Marketing for the Web - Brilliantly

So far we have looked at how to make a website work and how to turn theory into reality. This month we will be looking specifically about digital marketing and how to do this brilliantly. Why do you need to bother with digital marketing? Because it is increasingly the most important marketing you will ever do.

It allows you to reach people on the move, to interact and engage with your audience and digital is now the prime weapon of choice for anyone under 30. In addition to web sites digital now includes mobile, marketing sites through search engines and the use of chatrooms and communities like facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter.

Brilliant Tip : Because the sector is moving so fast and has so many different opportunities it's really smart to spend some time with someone who knows what's going on and whom you can understand.

Step 1: Keeping up with the pace.

In order to be able to compete you first need to understand, how dramatic web sites vary from a standard middle of the road site. How people use website and why or how they work, or more importantly why or how they don't work.

We live in an open society. Knowledge used to be power. Now sharing is power. Unless you really understand the concept of sharing you won't understand digital marketing. Read The Starfish and the Spider: The Unstoppable Power of Leaderless Organizations, by Ori Brafman and Rod A. Beckstrom.

Step 2: What's changed?

The numbers have changed dramatically. But they are only part of the story.

FACT: Advertising spend on the web now exceeds advertising spend on TV in the UK.

FACT: 60% of business owners are looking to increase their natural and paid-for-search budgets in the next 12 months.

FACT: Digital is the future, but if this is so you need to make sure you are in brilliant control.

FACT: The way we use email is changing. 18-35 year olds use email about half as much as +35 year olds, chatrooms and social networking and instant messaging are the choice of the 18-35's. This means the role of email as a marketing tool is changing.

Step 3: Questions to ask and things you should do.

1. Does your email marketing support your brand claims.

2. Email lists need to be tightly controlled and segmentated. Spending time in this area is a wise investment of time and so often overlooked. Are you making sure that your news, events and offers are reaching an ever-larger group of people?

3. The average number of friends on Facebook is 102, so if an email recipient adds something from your email or website to their Facebook page, all those friends are mailed an alert automatically telling them what content has been added and by whom, a chance to covert to a sale and a personal intro/endorsement as a bonus. Are you using Facebook to introduce you to new people?

4. Think forward into change. Plan out how you can combine web site, text, blogs, social networks, e-newsletters and viral advertising to create real momentum. Use all these mediums together in a structured bid to market your brand.

5. Get the best help you can on search engine marketing, do not be tempted to try this yourself. This is where the smart money is.

6. Have Fun. How can you customise your message? Find a conversational as opposed to a corporate tone of voice.

7. Get a fresh view of what you do. Make a list of the major aspects of your business. For each aspect write down what would be the opposite. For each opposite, brainstorm what might be a practical interpretation of the reversal. When you've generated lots of ideas go through them and find the ones that are worth considering.

In Summary:

Don't ignore Facebook, LinkedIn or other new technology because you don't understand it, it has grown 600% in the last 12 months, be part of that growth and use it to your own advantage. The internet is going to change marketing before it changes anything else....don't get left behind.

Marketing is all about balancing left and right brain, gauging performance, measuring results as well as developing a sense of intuition, but it is a discipline based around 'return on investment' too which you must learn. The world is changing and we have to change with it. You must know your market and what will work for you and your business.

Marketing for the web lies in getting 3 areas absolutely right.

1. Being Relevant. Get on your customers/clients radar screen.
2. Being Accessible. Be their kind of people, connect and engage with them.
3. Being Different. We seek innovation the whole time, don't be ordinary - be extraordinary.