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Expanding company activities across the rest of the country

Last reviewed: May 20, 2011 ~25 min read

Marketing

Strategizing and positioning a company through Internet marketing

Businesses the world over have turned to the Internet to market themselves, and those in the United States have used this global tool to reach customers and clients like never before.

While the largest Internet presence is enjoyed by companies in the United States -- and the heavily business influenced areas of Asia -- it has been slow to catch on in commerce in places throughout Europe (Charlesworth 2009).

The Internet is indeed an outlet that can reach customers locally and around the world -- and will represent a business in front of billions. Some businesses and areas, however, are woefully underrepresented in their online presence, denying them ample opportunities for promotion.

The promotional opportunities available through Internet marketing encompass the practices of targeting and positioning, and let a company make strategic choices about their products, services and policies. With Internet marketing, there is the ability to reach an audience larger than ever before -- and more cheaply than any other resource (Ries 2001).

The renovation company Remont, based out of Radom, Poland, is positioned to take advantage of an online presence that is not as common throughout Poland as it is throughout the United States and other areas (Charlesworth 2009). With smaller amounts of companies marking their presence online -- throughout the Mazowieckie region of Poland -- Remont has the ability to become one of the most readily available renovation companies online in the region.

A young company -- as Remont is, established only in 2010 -- has a chance to use Internet marketing to spread the word that has not yet been established through the area.

Remont has a unique opportunity to become known throughout the region -- all while avoiding the networking, business cards, fliers, posters and business-to-business necessities that otherwise might have been the only option.

With as little as three full-time employees and one to three part-time employees, Remont can complete their own Internet marketing during off-constructions hours. This will save money on costs that might otherwise be spent hiring others to market the business, and will attract business and lead to the growth of the company.

With 17% of accepted building permits in the entire country being handed out in their region, Remont has a chance to take advantage of a large client base to establish a name. Once the name is established, the marketing can be automated or outsourced as business grows and increases.

Because Remont is in a market that is stronger than it has ever been in Poland, they can take advantage of a medium that is more important than it has ever been. The $150 billion industry is still growing in Poland, and is expected to continue growing through the following years.

With a high percentage of building and renovation companies in Poland employing the same size of business, Remont can be among the early ones to effectively take hold of the client and customer base through the Internet. Through this marketing technique, Remont will have the chance to take a stranglehold on one aspect of the search for a renovation company -- and one that is seeing the tables tilted favorably in its direction (Ferrell 2008).

The many Internet marketing opportunities available for a business of this size are varied in nature, and are mostly things that can be established and completed by a relative novice. A basic level of Internet understanding will allow the employees and managers of Remont to branch into a presence on the World Wide Web that will position them for exponential increases in business, customers, clients and exposure (Charlesworth 2009).

Marketing the Business

The Internet has revolutionized the way the world lives, communicates and does business. It has opened doors that have never before been open, and provided people with opportunities that have never existed before. This Internet revolution has been a simple way to communicate and get along for some, and for others it has become a way of utilizing a digital gold rush (Charlesworth 2009).

It is not only the advent and explosion of the Internet that is propagating the growth in sales, marketing and advertising on the Internet, but the technology that has made the Internet mobile and more accessible than ever.

Smart phones, notebooks and tablets are making the Internet on the go more realistic, and all of these changes have combined to make making money not only possible, but realistic for many people (Ries 2001).

With this growing use of cell phones, the ability to stay digitally attached at all times is essential to running a business in a low attention span world. It is essential to stay connected at all times, and having this smart mobile technology is one of the most essential things a business can do (Charlesworth 2009). Not only having the technology, but mastering it and allowing it to run every type of transaction that is completed with the Internet business will not only be important, but may make or break the gold rush ideology (Ferrell 2008).

Google, like Facebook, is used by millions of Internet viewers every day, and represents the main method of gathering information for people all around the world. With Google, Web-searchers have the ability to find anything online. Whether they are looking for clients, customers, consumers or businesses, Google will direct them to the ones in their area (Reis 2001).

With Google searches, a business can position themselves to be placed at the top of search engine results by optimizing their page in the correct way. When optimized, the pages will achieve the best results, make the most money and produce the most sales and contacts from potential customers and clients.

The key to moving from a small business to a digital marketing enterprise, there are steps that will have a business attracting clients in ways different than ever before.

To attract customers and clients, a business needs a great brand, outcome and differentiator.

Brand -- The brand needs to be easily identifiable. It needs to have a certain attitude and can be described in just one word.

Outcome -- This step allows a business not to describe the process to clients, but to explain the end product and the goods.

