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Eight Simple Rules For Online Marketing

The weakening U.S. economy has marketers shifting away from traditional media and funneling funds into digital marketing. The reason? Marketing professionals must clearly demonstrate measurable results and digital media is the one sure bet to deliver.

If you are considering pursuing an online marketing strategy, here are eight simple rules to help you achieve success:

Online Marketing Rule No. 1: Don’t Start With the Tool

Define the business objective and then select the tools to achieve them. Often it will be a combination of tactics, including video, podcasts, e-mail and social media.

Online Marketing Rule No. 2: Take a Long-Term View

You’re forming relationships, not delivering messages. The first 13 weeks are just a starting point. Successful campaigns may stretch out a year or longer.

Online Marketing Rule No. 3: Incorporate a Clear Call to Action

Use the same call to action in all tactics to engage the audience, collect relevant data and move them further along in the sales cycle.

Online Marketing Rule No. 4: Remember the Goal

Web 2.0 innovations—from video to social networks—need to correlate back to marketing goals, such as lead generation or brand recognition.

Online Marketing Rule No. 5: Use a Good Line

In e-mail marketing, use a really good subject line— not something catchy, but rather something that creates trust and interest in opening the e-mail.

Online Marketing Rule No. 6: Buy Branded Keywords

Branded keywords make offline and other forms of online advertising campaigns more effective. After seeing a television spot or reading a print ad, prospects routinely turn to search engines to learn more.

Online Marketing Rule No. 7: Layer Several Tactics

Online ads boost awareness and persuasion metrics when combined with TV and print ads.

Online Marketing Rule No. 8: Closely Track Click-Through Rates

This gives you the luxury of being able to alter your marketing campaigns on the fly and adjust media spending accordingly.

Source: BtoB’s Interactive Marketing Guide

No matter what you deploy, be sure that your message is consistent across all platforms to achieve certain success. And to help you get it right, use the experts in marketing strategy. We can help you make the right choices in media and messaging for results-driven marketing.

Carolyn Rhinebarger is Chief Brainstormer for Strategic Guru Inc., a full service marketing agency located in Cary, NC. She may be contacted by email at carolyn@strategicguru.com.

Related content:

1. Slowing Economy Means Accelerating Online Marketing
2. Internet is the New Marketing
3. 5 Rules for the Social Media Playground

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