The One Big Secret for Online Marketing Success

The first step in online marketing is deciding where you are going to place your emphasis. 

When it comes to digital marketing, your biggest challenge is the constant distraction of new and exciting methodologies that bombard your inbox. It is very easy to bounce around from one to the other, attending one exciting webinar after another and never really getting anything effective accomplished. This tendency goes by various names, like “shiny bauble” syndrome, “information overload,” “majoring on the minors,” etc. I’m speaking from bitter experience. That, dear reader is “THE secret.”

Your biggest decision related to digital strategies is whether you’re going to focus on attracting traffic or driving traffic, On SEO or PPC. My preference is the latter, but we cover both strategies to increase online visibility in this article. It’s really not a question of “either-or,” but rather a matter of emphasis. 

But the important thing to keep in mind is that you can’t do everything well. However, you can do a few things well by intense focus and concentration. For what it’s worth, my general advice is to get your basic website up there as an “online brochure,” but don’t spend a lot of time on it starting out. And don’t get distracted with a blog in the beginning.  

Paid Advertising Strategies

To increase online visibility in the current environment you should focus first on Facebook advertising. It’s one of the easiest digital strategies to understand, it’s inexpensive to ease into, and relatively easy to implement with some handholding by a consultant. This online marketing tactic has consistently proven to be the most productive thing out there. It will give you the proverbial “best bang for the buck.” With any new endeavor, always focus first on what has the best chance of producing immediate income. Here’s what you need to implement an effective Facebook campaign:

1) 1 high-ticket product

2) 1 Facebook ad to attract leads

3) 1 long-copy sales letter squeeze page

4) 1 simple landing page with opt-in form

5) 1 email a day to sell your core product

6) 1 PayPal account to collect the money

7) 1 part-time, temporary consultant you can find on Fiverr.com

You can start your testing with as little as $5 or $10 a day running for 7 days. You need a design site like OptimizePress.com to create and store your sales letter and landing page. You need an auto responder like GetResponse.com to send out your emails and of course, you need a Business Manager account on Facebook. 

Your two biggest variables on Facebook are ad copy and targeting. First, write down as many of the authority figures in your industry who are moderately well known. Scratch the superstars, because they are too well-known by people outside your target niche. Second, Google or “Amazon” phrases like, “Top leaders in xxxxx” and “Top authors in xxxxx.” These are the names you enter in Facebook Ad Manager “interest” category.

Even if you can write, chances are you’re probably not a good enough copywriter. You can save a lot of money though by creating a rough draft (no matter how rough) by writing down as much as you can think of in the following categories: Provocative headline, Picture (word picture) of Pain Points, Promise (big picture), Proof, Persuasion and Prompt to Action (CTA). What a coincidence – all those Points start with “P.” Turn it over to a good copywriter on UpWork.com for polish.

SEO & Social Media Strategies

Only after your pay-per-click online marketing campaign is spinning off income, should you focus on SEO or other social media as a tactic to increase online visibility. In my opinion, these are secondary digital strategies that you can implement as time and resources permit.

Starting out with SEO, you should write down the likely search terms that people will be typing in based on your experience and intuition. Include both intent and content for SEO purposes. For example”

1) I want to start an organic garden to save money

2) I want to start an organic garden to prepare for disaster

3) I want to start an organic garden to get better nutrition

Then use a free keyword tool to find the most productive keywords to substitute in your search phrases. Include these keywords about every 150 words in your articles and include them in all your meta-tags except the “Key Words”….” Meta tag, which Google no longer uses in its algorithm. Also be alert to “long-tail keywords” that related specifically to your product and include them in your copy.

If you’re making “millions” on your Facebook PPC campaign, but you just can’t contain yourself, pick out one other social media platform based on your audience and work with it. LinkedIn is good for the business audience, Twitter for youth and techies, Pinterest for women. 

I like Pinterest because you can do so many things with it. Big “he-man” companies like Lowes are using it. Without going into a lot of detail, you can use a tool like HootSuite and accomplish 4 basic purposes with Pinterest: 

1) Social listening (for personal interaction and defuse negatives)

2) Social influencing (to give value first)

3) Social networking (to fish for big-name affiliates)

4) Social selling (to lure prospects onto your site or blog)

There it is SEO & Online Marketing in a nutshell. The important thing is to pick just one or two things that best fit your industry and your skill set and focuses relentlessly on them until you are expert and making money. Only then consider other activities.