Differentiator -- A business also needs something that sets it apart in their industry. They need something to make them shine above all others in the field. They need to know the competition, and go above and beyond them to excel at their business (Ferrell 2008).

With the steps listed below, Remont can utilize the following to attract customers:

Blogging

Social media networking

Articles

SEO content

Videos

Giveaways

Joint Ventures

Social bookmarking

The next step of the Internet marketing process for Remont is to educate, market and sell to their customers acquired online. Their website should be used to educate others about the process, tell them why the business is special and sell them on buying the services.

Not every single person who visits the website, reads the newsletters or downloads the articles will want to buy the services or come back for the information (Charlesworth 2009).

Although not all of these people will become clients, there is a chance they will tell friends or family about the business' website, and this will attract others to the goods or services.

Catering to Consumers and Would-Be Clients

Remont will have to convert the would-be clients to actual consumers and customers. If they have a client signed up to their eZine, they need them to visit the website and buy the services.

The next step in the process is transforming. Remont will have to transform their potential client into an actual customer. This can be done by delivering on the services and promises, and even over-delivering.

Many may think the process takes a long time, but this is not always the case. The process can be completed quickly by setting up the system and putting it on auto pilot.

In one scenario, the clients may visit Remont's Facebook page, and this may in turn lead them to signing up to the eZine. In this case, the company can then continue to cultivate a relationship with a client as they dig deeper into the product, and they eventually will purchase the goods or services.

With the advent of the Internet, businesses can move thousands of prospects almost instantaneously (Lee 2001).

With the amount of information available on the Internet, people can get overloaded with drab content and with articles and pages that simply fail to deliver anything useful.

Because this is the case, making the content of the highest quality will appeal to visitors on the web. The web pages should provide people with information that they cannot get elsewhere, and products and facts that visitors will find especially useful or entertaining.

Because experts are natural attention magnets, people will flock to someone who is proficient in their field. They will be interested in what someone has to say if they have established themselves as in the know and the authority on a product or service (Reis 2001).

Shorter Sales Cycles

As an expert in the field, Remont will also enjoy the benefit of shorter sales cycles. People who come to them will require less research, and will push more people to their product (Charlesworth 2009). They will approach the site with confidence and they will find them buying quicker than ever.

Joint Ventures

Becoming an expert will also influence others in the trade to seek a business out. They will look to connect with Remont because of their money making potential, and whether they are offering similar or complimentary products, it will enhance business (Reis 2001).

The basics steps of leveraging the Internet must be understood before the technical one, and these following ones will serve as the foundation of the sales approach.

Step 1 -- Be Giving

Having the right attitude on the website is essential for making progress with Internet pages. The company needs to cultivate an attitude of giving, and gift their followers with free samples, free information and free facts and specials.

Step 2 -- Relate with the Customers

The customers and clients should know that the company feels their pain, and they should position themselves to explain their situation in their own words. The company should indicate that they have gone through the same things, and provide the solutions that worked for them. They can explain how they are the same, and explain how the same tactics will work for them.

Step 3 -- Branding

The company should be able to brand their product in just one word or phrase. This is partly important because of the search tendencies of the Internet age, but it should also help consumers to identify them in a simple and concise way. The one word or one phrase brand would allow them to exude the essence of their business without any distractions to the brand (Lee 2001).

Step 4 -- Conveying the Vision

Now that the business is branded with keywords or key phrases, they should make sure that the vision of the brand or company is defined as well. Decide how to get an outcome that you can consistently deliver on. Just like a pizza place promising to deliver in less than 30 minutes or a group telling someone that they are a one stop shop for anything, Remont should be able to convey their vision in a short paragraph or homepage.

These are, in essence, the basics to marketing a brand and producing a successful page. With the basics in mind, they must then move on to the more technical methods.

Step 5 -- Ultimate Communication

With a brand established, the company needs then to determine how they are going to communicate this brand with the world. The premium ways to market are also online, and the beauty of this lies in the multiple ways to convey the same or similar messages or ideas (Charlesworth 2009). They include:

Online videos

Online newsletters

Blogs

Podcasts

Online forums

Social media sites

Wikis

White papers

Public relations

SEO articles

Webinars

Making the Website

Some may think that websites should be listed among these communications channels, but this is untrue. The website will not receive as heavy traffic as other venues, but it is the home page. Whatever product the business is selling, the other forms of communication will garner all of the traffic, and these will drive the visits to the webpage (Lee 2001).

Picking a Domain Name

The domain name for the business is essential to traffic. If should feature a short name, but should not sacrifice what Remont is trying to convey. The domain name should be registered for three months or more, as most new sites can be confused as spamming sites.

Remont then needs to find a server that allows them to pay a cheap fee every month, and one that will give the opportunity to host unlimited email addresses and domain names (Charlesworth 2009).

