More Virtual Tools for Your Marketing Mix

Last month we gave you a rundown of all the web-based options you have to know about to keep pace with this swiftly evolving landscape in "New Age Marketing: A Primer." This month we'll outline several other virtual marketing tools to add to your marketing mix.

Link swapping
This is a great way to boost your search engine rankings organically. What that means is that your site comes up ahead of your competitors' after a prospect or client inputs certain keywords. For example, if you are an interior designer in Charleston, South Carolina, your goal is to come up on the first page in Google when someone types in the search words: "interior designer, Charleston, South Carolina." You can boost your rankings organically when 1) Your website is coded by an expert and well-written by a web copywriter and 2) You have established strong and sensible links to your site from online advertising, blogging or through link swapping with industry peers, vendors or clients.

Blogs: 'Blue Jeans Marketing'
Blogging is another way to boost your website rankings in Google and other search engines, and to reap additional hefty side benefits. Think of a blog as "blue jeans marketing": Where your website wears formal attire, your blog allows for casual conversation and news dissemination.

Done well, a blog is another platform for interaction. It's a laid-back, online vehicle where you can showcase your expertise. It's easily accessed by clients and prospects, and it can be forwarded to more new prospects. Last but not least--depending on how you set it up--a blog is extremely affordable. Typepad.com charges $5 a month. Blogger.com and WordPress.com are free, though if you want bells and whistles, you need to go through WordPress.org, which charges a small monthly fee.

Podcasting
Many people expect more than static interaction from their business partners, social media outlets and advertising options. Podcasting is an audio format that allows people to listen to you, a client, a prospect or someone you've paid to act as a spokesperson. You can podcast through free open source options, for a monthly fee through AudioAcrobat or via your own digital recording tool.

Since it's a digital Mp3 file, it can be posted on your website, sent via e-mail, linked on your blog, inserted in your e-newsletter, or uploaded to your iPod or the (crazily cheap) newbie San Disk.

Podcasting may not be for everyone. But it's fast becoming expected even in more conservative venues. So whether you sell tires, consult with nonprofits or manufacture green products, podcasting should be on your radar screen as a way to introduce your product or service, promote your services through testimonials, give a class or sell your intellectual property.

Web 2.0: Social Communities
Web 2.0 is the latest trend in verbal, virtual and video interaction. Whatever you do, there's a community of like-minded souls aching to connect. Whether you sell antique quilts or IT networking solutions, online communities such as Twitter (which connects folks who answer one question: "What are you doing now?"), LinkedIn (American Express Open's business networking platform), MySpace (where you can watch indie bands, dancing cockatoos and business video clips), Facebook (virtual videos are swiftly enabling millions of people to chat, share ideas, reach out to old college or high school contacts and do business) and YouTube (another video-based interaction and social news platform used by American Idol wannabes, silly people in general and "cool" companies). Some get noticed by lots of people. Take Paul Potts: A YouTube video of him singing "Nessun Dorma" on Britain's Got Talent TV show had been watched by 22,811,872 people around the world as of April 1. 

While there are literally tens of thousands of videos uploaded and millions of Twitters happening each day, Kathy Fealy, president of KF Multimedia & Web Inc. in Pearl River, New York, still believes these online vehicles can be worked from two angles.

First, they can operate as stylish marketing tools--for example, a three-minute video clip featuring an industry tip that you can promote to clients and prospects. But the angle I love even more: Your YouTube (or other social community post) acts as a good ol' organic SEO tool, because it's yet another byte for the spiders to read as they crawl the web looking for data that links back to your website.
 
Online Advertising
When it comes to web-based marketing options, unless you're living under a rock, you should be advertising online in some way. I pay for tile or leaderboard ads on websites of trade and professional organizations I belong to, as well as a regional chamber of commerce website. It might make more sense for you to buy an online featured listing on your local daily newspaper's site. No matter what your budget is, consider buying a featured online listing in YellowPages.com (or Yellowbook or Superpages.com).

Do your homework and find out where your prospects shop, get their news, listen to music or do their research, and get an online campaign going. Any online listing or tile ad that is hyperlinked back to your website helps build your brand on the site where it's listed, while driving traffic to your website. And that's why your website better be set up to work as an amazing sales engine from the get-go, through imaginative design, great keyword-enriched wordsmithing, intuitive menus, easy-to-navigate setup, etc. A freebie for those in the bridal business: Get listed on The Knot.com.

Pay-Per-Click Advertising
Whether you use Google AdWords, Yahoo! Search Marketing or Microsoft adCenter, pay-per-click advertising is an online marketing option you need to incorporate into your annual marketing budget. Accounts can be opened with as little as $5, with cost-per-click bidding starting at .05 cents. But you get what you pay for. So many online marketers advise a minimum investment of $500 per month, with a higher cost per click, for four to six months at a clip.

For small firms dipping a toe into this forum, Fealy suggests a minimum investment of about $10 a day as an initial outlay for Google AdWords, though other business owners have gotten decent results from local targeted campaigns spending $75 to $100 per month. The great thing about this tool is that you are in the driver's seat. You can use free tutorials to help you choose strong keywords and set your own budget, so there are no surprises.

New virtual marketing platforms--such as mobile phone advertising--seem to hit the market every day. Use this primer to help you choose the right web-based choices for your business, budget and geographic footprint, so you'll get the most bang for your buck.