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Do you all remember
the small shop round the corner? Most localities all over the
world will have a small hole-in-the-wall affair that we used to frequent
when we were young; the quintessential small business selling a cornucopia
of basic and quaint items. In the burgeoning markets of today’s
global economy, it can be seen that many of the booming businesses now
had such humble starts and many of such small business have grand dreams
of making it big.
Many examples throughout
the business world have shown us that it is from these struggling beginnings
that big empires were establishing. But getting there is a hard and
tedious process. So how do the one who made it, make it?
Apparently there is
a simple answer to this question – Search marketing strategies.
What are search marketing
strategies?
In simple terms, developing
a product and using the internet to sell it with a carefully designed
plan-of-action is what is known as search marketing strategies.
It has to take the
mostly limited budget of the business into consideration and strategize,
so that it is more perceptible and accessible to the consumer who is
looking for it.
Many escalating businesses
have used search marketing to endorse and improve the visibility of
their products and have reaped great benefits from them, like, Foneshop,
Adrian flux insurance services, Garlik and many more.
When competing with
an already established company offering the same or similar kind of
services or products, the competition would already be stiff. To hold
their own in such cutthroat arenas smaller, up and coming businesses
need to come out more innovative and stronger strategies like search
marketing which caters to a larger consumer pool. Research statistic
indicates that search marketing has reduced the cost of per acquisition.
In spite of having such strong support for search marketing, awareness
towards the apparent benefits of search marketing has not spread far
and wide.
Studies show that nearly
two thirds of British small businesses do not endorse their products
and services online. adCenter marketing estimates that these small businesses
waste their selling potential on invisible websites and other online
services. According to experts, search is the main activity on the web
next to email and since search is indicative of people’s interests
that is where the business needs to be.
Search marketing has
two types, search engine optimization (SEO) and search engine management.
The first one deal with constructing features into a website that will
make it appear closer to the natural search listings. So that when a
potential customer types in “organic rice”, the SEO will make sure
that the product endorsed will appear closer to the top of natural search
listings.
The SEM, in the other hand, will make use of advertisements
having the key words related to the search. However the company with
the SEM model will get paid only when a user clicks on their ad. The
amount the businesses pays will depends on how much the bids are for
the keyword that users are likely to enter. Usually the higher
a keyword bid, the higher the amount paid. The average cost per click
ranges from 10p-20p to as much as a £3. This mode of payments makes
it easier for both the businesses and the company who can perceive as
a fair compensation.
This cost effective
medium is more targeted that rampant general advertising as it focus
on specific and potential customers and also it covers lot more geographical
areas and time zones. Since the leads are more specified and polished
it increases the chances of a buy. The company usually caters and optimizes
their strategies according to the initial response which is a good plan
of action as it takes into consideration market research which is crucial
for any business development. Understanding the market and zoning down
on the high traffic areas for customers on the internet highway allows
for better selling. It is a practical yet wily way to divert the
traffic to one’s endorsements.
Let us not forget our
local corner shop, which can also benefit from the search marketing
techniques by aiming it ads towards local customers in their geographical
vicinity. Yet, old-fashioned small businesses have certain misgivings
towards anything to do with technology and the internet, they have misgivings
which stop them from taking that crucial step forward when it comes
to novelty in marketing; too complicated, expensive and time-consuming
are common impressions regarding this. They prefer to remain in their
comfort zone, while the search marketing tools makes them prime candidates
for becoming bigger and more established business.
Maybe it is time
they gave it a thought.
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