The Online Marketing Campaign for Beginners: Part I

Valuable Content and Websites

If you’re new to the world of online marketing and lead generation, welcome!  The Forward Progress team and I play in a world where things are constantly changing and never stagnant.  People often ask me why I love what I do, and because things rarely remain the same, my response is usually similar to, “Hang on – I’ll let you know tomorrow!”  In this three-part series, I’ll be cutting into the basics of the modern online marketing campaign, how marketers are teaming up with technology to take on an enhanced quality and quantity of lead generation, and how our world is evolving.

Since the internet boom, online tools have become part of everyday life among businesses and consumers.  Due to the advent of compact computers and smartphones, your target clients or customers are constantly within reach – some are even looking for you!  With evolved quality of user experience among mobile email, web-browsing, and social media, the conversation between your business and its current and prospective customers should be constant.  But, where does this conversation take place?  The current online marketing campaign is made of websites, valuable content, advertising, social media, database (email) marketing, and more. Today, we’ll dive into valuable content and websites.

Content for Your Online Marketing Campaign:

When looking at our online marketing campaign, it’s clear that many tools are simply online destinations where content is shared that we hope is attractive enough to convince users to buy from us.  Generating quality content, however, can be a challenge.  The content shared should be comprised of information that can help your target customers/clients.  For instance, Forward Progress provides marketing services and coaching, so I’m hoping that you’re seeking information on marketing your product/service, checking out our content, and allowing us to build a relationship with you that is strong enough for you to trust us to help you!  Here are a few online marketing campaign tips on generating quality content:

1. Consider Your Target: Generate content that is tailored toward those with problems to which you can provide solutions.  If your target is hungry, provide information about food.  If your target wants to save for retirement, write about the best ways to invest one’s hard-earned money.  If your market is segmented, be sure to provide content for each piece of your market and create a rotation of proliferation.
2. Content Is Only Half of Content Marketing: Generating quality content should only consume half of your resources allocated toward content marketing.  The other half: proliferating content via your website, social media, email newsletters, webinars, YouTube videos, and more.
3. Repurpose Your Content: Today, I told an audience that repurposing content gives me a warm, fuzzy feeling inside and I wasn’t even joking!  A prime example of repurposing content would be taking this blog, hosting a webinar on the content, sharing the recording on YouTube, sharing the slidedeck on Slideshare, sharing excerpts as Facebook posts, and Tweeting pieces of those excerpts.
4. Collect Leads with Content: How many times have you clicked a link to view a webinar, read a white-paper, or catch a video?  Did you realize you became part of a database of potential leads? Did you receive an email from that very company shortly thereafter and wonder how that happened?  While much of your content should be free of immediate charge, it’s ideal to at least collect lead contact information to add to your database and share with your sales team.

Your Campaign’s Websites:

Websites, micro-sites, landing pages/squeeze pages, and more.  Each of them serve a specific purpose.  Must you have them all?  Maybe not – but they can all be extremely beneficial.  Here are the particulars:

1. Websites: Your website should be like home-base where all of your online content and destinations are linked up and housed under one roof.  Micro-sites, social media destinations, blogs, and other miscellaneous content should found on your website.  Often, your website is the definition of your credibility and is worth a marked investment.  Here, it most certainly pays to look good.
2. Micro-Sites:  If your business provides products and services that are branded separately from your main brand, consider building a micro-site.  A micro-site is one that is developed separately from your website in order to showcase its own individual brand.  Typically made of less than eight pages, examples of micro-sites would be our SocialJack.com or LinkedInOnDemand micro-sites.
3. Landing Pages and Squeeze Pages: While contrasting in what they seek to collect, these destinations are pages where we entice users to take action.  Whether it’s to buy something or complete a simple lead form, we want users to quickly take action on this single page.  Typically, these sites stand alone and do not provide links enticing users to leave the page.  On these pages, messaging and careful development of your call to action are imperative.  Like generating content, know your target and tightly tailor your calls-to-action.

While online marketing is rapidly growing, our team is learning and applying the latest concepts every day.  If this is your introduction to online marketing, take it one step at a time and begin with being sure that your online destinations like your website are in-tact.  Then, begin tackling content generation and next time we’ll discuss how to share your content.

Contact us for assistance with your online marketing campaign