These days everyone is an Internet marketing company. Seems that history is due to repeat itself, if you happen to remember the dot.com bubble of the early 1990s. Everyone was going to be rich beyond measure by using unproven technology in a market-place that was not properly prepared.
To that end, the bubble burst and after one Super Bowl with tons of ads that were all .com this and .com that, the next year we are back to the normalcy that is the Super Bowl ads.
That principle is now being applied to marketing overall. Everyone that runs a website company now claims to be a marketing expert. But, there is a slight problem, you see to market properly you have to know what marketing is - how to set goals that are accomplish able. Real marketing does not just happen by accident, it is numbers and effort combined with knowledge. Knowledge that most companies do not have. Instead they push you to do this program only to find out that wait, that does not work for your type of company. Oh too bad, we got our money.
Take time to examine your marketing plan, if you have one. If not, let Netminister.net know and we can help you. It should have some basic things in it, from a SWOT analysis to an overall plan with goals that are realistic. This plan should meet the needs of your organization to find new people all while augmenting your efforts to draw in new people. That is the key, grow what you have while maintaining what you currently have.
Most companies do not want to spend that kind of time with you, want to know why? It cost too much, and they lack the foundation to help you with anything that is not in the book they have read this week.
Marketing is four Ps - product, place, price and promotion. Most companies want to sell you on the promotion or more specifically the sales. Then when it fails, someone else has to clean it up or you just leave it there hoping no one finds it.
Do not let that happen to your organization. When talking to the person about their Internet marketing plan, ask them some questions:
How does this fit into my overall marketing strategy? If you do not have an overall strategy, then you need to ask if they can provide you with one. Should they say yes, they should want to meet with you and your team to compile it. If not, it is not your strategy, it is one they bought online.
What is the ultimate, quantifiable goal(s) of this project? (Remember, true marketing creates brand awareness, it never creates sales. Anyone that tells you different, hang up the phone or end the meeting - they do not know what they are doing)
What is the turnaround and is it reasonable? Both for you and for the company you use, the timetable should be something achievable. Two days to get results is not achievable. Most marketing plans takes months if not years to begin to receive results, so be prepared to be patient.
Of course netminister.net provides this service and you can click the logo on the side for more information. But even if you do not use us, do not make mistakes that cost you resources blindly. Always ask questions and be looking for appropriate answers.
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