Professional Design

All of the technical aspects of the page should be outsourced from professionals, and this includes one aspect that can make or break any page. The design of the site should be done with an eye for color and style, and should be outsourced to a professional as your homepage (Ferrell 2008).

Website Navigation

Navigating a website should be a process that will not leave others in confusion. Visitors, consumers and clients should be able to find themselves on a page, and locate all of the essentials without having to worry about clicking a dozen times or going through unnecessary contact pages.

Creating Content

Content, as the saying goes, is king. And this is no different for a website. The company needs to establish their brand with one word, come up with their vision and define the problem that they are trying to solve (Ferrell 2008). All of these steps will help them with the next step: trying to produce excellent content for the visitors. The company will have to determine the following things:

What are you offering?

Who are you trying to reach?

Who have you helped and where is the proof?

What is your company all about and why is it credible?

Traffic

The last step, and perhaps the most important, is driving the traffic to the actual website. This can be done in a number of ways (Lee 2001).

Link from other sites

Linking from other sites will allow a company to reap the rewards of the visitors on other pages. Companies can link a site to blogs and forums, and drive these visitors to their page in droves.

Submit articles

Submitting articles will give Remont the opportunity to get some of their expertise onto the Internet, and leave customers wanting more.

Social media and bookmarking

One of the most popular traffic-driving methods on the Internet, social media like Facebook and Twitter allows a company to reach visitors without any effort. It provides the capability to freely post pages to sites like StumbleUpon, Digg and Reddit (Ferrell 2008).

Knowing marketing and bookmarking

For any website, it is essential to know why there need to be more.

The company's page needs to attract visitors, and the best way to do this is with blogs, eZines and social media sites. The website is worthless unless it gets visitors, and these methods help to attract visitors.

Remont needs to keep their content to a certain quality standard, as one time visitors will not help them. These are also the types of visitors that will not suggest the page to others. They need people coming back and people giving good reviews of the site.

The Internet is among the best ways to stay connected, and if people like what they are seeing with a website, they will take the small amount of time to email the site or send it along it a tweet or Facebook post (Ferrell 2008).

eZines

eZines are one of these three popular ways to attract customers, and the eZines that are available will allow the company to deliver emails and newsletters in the form of an article.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

In the not so recent past of ink and paper, businesses could easily market themselves to a whole new population of customers by spending their money on things like print advertisements. With the Yellow Pages, newspaper, TV Advertisements, the radio, direct mail and the early days of the Internet, marketing was pretty straightforward. Now, in a wireless and modernized marketplace, the only advertising medium seeing results is the Internet. To understand why, a company should first take a look at the other mediums, to learn how we arrived (Lee 2001).

This is like having just one phone book to advertise, except that phone book is no longer the Yellow Pages, but Google. Nearly every person using the Internet is seeing the ads on Google, and making your ad the top of the page is a top priority for everyone.

E-mail marketing

Another top method of marketing a blog or webpage, e-mail marketing will allow the company to squeeze the most out of their site even when people are not visiting the site (Charlesworth 2009).

Like sending fliers or advertisements in the postal mail, e-mail marketing allows a company to reach users that may have never heard of the page.

By using e-mail marketing, the company can alert readers or potential readers of what is going on with the site, why they should visit the site and it can tease them with some of the value and important information that is being provided on the site (Ferrell 2008).

With e-mail marketing a company can send people the following:

small lessons that illustrate what can be found on their page

The e-mail campaign should provide some value, but should not make the content on the website irrelevant (Ferrell 2008).

It should encourage people to use the content in your e-mail, and then go to the site for further value and information.

E-mail marketing can make or break the blog or niche website, and that is why it has become so important to many pages and so widely used.

Optimizing the Blog for the Search Engines

Half of the job is done with the blog set up, the niche established and the idea behind the monetizing established as well (Charlesworth 2009). Now that the company has this done, it is time to optimize the blog for the search engines that will be such a large part of determining how much money is made.

Optimizing the blog page is done in two ways, both of which are essential to the process. These ways are:

On page optimization

Off page optimization

On page optimization is done by posting key phrase for specific pieces of content in your blogs and on your pages. The company will need to post the keywords into the blog and the title, and tag them with these keywords (Lee 2001).

The off page optimization is done by linking the page with these keywords. When off page optimizing, the company should be sure to use keywords that will attract the most visitors to your site, and will give them exactly what they are looking for and what it says that you will be giving them (Charlesworth 2009).

When creating sub-blogs, Remont will not need as many links, but in bigger markets and networks, they will have to accept thousands of incoming links before they can start earning money. The reasons to optimize a page include: