This document provides an overview of effective web-based marketing strategies for small businesses. It discusses using a combination of digital marketing techniques, including building an optimized website, search engine optimization, social media engagement, and paid advertising. The presentation recommends starting with defining the target audience and unique value proposition, then developing content and an online presence across multiple digital channels. Metrics and ongoing optimization are important to measure success and improve digital marketing efforts over time.

1. Effective Web-Based Marketing
For Small Businesses
Feb. 25, 2014
OhioBusinessHelp.com
Business and Leadership Coaching
937-985-0481

2. Art Helmstetter
Founder, B2Blanner Ltd.
• Experience:
 Business Marketing and Sales
 Strategic Planning
 Service business Development
• Owner/partner in 3 small businesses
• Grew two businesses from 0 to $25 million
• 35 years - business & management experience
• Education and Registration:
 MBA, BS & MS Engineering,
 Professional Engineer

3. Workshop Overview
• Marketing 101
• Where digital marketing fits
• Elements of digital marketing
•
•
•
•
Planning a website
Building a website
Search Engine Optimization
Use of Social Media
• Next Steps

4. Marketing 101
Your business plan MUST answer these questions
and define HOW you will do it.
Who You Sell To?
How You Beat the
Competition?
How You Make Profit
Defines WHERE you market
(audience)
States your UNIQUENESS for
Your “marketing message”
(message)
Determines what you are
selling and at what price.
(offer)

5. Marketing and the
Role of Digital Marketing
Mass Media TV, Radio, Print
Digital and Web Based
Location & Face to Face
Promotions & Packaging

6. Use Both Inbound and
Outbound Mar keting

7. Cost Per Impression of
Advertising
Source: Chris R. Keller,
Profitworks.com

8. Why Digital is Important?

9. Where You Need to Be
In Digital

10. 7 Reasons Small
Companies Love Online
1. It is low cost
2. It can be highly targeted (audience)
3. Results are easily measurable
4. Quality is economical – you look BIG
5. It is real time
6. It is scalable to (millions)
7. It can be one-to-one and personal

11. The Web Fits between Mass
Media and Face to face Contact
• Small Businesses can use the Web to capture some
of the benefits of personal contact, yet avoid some of
the costs inherent in FTF customer management

12. Your Website is the hub
of your marketing plan

13. STEP 1. Website
Development
• Planning for the Site
• Acquiring the Site
• Website Optimization
• Social Media

14. Decide Your Site’s Purpose
Typical uses:
• Build awareness of your brand and products
 online brochure
• Distribute information that saves staff resources
 hours, location, services
• Build relationships and get visitor identity information
 offer a newsletter or free report in exchange for an email address
 Provide social media buttons for twitter, Facebook etc.
• Perform e-commerce, sell and deliver product/service

15. Consider Your Audience(s)
You first think of:
• Existing customers
• Potential customers
But there will be:
• Competitors
• Vendors
• Potential lenders
• Potential investors
• Potential
employees
• Existing employees
• Press

16. Build A “Responsive” Site
A responsive site displays well on mobile devices like phones and tablets –
example not responsive

17. Step 2. Website Acquisition
• Planning for the Site
• Acquiring the Site
• Website Optimization
• Social Media

18. Domain Name
• What is a Domain Name?
• What Domain Name should I get?
 Company Name if well known
 Include Keyword Phrases - function, location,
etc.
• Where to go to RENT domain name
 Any Internet Service Provider (ISP)
 register.com
 godaddy.com
• Need a hosting ISP to house your site
 Own this process!

19. findmyhosting.com
One of the comparison tools to assist in selecting your host:
findmyhosting.com

20. Building The Website
 Do it yourself (DIY)




Can I spare the time
Do I have the skills?
Can I get affordable training?
Do I want control of my website?
 Hire a website developer


Do I have the money to hire someone?
Am I okay with having someone else in control?

