Internet Marketing for Small Business Mistakes

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By: Artfully Advantageous LLC

Find Out How to Get More Customers - Call Today (352) 227-1959

Or Visit Us at http://www.artfully-advantageous.com/



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While online marketing presents some extremely great opportunities for
small businesses today, many of them have yet to reap the rewards.

Consumers today spend a lot of time online, so the internet is an extremely
powerful way to get in front of your local target market and generate more
leads, sales, and profits.

However, some companies are going about the whole process the wrong
way. Whether they are attempting to handle all of their online marketing
themselves, or not really engaging in it at all, there are some critical
mistakes that should be avoided.

In this report, we will discuss some of the most popular online marketing
mistakes that business owners today are making. Not only are these
mistakes completely avoidable, but some of them could actually be
detrimental to the success of your local business.

Mistake #1: Not Keeping Your Existing Customers Coming Back

Did you know that, generally speaking, 80% of business comes from
“existing” customers while 20% comes from “new” customers? Failing to
market to your existing customers could have an extremely negative
impact on your profits; while you wonder why you’re struggling to meet
your goals.

Generating repeat sales is so much easier than bringing brand new
customers through the door. However, many businesses still ignore this
fact and spend all of their time, money and efforts going after brand new
business.

While actively seeking new business is definitely a good thing, ignoring
your existing customers is the worst costly mistake you could make.

Several online marketing methods work very well for generating repeat
business, such as social media, email marketing, text message
marketing, video marketing, local search engine optimization, and others.

These tools help you stay in front of your existing customers, as well as
build long-lasting, trusting relationships with them; this ultimately means
more repeat sales and an increased ROI. However, many companies fail
to utilize them.

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In order to truly stay connected with their customers, businesses should
seriously implement some of these powerful online strategies into their
marketing funnels.

Mistake #2: Not Targeting Your Efforts

Many business owners go online in a “broad” manner to tell the world
about their products or services. However, “targeting” your marketing
efforts is the better route to go if you really want to get results –
especially online.

Learn “who” your online audience is, figure out what they want and need,
then give it to them in the form of your product or service.

If you only want to generate business from local consumers, be sure your
online marketing strategies include location-based content and keywords
in order to pull in that particular audience.

The great thing about online marketing is that you can target your efforts
as narrow or as wide as you want. Split testing and tracking different
marketing angles is the best way to fine-tune your efforts. It is easy and
affordable, unlike more expensive forms of advertising such as
newspapers, magazines, TV ads, direct mail, YellowPage books, etc.

Mistake #3: Relying on “One” Method

Many online marketing strategies work together to bring businesses more
local visibility and exposure. Therefore, small businesses should try to
incorporate more than one method and tie them together for better
results.

For instance, if you have a website, don’t stop at just having a website.
There are many other methods that should be implemented into your
website to boost effectiveness.

If you have social media pages, make sure they are linked on your
website. If you do email marketing, make sure you have an opt-in form
on your website.

Otherwise, you will miss numerous opportunities to get more eyes on
your products or services.

Mistake #4: Losing Focus

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While you should not fully rely on “one” particular online method, it is
important that you do not lose focus and become a victim of “shiny object
syndrome.”

Although there are many different online marketing methods around
today, some businesses simply try to do too much too fast. Of course, all
of these tools are tempting and exciting when you think about the traffic
they could send to your business.

However, you should start with just a few clearly-planned strategies and
build from there instead of jumping into everything with both feet. If you
delve into too many things at once, it will become complicated, which
could turn you off from the entire process.

Keep it simple for the best results and move forward from there. This
way, you can learn the processes as you go and really get a feel for which
methods can work best for your type of business.

Mistake #5: Only Using “Paid” Online Methods

Companies are naturally used to paying for advertising – it’s been one of
the most dominate ways to get more customers for decades. Therefore,
many business owners jump into “online advertising” methods, but ignore
“online marketing” methods. Yes, there is a difference.

Online advertising consists of paid online methods such as pay-per-click,
banners, Facebook ads, and others.

Online marketing consists of different campaigns that are created to
inform, educate, and build relationships with your local audience. It also
includes methods that help put your business in front of your target
market without spending a lot of money, such as social media, search
engine optimization, email marketing, and video marketing.

While these services may have initial setup costs, once you’ve established
a strong presence using them, your costs will go down – while your
exposure, sales, and profits should go up.

Mistake #6: Not Paying Attention to Your Competitors Online

Do you know what your competitors are doing as far as online marketing?
If not, how do you know what you should be doing to “out-perform” them
when it comes to getting more local consumers into your establishment?

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Competitor analysis has always been a key focus for most companies.
However, many businesses today have no clue what their competitors are
doing “online.”

