Making a living in today’s business is a tough challenge, with competing businesses all around. Thus, having the right tools for marketing is crucial if one is to succeed. And fortunately, there are a number of these things out there. It is just a matter of knowing what they are, and which ones to use for a particular purpose. SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is one, but it will not be discussed here. Instead, we will look at a number of others. Many of these— and more— are described in detail on Avernation.com, Eloqua.com, and Doubleclick.com
Graphic and logo design— Making an attractive- looking logo is a very important part of attracting potential customers and establishing one’s corporate image. A business like Avernation can design a competitive- looking logo at an affordable price, and deliver it on time. They can also design things like headers and ban advertisements.
Social media optimization (SMO or Social SEO) is a method of attracting “unique” visitors to a website, by such methods as user rating, conducting polls, blogging, and putting in videos and images. SMO must be incorporated by every business into its online business plan. It can help establish relations with customers, both present and future, through Facebook, Twitter, and blogs.
Pay per click (PPC) is when an advertising company charges a fee to the company being advertised, whenever somebody clicks on their advertisements. Both Google and Yahoo! provide such services, and they are among the largest.
A company that makes use of PPC advertising may need to hire a PPC management company; such a company can help in guarding against that unfair— and illegal— activity which companies engage in to make money off their competitors: CLICK FRAUD, also known as PCP fraud. Click fraud is when one clicks on the pay per click ads of a competing company, thus forcing them to pay for each of those those clicks without being properly reimbursed for it. A PPC management business can install software that records the IP addresses of the computer from which each click on each advertisement is made, and alert the client if more than three clicks come from that address on the same day. They can then have Google send the client a refund for the money lost.
Revenue performance management (RPM) is a method of analyzing what draws customers to one’s business versus what distracts them and draws them to the competition.
All these tools— and more— are invaluable for gathering the information that you need in order to establish an effective business plan. They can help you remain one step ahead of the competition.