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Strategic internet marketing is an approach to marketing your company, firm, products and or services in a way that uses all marketing channels and tactics to reinforce and support all other marketing activities in order to achieve a singular goal.
What is the goal? The goal of strategic internet marketing is to build a relationship with prospective customers that meets enough needs and answers enough questions to make the prospect sufficiently comfortable to offer you the opportunity to tell him or her about your business, products and/or services.
According to a 2008 study by eMarketer, "for every $1 in online sales the Internet influences $3.45 of store sales." Even if you are not convinced people will buy from you online instead of in your store, the importance of strategic Internet marketing cannot be overlooked. Even if you operate the kind of business that provides services instead of products, you cannot overlook the power of the Internet to influence buying decisions.
Embracing strategic internet marketing means that you have defined a marketing strategy aimed at getting people to buy from you. In today's marketplace - more than ever before - people buy from those they know, like and trust. Earning trust requires a relationship that demonstrates trustworthiness. The very best place for you to build a relationship with prospective customers is either face to face or on your website. Strategic Internet marketing brings everyone it attracts to this possibility.
Because you do not have time to talk to every potential client or customer, you rely on strategic internet marketing to bring those people to your website. Your site should reflect your personality and the personality of your business. It should also be welcoming for visitors. I'm not talking about posting a welcome banner on your home page. I am talking about building a web site that is:
- Comfortable and engaging
- Easy to navigate and find what you want
- Somewhat transparent to the values and opinions of your business
- Responsive to the needs, pains and wants of customers by providing information and solutions to problems
- Welcoming to search engines
This means your strategic Internet marketing plan should focus every marketing action on getting the right people to your website. When they arrive, they should discover that you know who they are, that you know why they came to your site, and you know what they want. Your site should also be informative, fresh, and completely relevant to the needs of your customer.
It is only when you bring those who respond to your strategic Internet marketing to a face-to-face conversation or to your website that you can build with them the relationship that is the precursor to a product or service conversation. Remember - in today's market, the sales pitch can only be made to people who know you, like you and trust you. This is the goal of strategic Internet marketing.
About this Author
If you are a small business owner or professional and want to learn more about strategic Internet marketing, you can access five free videos at http://videos.internetleadgenerationacademy.com. Topics include how to get on the first page of Google, how to set up a blog for free in under 5 minutes, how to create a video that sells without a camera, an example of three tweaks to the lead generation process that increased profits by 62% and why mobile marketing will soon be bigger than radio, TV, print and internet advertising combined.
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