Tool Time: Getting The Right Internet Marketing Mix

Picking the right mix for your internet marketing has become much more complex recently. Everything is so sexy and new – and there’s a lot of choices! Sort of like going to Home Depot. This post provides some easy guidelines for picking the right tool for the job.

Be careful when you go to Home Depot. From experience I know that too often you spend big money on something that looked cool and you thought for sure that you could use.  But six months later you’re looking underneath your workbench saying ‘Now, why did I buy that?’

Trying to pick the right internet marketing mix is just as dangerous. You’re just as likely to end up with the wrong tool for the job or for something to which it’s not ideally suited. (e.g. Dremels may be great engravers but fyi, they’re lousy paint mixers.)

Blogs, Groupon and Facebook all look new and exciting but, just like picking the right tool at the hardware store, you have to know what you’re trying to fix before you select the tool. I’m not saying you don’t go out and secure your business turf on cool places like Twitter but what I am advocating is being clear as to the goal of your project is before you invest time and money in the tool.

A paint roller handle increases your reach. A level measures. A stud finder gets it found. A hammer pounds it home.

Similarly, different internet marketing tactics will do different things for you. I believe that each online business needs three things:

1. To Get Fame (I know you.)
2. To Get Found (I need you.)
3. To Get Fans (I love you.)

You can figure out what the biggest problem you have to fix to achieve greater success but using that simple construct, here are common internet marketing tool sets and what they can do for you.

Fame: Extend Your Reach

Traditional Media: In my experience, still the biggest driver of online traffic. Ask Old Spice.

Display Ads: While you can measure click-through they’re really the online equivalent of a billboard.

Social Media: While mainly about activating fans, most social sites also offer hyper-targeted advertising plus add the fact that 6% of people say they follow a brand because their friend’s a fan means social can be a decent fame-generator too.

Blogs: Whether your own or contributing articles to other blogs, it’s a great way to establish authority.

Video: Like blogs, well-crafted, helpful videos can extend your authority.

PR-SEO: Press releases have gone online and optimizing yours for search engines can help spread the news.

Groupon et al: Do the math first but collective buying sites like this and Living Social are proven drivers of first-timers.

Widgets, Apps, Quizzes & Games: Making them helpful and fun can improve typical low conversion rates.

 Found: Be Easy To Find

Pay-Per-Click: AdWords and other search engine advertising helps you reach people when they’re ready to buy.

Link-building: Extends your reach and the biggest factor in boosting your page rank.

SEO: Optimizing your site for search engines ensures buyer meets seller.

Conversion: Once you’ve got visitors, A/B Split Tests will improve your ability to ‘Get The Cash’.

Mobile Site: How do you look when your customer is staring at you through a 2 inch view screen?

Fans: Hammer It Home

Social Media: Fans are the most valuable resource a business has. Make sure you’re using social to create a ‘sticky’ customer experience.

Reviews: Review sites are hot – Yelp alone got 45 million visitors in January. Are you there? How do you rate?

eMail: Providing helpful content to past customers and interested prospects with a little promo mixed in is still the best driver of traffic and sharing.

SMS: Alerts can drive repeat business if you’re in a time or inventory-sensitive business.

Of course, which specific internet marketing tool – or tool set – you pick depends on your category, your content and  your customer’s needs. In this post – Social Media Marketing Miss – I outline how a marketer could have created content on moustache-dying to met the needs of prospective customer’s during last year’s Movember. PR-SEO would have been a great tool to extend the reach of that particular message.

One tool set I’ve left off is measuring tools but I’ll save that for next week’s Tool Time 2 post.

Hope this helps.

Bob Nunn is an award winning internet marketing consultant based in Toronto passionate about getting brands tuned up for the online age and his toolbelt. He’s the founder of BrandMechanics.ca and a regular speaker and guest blogger. Give him a call to see how Brand Mechanics 11-point internet marketing inspection can identify the right set of tools for you.