The internet makes it easy to spy on your competition, so your business
should take advantage of this opportunity. Having some insight about
what your competitors are doing online can help you determine some
potential missing pieces in your own business.

While it is not a good idea to copy exactly what your competitors are
doing, it is important that you know what they’re up to so you can plan
your own strategies accordingly.

Otherwise, you turn a blind eye while they steal your customers and lose
profits.

Mistake #7: No Customer Interaction Online

The internet allows you to easily build relationships with your target
market, but many business owners do not communicate with their
customers online at all.

Today’s internet world is all about “socialization” and “relationship-
building,” so businesses are finding that they have to become more
engaging in order to keep their customers’ attention.

Tools such as email marketing, text message marketing, local directory
listings, and social media (just to name a few) present the perfect way for
you to interact with your customers, as well as potential customers.

The internet is the perfect way to build interaction and engagement with
your target audience in your local market; however, many businesses still
fail to use it to its full potential.

Mistake #8: Not Analyzing Your Online Efforts

Many small businesses are doing a good job as far as expanding their
online marketing efforts. However, some of them do not pay attention to
how well these strategies are working for them.

Some businesses simply implement online methods and do not re-visit
them – ever. For instance, a lot of companies send out email offers to
their customers, but do not track open rates, click-through rates, and

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other statistics. So they have no idea how well their emails are really
performing.

They’re not using any analytic tools, which could show them what’s
working well and what’s not working at all. Without this information, they
could potentially be throwing money away and leaving some massive
opportunities on the table.

Mistake #9: Not Using Viral Marketing

The internet has laid the foundation for consumers to share information,
products, and services they love with their friends, family, and associates.
In other words, it is the new form of “word of mouth” marketing.

With many of the social media sharing tools available today, consumers
can easily forward information they like to others.

However, many business owners are not taking advantage of this; they
don’t have sharing tools built into their online properties and they don’t
have calls-to-action telling their customers to spread the word.

So they miss out on this major ability to get more “hands-free” exposure
without any additional work or money being spent on their part.

Mistake #10: Not Taking the Time to Learn About Online
Marketing

Online marketing is a beast – there’s a lot to it. However, it should not
deter businesses from tapping into its power to help them boost their
bottom line.

Many business owners become confused by the different types of online
marketing available to them, so they avoid it all together. Then, there are
those business owners who have others doing their online marketing for
them, but they’re blind to the entire process. Both of these are huge
mistakes.

As a business owner, by no means should you struggle try to become an
internet marketing expert yourself. But as with any other type of
marketing vehicle, it is important that you understand at least the basics
of the different online marketing tools available to you.

This way, you will have some understanding about how things should
work, what you can expect, and how long it will take you to see results.

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Otherwise, you are simply leaving the ball in someone else’s court - with
your business at their mercy.

Mistake #11: Trying the “Do-it-Yourself” Approach

While they may not be fully there yet, some business owners do
understand the benefits that online marketing bring to their success. They
understand that as times change, their marketing and advertising
strategies must change as well if they want to flourish.

However, some of them tend to think they can take care of their online
marketing themselves – all while running their business at the same time.
Honestly, there are not enough hours in a day for business owners to
effectively learn and implement online marketing all by themselves while
running a business too.

While it is important for you to learn and understand the fundamentals of
different online techniques, the actual work should be left to the
professionals if you want to get results.

Building a website, managing and engaging in social media, gaining
higher search engine rankings, creating and distributing online videos,
and other marketing tasks take a lot of time to plan, implement, and
monitor. So if you want it done right, hire qualified specialists who can
help you get the job done.

Mistake #12: Not Having a Strong, Clear Call-to-Action

Many businesses are actively communicating with consumers via online
methods, but they’re making one huge mistake that is probably costing
them thousands of dollars in potential profits – not including a call-to-
action.

No matter what type of communication or online marketing method
you’re using, you should include strong calls-to-action that tell your
audience to “do something.”

For instance, your website should have a call-to-action posted on all
pages, but especially the home page. Not only that, but your email
newsletters, coupon offers, Tweets, Facebook posts, should all have a
clear, short call-to-action built in to help your audience take action.

Mistake #13: Failing to Update Your Online Information

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Some businesses make the critical mistake of establishing an online
presence, but fail to keep it up to date. For instance, many businesses
put up a website years ago and have not touched it since.

They haven’t updated the look and feel. They haven’t updated the
content. They haven’t updated the images. They haven’t done any on-
page optimization.

The internet world is ever-changing and stagnant websites are being left
behind in the dust. The search engines love fresh, unique content and so
do your website visitors.

But the worst case scenario is the business that moves to a different
address or get a new phone number, but fails to even update that
information. Some of them think there’s no need to update the
information because “no one is going to their site anyway.”

