Allocation of Internet Marketing Resources

Start-ups can be difficult to establish in the 21^st century since a lot of the bright business ideas entrepreneurs can possibly think of are already up and running. Even so, I know for sure that tight competition alone will not hinder business-minded people in investing especially if they think it has a good shot in today’s market.

Given the fact that you are here reading this article, I will assume that you are either venturing for a new start-up or you’re looking for information on how much of your resources for digital marketing in the Philippines should you be allocating for your online campaign.

Either way, the first thing I suggest that you do is to put yourself in your prospective client’s shoes.

Let’s say through word of mouth you learned about this new product or service that can address your current needs. What will be your initial action? Most people will want to know additional information about the product, right? It is through this background check that you can determine if this company fits your standards or not.

And where would you usually do this research? Online.

Even for a start-up business, allotting at least a bare minimum of your financial resources for internet marketing is something to be prioritized.

You have a new business that needs to be recognized, get a website. You don’t have a website but your product or service is already known and enjoyed in the market, then the more you need to have your presence online to reach a bigger audience and get better ROIs. It just makes sense.

 

The Evolution of Businesses

Considering that no two businesses are the same, there may be different methods on how to apply your internet marketing strategy. Knowing where to allocate your internet marketing resources will help your business go a long way.

Usually there are three stages that new businesses undergo when they pursue internet marketing:

 

The Preliminary Stage

 

 

When a business starts, most will focus 80 to 90% of their resources towards organic search while the remaining 10% will be for social media. Start-up businesses are mostly the ones that go through this since they depend mostly on generic keywords to boost their online searches and rankings.

SEO is a must.

During this initial stage, you’ll need all the SEO help you can get. If you have knowledge on site optimization, that’s great. If you hired an outsourcing company to do your SEO for you, it’s better! Having an outsourced team that can dedicate all their time on developing your site to improve your rankings will allow you to focus on your business outside of the web.

 

Stage of Development

 

 

As your search rankings start to work, your next focus should probably be towards website improvement and enhancement. At this stage, your allocation for search engines may drop to at least 50%.

User retention is the key.

Concentrate more on how you can make your site visitors stay on your page. This is not just about making the site look good; you should also start improving the pages. This can be achieved by:

–          Adding quality content on your homepage and other landing pages

–          Provide functional tools that your visitors can use such as share and save buttons

–          Include forms that potential clients can fill-up when they want to avail of your products and services

–          Make sure your website has fluid navigation so that your visitors will not have difficulty in browsing your page

–          Conducting regular site check-ups and audits should also be done to ensure that your website is running well

By doing this, your site visitors will be able to see the quality of your website and it will contribute to their overall satisfaction. This can make people sign up more which will in turn improve your conversion rates.

 

Reaching Nirvana

 

 

Following those 2 stages is the last one which you achieve when you’re already happy with how your site works, the traffic it gets and the visitor experience it gives. At this point, your allotted resources for organic search can go down to 20% while the remaining 80% goes to the other sources that can increase your website traffic. This includes:

– Social Media

– Paid traffic through:

• Retargetting
• Pay-per-click
• Facebook ads
• Twitter promoted tweets

Since you already have an established site, this will probably be the best time to improve more on your business’ presence in social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. You may also consider Instagram and Pinterest if it fits well with the nature of your business. Paid ads are also desirable since your site is well and running. There is no reason for you not to go all-in at this point.

 

Think of this as Maslow’s hierarchy of needs but having only 2 levels that needs to be satisfied before you reach Self Actualization, or in this case, “Nirvana.” The Preliminary Stage will be on the lowest level making it the first that needs to be fulfilled followed by the Stage of Development. Answering to both of these needs will make for a better website and help you allocate your resources on things that have the highest importance during the early phases of your business.