21. Do It Yourself ?
Pros
Cons
• You control your website
 Frequency of Updates
 Speed of updates
 Ensure Content
• Less Expensive
• You don’t have to rely on
someone else’s schedule.
• Takes time to update
• The learning curve
• You may not get the best
features

22. If You Hire A Developer
• Have a signed contract
–
–
–
–
Retain ownership of domain name
Own all content (copyright)
Where applicable own the code (assignment)
Pay as work progresses (progress payments)
• Stay involved and meet frequently

23. Web Build Strategy
Start Package
$$
Intermediate Package
$$$$
Home
Home
Enterprise Package
$$$$$$$$
Home

24. Website Building Costs
• One time costs – Front End
 Web site creation/setup
 Graphics, photos
 Domain name(s), building client databases
 (your time) for site content development
• Recurring operating costs - Ongoing
 Hosting
 Maintenance/modifications
 Web site management (you or your delegate)

25. Estimated Front End Costs
•
•
•
Custom developed website
• $1,500 to $7,000
• 20 – 100+ hours of your time
Developer site using a website builder
• $500-$1200
• 40 – 100+ hours of your time
Do it yourself website (DIY):
• $300-500
• 50 - 200+ hours of your time

26. Ongoing Costs
Domain Name Rental
$8-$30 (annually)
Hosting Service
$5-$200 (monthly)
Site Maintenance
$0-$500 (monthly)
Search Engine Listings $0-$2000 (annually)
$100 - $2,000 per year

27. Use Professional Images
Have your products professionally photographed.
or …
buy professional stock photos:
www.istockphoto.com
www.photodisc.com
www.corbis.com
www.gettyimages.com
Remember copyright laws apply
to the internet

28. Example Template
for Wor dpress

29. Website Optimization
• Planning for the Site
• Acquiring the Site
• Website Optimization
• Social Media

30. Organic vs. Paid Results
People click in the organic results 75% of the time!

31. How They Rank You
Over 85% of web searches are done on Google
Search Engine “crawlers” index site content like a library index to
find the best key word matches
Google’s method to rank listings is Top Secret !
Ranking Factors include:





“Freshness” of the site content
Publishing media, blogs, social media, etc.
Key word match to site content or name
Site traffic volume
Links to and from the site

32. Key Words for Organic Results
Use keywords that describe your
products/services
Use keywords that indicate where you do
business
Optimize keyword phrases within your site that
have a higher a number of searches. (see
analytics)
Review your competition’s online presence. Look
at the top 10 sites (check out keyword phrases,
etc)
Look at the number of listings for searched
keywords on Google. Stay away if more than 5
million
85% of searches are 2 words or more.

33. You Have 60 Seconds…
You have LESS than a minute to engage a visitor
5-10 seconds
looking for
5-10 seconds
what they are looking for
Decide if you do what they are
Navigate to find details about
20-30 seconds
Compare and evaluate your
information, services, products, case studies, etc.
5-10 seconds to
Convert (find a phone number,
complete a form, link to email, bookmark etc.)

34. Maintenance Tasks
• Content management
 Change 15-20% of site content per month
• Site maintenance
 Avoid “linkrot” – check each link monthly
 Analyze traffic (hits by day/week/month, etc.)
• Client feedback
 Use a separate website related email address
 Respond daily!

35. With Google Analytics You Can
MEASURE YOUR RESULTS

36. Analytics Dashboard

37. You Can See How People
Use Your Site

38. Use FREE Google Tools
Google Analytics – captures information about
the way users behave on your site.
(www.google.com/analytics)
Google Adword Keywords
Submit site to Google Index (new site)
Create a free Google and Yahoo Local Listing –
and get reviews
Get Reviews and create offers on Google
Local/Maps

39. Optimize Results through
Directories and Link Building
Submit your website to free submission directories and create
a profile:
Google http://www.Google.com/LocalBusinessCenter
Yahoo
BING
Yelp
Merchant Circle
Use Yext to check your status: www.yext.com
Link your site to other sites:
Trade organizations
Groups in your industry through social media

40. Get Reviews

41. Email
• Get contact information – website, social media, advertising
• Manage email campaignshttp://email-marketing-service-review.toptenreviews.com/
•
•
•
•
Obey anti-spam laws
ALWAYS send useful information and promotions
Integrate with other marketing
Services – Constant Contact, Mail Chimp, etc.