The fact is that many of them are not totally sure how many people are
hitting their site because they’re not tracking it.

Not only that, but let’s say ONE potential customers stumbles across your
site, but can’t connect with you because your phone number is outdated
as well as your address… that could hurt your credibility and potentially
result in lost revenue.

Any way you look at it, outdated information is simply bad for business
because it essentially “blocks” new business.

Mistake #14: Using the “Set It and Forget It” Approach

This simply does not work for online marketing methods. The internet is
constantly changing and evolving

Most online strategies require on-going improvement and updates if you
really want to connect with local consumers. For instance, some
businesses put up a Facebook or Twitter page, but never go back to
engage with their followers.

However, without the proper maintenance, you will lose any followers you
obtained, which ends up being a waste of your time.

Mistake #15: Using “Robotic” Content

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While some things can be automated online, the last thing you want is for
everyone to “know” it’s automated. Therefore, if you’re using some type
of automation techniques to updates to your social media profiles,
sending out emails, or writing blog posts, try to incorporate some
personality into them instead of sounding …well… “robotic.”

Engaging, helpful content is more exciting and will produce greater
results as many consumers are turned off to boring, systematic content.

Mistake #16: Not Using Social Media

Social media is one of the most cost-effective ways for businesses today
to generate new leads and customers. However, many businesses still
avoid it for some reason.

Consumers today spend an extreme amount of time online – especially on
various social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Google+
and others.

So it only makes sense that you try to establish a presence on these
networks in order to truly connect with your target local audience.

Mistake #17: Not Using Video Marketing

People today are watching millions of hours of online videos. In fact,
online video views are growing at astonishing rates with no signs of
slowing down.

Videos allow businesses to showcase their products and services, as well
as build trust with their viewers – all on auto-pilot. Once your videos are
created, published, and distributed, there’s really nothing left to do but
let them work to generate more leads to your business.

Unfortunately, there are many business owners out there who still do not
see the value in online videos and how they can help them excel.

Mistake #18: Not Using Email Marketing

Email usage has been one of the main activities on the internet since it
was invented. It’s easy, fast and cost-effective. In fact, it’s a great way to
generate repeat sales and loyal customers.

However, many business owners are still not using this powerful tool to
stay connected with their customers and potential customers.

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Email marketing is proven to help companies build relationships with their
customers and keep them coming back to spend more money.

Mistake #19: Not Posting Satisfied Customer Reviews and
Testimonials

Social proof is one of the biggest selling tools any company can have;
people simply place a lot of value on what other consumers say about a
product, service, or business. However, many business owners still do not
make a point to showcase what they’re “satisfied” customers are saying
about them.

Not only do testimonials let potential customers know that you have
satisfied customers, but they can also get some details about “why” your
customers are so happy with you.

Customer reviews and testimonials can be added to your website, social
media pages, and you can even have your customers submit video
testimonials.

When it comes to the internet, the more “positive” content there is about
your company floating around, the easier it will be for you to convert
potential customers into paying, long-term customers.

Mistake #20: Not Utilizing Free Local Business Directories,
Profiles, and Review Sites

Speaking of customer reviews, local business directories are extremely
influential in what your potential customers see first about your company.

When consumers perform searches online for local products, services,
and businesses, they are usually presented with local directory listings,
paid listings, and organic listings.

You’ve probably heard of Google+ Local, Yelp, Yahoo Local and similar
sites.

Local directory listings receive a lot of attention because they usually
contain information about the business such as phone number, address,
directions/map, and reviews from other customers.

Before choosing a business, many consumers go through these reviews
with a fine tooth comb and generally decide to go with those that have a
nice amount of positive reviews.

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However, many businesses are not claiming their local directory profiles;
they also are not paying attention to the feedback being left on these
sites, which can be detrimental to their ability to generate new
customers.

Worst of all, many still do not ask their customers to go online to leave
reviews for them.

Mistake #21: Not Managing and Monitoring Your Online
Reputation

Imagine one of your angry customers going online to tell the world how
much they hate your product or service…

Now imagine one of your potential customers coming across this negative
review… What about THREE potential customers? Or even TWENTY
potential customers? What could this do to your business?

That’s right… it could HURT a lot.

But if you don’t know about it, what can you do about it?

Consumers today flock to several online platforms such as social media
and local directories such as Yelp, Citysearch, and Google+ Local to tell
the world what they think about local companies in their areas – both
good and bad – although, it seems like more “bad” is commented on than
the “good.”

However, if you do not take the time to figure out what is being said
about your business, you have no chance of addressing it. Without
addressing it, you are simply hurting your ability to generate new sales.

