels of visibility and traffic otherwise possible. The search engines, Google, Bing etc. work hard to provide the best, most relevant content to their customers; people like you and I searching for

information, goods and services. The search engines present frameworks that have and will continue to evolve over time. A skilled SEO expert will have the knowledge of how, with integrity to work within these frameworks. It is not trickster-ism. It is knowledge of the rules of engagement, technical aspects of web design and consumer search behavior. SEO and Content is not either/or. They should be inseparable aspects of the same marketing objectives. If you’re not in a competitive space perhaps you can get by without SEO. The more competitive your niche the more you need knowledgeable, performance driven SEO. Are you getting the volume of traffic you believe you should be getting? We should talk about your SEO performance and needs.

Social Media Marketing

Social Media Marketing has been the hot topic for years now, and for good reason. Not only is it unsurpassed for maintaining brand awareness and audience engagement it has the added benefit of adding upward pressure on Search Engine performance. Both Google and Bing have indicated that Social Media Likes, Shares, Tweets, traffic and “social authority” do in fact factor into their algorithms determination on search listing placement. The challenge for marketers however has always been determining ROI. Without this insight too many marketers have pursued only half-hearted efforts, poorly informed efforts or just

stayed away. Still others having tried it without sound strategy or execution found the effort unsatisfactory. There are real benefits to be had though. It begins with pragmatic strategy development based on your business, market niche, objectives and a sound understanding of what this channel is good at and frankly what it is not. Right tool for the right job, yes? With a sound strategy in place ROI is then a function of execution, tracking and reporting on measurable performance. If your needs are to expand your brand reach, improve your communications, engagement, service or something other let’s talk about where you are and where you need to be.

Website and Marketing Analytics

“You can’t manage what you don’t measure.” Chances are if you’re reading this you’re the one wearing the Marketer’s hat. As such you’re the one tasked with delivering measurable results of some kind. If nothing else internet marketing is awash with numbers. The fire hose of reporting and data can be overwhelming, that is assuming you’re tapping into this. If for whatever reason you’re not getting the analytics you need let’s talk. We can help you. After-the-fact, hind-site reporting like sales and registrations, these are the easy parts anyone can see. We’ll help you determine the leading indicator KPI’s (Key Performance Indicators) that you should be tracking that will help you see where you’re heading before you get

there rather than showing where you’ve been. If however you’re awash in data the challenge for you is determining what, from all the “that’s interesting” data is in fact actionable. It’s marketing 101. Determine your KPI’s, establish your baseline, mark your course, track and measure performance, course-correct, test, measure, rinse-n-repeat. Your website analytics and the range of other available analytics for each of your marketing channels can provide the input you need to make data-informed decisions. So, how are your internet marketing efforts perforning? Do you know? Are you looking forward or are you looking behind you? What are the levers available to you to course correct? Do you know? Let’s talk.

Video Marketing

Demand for online video content continues to spike in all it’s varied forms and applications. You likely already know searches on YouTube are second only to Google, which owns YouTube. Watching video, it’s where your customers gravitate. People spend more time, become more engaged with your message, and when coupled with social media are more apt to share, like, rate and otherwise extend a virtual form of word of mouth to a broader audience for you. Video is easily searchable and easily shared. Finally, analytics are readily available to track campaign

performance for data-driven decision making. Beyond the staples of marketing and promotion, product videos have been shown to increase conversion rates. This is true even when customers hadn’t actually watched the video. Unsurpassed for capturing and holding your visitor/customer attention, video when viewed on your site, discovered or shared via social media is arguably the most attention-getting messaging you can provide. If you would like to explore the possibilities of leveraging the power and influence of video we should talk.

Integrated Marketing

A note on Integrated Marketing. This pertains to the increased cumulative benefit realized by orchestrating and leveraging the multiple internet marketing channels. This also refers to the benefits of coordinating online marketing efforts with traditional off-line marketing channels. Also, consider that to a large extent parsing the above marketing channels into distinct disciplines is a bit artificial there is considerable overlap. In many cases it’s hard to tell where one practice ends and the other begins. For that reason the term “Inbound Marketing” is often a preferred term as it encompasses Content, SEO and Social Media Marketing disciplines all under the same umbrella.

While a greater percentage of sites and blogs support the range of marketing channels too often we see print advertising, social media, email and other marketing communications that do not in-turn support the other marketing channels or even the main site or blog. They appear to be operating within a silo all their own. At best marketing managers are working these channels independently which diminishes effectiveness. At worst it would appear channel managers or vendors are working independently in some form of competitive, protective turf effort.

As a business owner or director of an organization, trying to market with independent, autonomous marketing channels and vendors not only minimizes the effectiveness of your marketing efforts it ultimately diminishes your overall ROI.

Resonate can help you orchestrate not only your multiple online marketing efforts but also work with you to leverage your off-line efforts by working with your off-line marketing channel managers and vendors.

Take control of your marketing efforts. Get the greatest ROI for your business, organization, time and investment. Integrate your marketing efforts.