42. When To Pay
The Other 25% of Searches
Paid listings and ads increase your traffic
Google adwords piggybacks on searches
–
You can target who and where to show your ad
–
You “pay per click” from $.10 to $1
–
Google Express ads are effective but cost $3-$10
Source: Chris R. Keller, Profitworks.com

43. Social Media Marketing
• Planning for the Site
• Acquiring the Site
• Website Optimization
• Social Media

44. Digital Marketing
Interactions

45. Get Social With
Media

46. What is Social Media?
• Social Media are Web Sites and online forums
that allow people and businesses to interact
• Places – Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Blogs, etc.
• Content - Words, Pictures, Videos, Music, Apps
• Purpose - Business Application, interests
46

47. Why Use Social Media?
•
Search Engines (Google) Love Social Media and
Blogs (Google +)
•
Drives traffic to your website or business
•
People use the web to get more of their information
•
It replaces personal “word of mouth” marketing
•
•
•
People trust referrals from friends
You stay in touch with customers
It is informal and relaxed, people are open and
receptive to your message/branding
17

48. Match Social Media To
Your Marketing Plan
Marketing
Create awareness
Need identification
Source discovery
Sales
Create purchase preference
Trust
Service
Meeting customer expectations
Receiving complaints
Marketing
(Awareness)
Sales
(Action)
Service
(CRM)

49. Social Media Etiquette
• Be helpful and conversational (SOCIAL)
• Respond to inquiries promptly
• Focus on areas related to your business
– Tips on how to save money or time
•
•
•
•
Provide RELEVANT and interesting content
Make it brief, timely, current
Focus on one place at a time
Set up a business page

50. The Social Big Three + 2
– (www.linkedin.com) B2B (270 MM)
• Business Professionals, Male
– (www.facebook.com) B2C (1.4 billion)
• Females 18-29
– (www.twitter.com) B2B & B2C (230 MM)
• Urban 18-29
- (www.google.com) B2B & B2C (600 MM)
• Strongest Search Engine Impact
- (www.pinterest.com) B2C (70 MM)
• Women under 50
50

51. Facebook Business Page
https://www.facebook.com/business/build

52. Google Plus Page

53. Linked In Company Page

54. Rules of Social
Engagement
– Protect your privacy
• Birth Date, Maiden Name, Home Address
– Account Setup
• Employees access?
• Keep Track of logins
– Think before you post/link/friend/tweet
• Customers?
• Competitors?
– Pick One, Get Really Good, Move On

55. Optimizing for Google
Set Up a Google account
– Index your new site
– Set analytics up for your site
– Create a Google+ page and create a business page
– Register as an author and link to your site and google+ page
https://plus.google.com/authorship
– Get Google reviews
– Start a google blog and link to your google+ page
http://www.blogger.com

56. Content is King
In Online Marketing
How can you get good content?
– Do it yourself
– Use other people’s (with attribution & links)
• Applicable to your business or location
• Especially if there is good media
– Leverage your best content
• An ebook or article -> Blog -> Post -> Twitter
– Events
•
•
•
•
Publicity
Photos
Videos
Posts – from attendees

57. Events create great
content for marketing

58. Three Things to Do Today
• Write down the marketing message that
makes you unique and states your offer
• Define the audience that you are targeting
• Select the media that reaches your audience
Then Get Started Using These Tools

59. If You Need More Help
Contact Us to Integrate Your Online Marketing
With Your Business Strategy
Or
To Develop Your Business Model
www.OhioBusinessHelp.com/contact
art@OhioBusinessHelp.com
www.linkedin.com/in/arthelmstetter