By S. Housley
In order to create consistent sales cycles and a positive
growth trend businesses usually engage in both short and
long term marketing efforts.
Short-term marketing efforts tend to cause sudden sales
spikes which rarely last. These sharp sales increases are
usually the result of a targeted marketing campaign or time
limited offer. While short-term marketing produces sales,
long-term marketing efforts must be mixed in to sustain
sales.
Short Term Online Marketing:
Mentions
Positive product mentions in forums, newsgroups or within
trade organizations can result in a traffic or sales surge.
Product endorsements and newsgroup conversations are
difficult for marketers to control and time, so while
product mentions in forums are short-term marketing, they
lack the organized exposure necessary to maintain sales
momentum.
Discounts
Marketing campaigns that involve coupons, discounts or
time-limited offers can also generate product interest. It
is important to use promotional offers sparingly or
long-term sales could be jeopardized by having customers
"wait" for the next offer to purchase.
PPC / Advertising
The easiest and fastest way to generate product interest is,
of course, to pay for it. Pay-per-click campaigns are known
to drive significant targeted traffic. Sadly, when the
campaign funding ends, the traffic and sales generally do,
too. Regardless, it is important for marketers to realize
that with short-term marketing, sellers can often control
sales and infuse cash into a fledgling product, service or
business.
Short-term marketing is also useful for test-marketing new
products or split-testing to find the appropriate price
point. With pay-per-click advertising marketers can control
the ebb and flow of site visitors and make a determination
about what banners, keywords, text copy and graphics convert
at the highest rate. The lessons learned in short-term
marketing can then be implemented in the long-term marketing
strategy. Marketers can determine the effectiveness of sales
copy and landing pages, implementing them in a long range of
marketing activities.
Long Term Online Marketing:
Search Engine Optimization
Undoubtedly the most time consuming, yet important aspect of
long-term marketing involves preparing and optimizing a
website for search engines. Currently the majority of
Internet surfers seeking a product or information look to
search engines. Most Internet surfers use keywords to search
for the product, service or information that they are
looking for. Knowing your audience and optimizing a site for
keywords and phrases that potential consumers would use in
their search for a product or service is critical to being
found on the Internet.
Search engine optimization pays long-term dividends, but is
an ongoing process, as the search engines themselves are
constantly evolving their algorithms. The goal of search
engines is to provide web surfers the best sites suited to
the web surfers' search terms.
Often, changes implemented will not be "seen" by search
engines for several months. It is important to follow search
engine guidelines and be patient.
Fresh Content & Communication
A stream of fresh content like newsletters, tips or blog
posts will result in long-term quality traffic. Fresh
content that is posted and updated on a regular basis will
encourage visitors to return. Archived content will build a
base for a variety of related keywords.
Syndicated Articles
Related industry articles will result in genuine interest
from a very targeted audience. Providing related content
articles that are available for syndication will result in
links back from websites that contain similar content. Over
time, articles can define a company's expertise on a subject
area. Ultimately, syndicated articles can build confidence
with prospective customers and a level of trust.
When designing a marketing campaign, consider threading
long-term and short-term marketing efforts so that sales are
stable and consistent. By implementing a marketing plan that
involves both short and long-term efforts, sales success can
be achieved.
About the Author:
Sharon Housley manages marketing for FeedForAll
http://www.feedforall.com software for creating, editing,
publishing RSS feeds and podcasts. In addition Sharon
manages marketing for NotePage http://www.notepage.net a
wireless text messaging software company.