Studies show that consumers fully trust the comments and reviews made
by other consumers – whether what they read is true or not. So any
business that is not monitoring and managing their online reputation
could suffer some extremely risky outcomes that may be hard to repair.

Is this a chance your business can afford to take?

Mistake #22: Ignoring Mobile Users

How many of your customers do you see glued to their mobile phones on
a daily basis? Most of us do not let our phones out of our sight. Therefore,

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these mini billboards are the perfect way to connect – and stay connected
– with your local customers and potential customers.

One of the top mobile web activities is using the internet. However, many
companies still not have mobile-friendly websites. So their mobile website
visitors end up stuck on a site that takes forever to load – if it even loads
at all.

This is extremely frustrating to mobile users who are actively looking for
your type of product or service, which means you are missing out on
sales.

Many companies have not thought about implementing text message
marketing either, which can be very profitable as well. Consumers love to
receive mobile coupons and offers from businesses that they’ve opted-in
to receive text message from.

Ignoring your mobile audience is like leaving money on the table – and it
will only get worse as mobile usage continues to grow and extremely high
rates over the next few years.

Mistake #23: Being Impatient

Online marketing methods take time to get results – that’s just the way it
is. There are no magical tricks that can instantly send a tsunami of traffic
through your doors – that just doesn’t exist.

Some business owners believe that there is an “internet secret code” they
need to crack to really get a rush of local consumers calling and visiting
their establishments.

But the reality is that any internet marketing method will take time, so
patience is a must. Whether you are building a strong social media
marketing campaign or doing search engine optimization, do not expect
to see a change overnight.

However, being patient is worth the wait because once things really start
to take off, there’s nowhere to go but “up” from there as long as you stay
consistent.

Mistake #24: Not Providing Online Customer Service

Since consumers today are so “internet-oriented,” many of them prefer to
go online to contact businesses if they have a customer service issue.

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This could be via a contact form on your website, your email address,
your social media page, or any other online platform where the company
has a presence.

However, many business owners still make the huge mistake of
neglecting to acknowledge and respond to customer services inquiries
made online.

If you are serious about establishing a positive online presence, you have
to respond to your online customers. In other words, customers who
choose to contact you online should not be treated any differently than
those who actually come into your establishment or call you up on the
phone.

Because the internet is so “viral” in nature, neglecting to respond to
customer service issues could result in a tarred reputation for your
company, which is the last thing you want.

Therefore, business owners should implement procedures that ensure
that online customer service issues are identified promptly and handled
within an appropriate amount of time.

Mistake #25: Giving Up on Online Marketing and Going Back to
Traditional Methods

Some business owners have tried to add online marketing into their mix.
But for some reason or another, they did not stick with it long enough to
really see how it could impact their success.

This is a huge mistake because online marketing takes focus, time, and
dedication in order for it to work properly. Some business owners are a
little impatient with the process; so if they do not see any results within a
small time-frame, they move on to the next thing.

Many are afraid of online marketing because, in their world, it’s the
“unknown.” While it does take time to understand and implement various
online marketing techniques, there’s nothing to be afraid of. In fact, if
you work with it long enough, you could eventually see some astonishing
results.

Traditional advertising methods cost a lot more money than online
marketing methods. However, a “higher cost” does not mean “more
effective.” In fact, you could be throwing your money right down the

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drain if you’re still heavily invested in these older methods that do not
generate the responses they once did.

For instance, how many people do you know who still pull out their
YellowPages book to find local business? Sure, we use them as booster-
seats nowadays… but not for finding local businesses.

How many people still actually purchase newspapers to stay on top of the
latest news? Yes, some people can’t let go of their favorite newspapers,
but on a large-scale, newspapers are quickly losing ground when it comes
getting news.

And have you seen the newspaper classified sections lately? They’re like a
ghost town.

How many people still watch TV commercials? With the invention of TiVo
and other digital recording mechanisms available today, people have the
option to watch their favorite TV shows and fast forward right through the
commercials.

So not only are traditional advertising methods more costly, but they fail
to generate the same type of return that you may have been once used
to.

The Internet moves fast; what worked last year or even last month may
not work today. With all of the new online tools and methods being
available to businesses today, many of them get lost in the shuffle.

However, with any methods you choose, consistency is the key. As long
as you continuously monitor and improve your efforts, you should get the
results you expect and the ROI you deserve.

I help local businesses in the area analyze their online marketing efforts, as
well as develop plans to help them continuously manage and improve them
going forward.

If you would like more information about potential online marketing
mistakes your business should avoid, contact me at ____________ for a
free consultation.

Thank you,

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By: Artfully Advantageous LLC

Find Out How to Get More Customers - Call Today (352) 227-1959

Or Visit Us at http://www.artfully-advantageous.com/



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Internet Marketing for Small Business Mistakes

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