Mike Rynchek
Spyder Trap Online Marketing

Thanks for tuning in for Part 2 of Online Marketing in a Tanked Economy.  Below I have listed out three online marketing tactics to focus on when the economy is down.

1.    Sponsored Search – Why?  As I mentioned above, any well researched and placed media buy should quickly achieve measurable results.  Sponsored search allows online marketers to take a scalpel approach to their marketing efforts.  For example budgets, keywords, geography, and impressions can all be quickly and easily tracked and modified based on results.

2.    Email Marketing – Why?  Most firms already have some type of CRM program in place or at least have a qualified list of prospects.  This is an important list to focus on because they are considered “hand raisers” or people who have already demonstrated interest in your product or service.  If you haven’t already, develop a strategy to take inbound leads and nurture them into conversions or sales.  One final note is that email is cost efficient and highly measurable, and allows immediate responses along with the flexibility of testing.

3.    Optimize current website and conversion paths – Why?  Whether your marketing budget is one dollar or one million dollars optimizing the conversion process is essential.  What does this mean you might ask?  It is really a mix of art and sciences.  Making sure to deploy some usability tactics is key.  Below I have listed some quick reminders to keep in mind when optimizing your conversion process.  Our goal with this step is to take advantage of every visit to your website in order to increase sales and conversions.  The tips listed below work for both landing pages and websites and are listed in NO priority order:

a.  Use web analytics to make informed decisions for not only your website but your marketing efforts as well.
b. Remember the 6 second rule.  You have 6 seconds to show people exactly what they are expecting to see when they land on your website or landing page.
c. Use clear calls to action and keep them above the fold or horizon.
d. Remove extra or unnecessary links, text and graphics on landing pages.
e. Test, test, test…  Test required fields on contact form, ad copy on sponsored search programs.
f. Allow multiple points of conversions.  (Ex. Top and bottom of landing page.)
g.  Benchmark key performance indicators (KPIs) and work to improve them.  Ex. Reduce bounce rate of homepage, increase click-throughs on banner ads, etc.
h. Develop with the consumer in mind.  Try to keep internal thoughts and feedback to a minimum.  Only the user can speak for their tastes and trends.

The above tips will help organizations take advantage of their marketing efforts regardless of budgets.  I will try to keep posting content on this topic as individuals continue to ask economy based questions.

Feel free to post any questions or comments and I will try to respond accordingly.  Or contact me directly at mrynchek@spydertrap.com or via Twitter at @mikerynchek.