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Welcome to the ineedhits Search Engine Marketing blog, where we share the latest search engine and online marketing news, releases, industry trends and great DIY tips and advice.

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If you're looking for help with promoting your website - check out our range of affordable search engine marketing services.

Tuesday, July 17

5 Step Online Marketing Plan

At ineedhits, we offer small to medium businesses a range of online marketing services - from 'beginner' internet marketing packages and services, to expert and highly specialized, SEO solutions.
With our experience it's easy to forget that many businesses may be starting out online, and simply don't know how and where to start their marketing, so here's a quick 5 step internet marketing plan to get you started!

1. Who Are Your Customers?
In order to start any marketing campaign you need to determine who your customers are, the actual people that are likely to buy your products or services. Working out who is going to buy your products and services will give you a good indication of where you should start placing your online marketing message. About.com recommends you ask yourself the following questions as a start: What is your perfect, solid customer really like?

Is my perfect customer male or female?
Does my perfect customer work out of the home or in the home?
What is the job profile of my perfect customer - an executive, manager, worker, entrepreneur, stay-at-home parent, etc.
What is the net household income of my perfect customer?
What level of education does my perfect customer have?
Does my perfect customer have room in her spending budget for my product/service on a one time, occasional or constant basis?
How do my perfect customers use my product/service - do they buy it for themselves or as a gift?
Does my perfect customer spend a lot, some or minimal time on the Internet?
Where does my perfect customer look for my product/service? Both online and in physical locations?

2. Targeting your Customers
Targeting is all about maximizing your marketing message in the areas, or on the sites where your customers spend time. When considering where you will place advertisements take into account the quality of the website, directory, search engine or newsletter, who else is advertising in that space and what is being advertised? Also, will you receive bang for buck - what is traffic like to the site, or how many unique visitors do they receive each day?
Pay-per-click is one of the best methods of creating a targeted marketing campaign, though it may be very daunting to those new to online advertising. With Easy Search Advertising you set your online advertising budget and our SEO Specialist will create a targeted advertising campaign that sends more search engine traffic to your website.

3. Your Marketing Budget
Now that you've done some research into who you want to target, and where you should target that audience, you can set a realistic marketing budget. With a set budget in mind you'll be able to refine your campaign in order to get the greatest return for your advertising investment. What are the best advertising options to give you the most exposure and results?

4. Ads to Promote Your Specific Selling Points
More often than not you are selling more than a simple product or service - you are selling the benefit, or the 'dream'. A travel agent doesn't simply sell a seat on a plane and a hotel room - they promote the dream of adventure or the idea of a luxury holiday. Think about what your product and services are actually offering your customers - think beyond just the practical and use emotions to create a desire or need for what you are selling!

5. Tracking and Monitoring
Keep an eye on your return on investment. Are you getting your moneys' worth from your marketing campaign? If you are spending more than you are making then you may need to tweak some aspect of your advertising. It's all about testing, testing and more testing until you are seeing the results you want. However, don't forget that campaigns may take time before you see results so have a little patience before you decide to leave the internet marketing field!

If you'd like some more help and advice on the best possible online marketing solution for your business please contact our customer service team and we'll be more than happy to help. Good luck with your planning!