You Gotta Think -- Strategic Internet Marketing!

by: Mark Williams
- Mark Williams ©Have you ever been lost in the woods - wondering around aimlessly, not knowing where to go or what to do next? Most online marketers are lost in the woods of the internet.So if you want to get out of the woods and be an online marketer, you better start thinking strategically! That is, you need to practice strategic internet marketing techniques.You're probably asking, what are strategic internet marketing techniques?Let me start by telling you what it is not!Strategic internet marketing is not buying 100,000 guaranteed hits.It is not aimlessly placing banner ads all over the internet. It is not about using free classified ads and it is certainly not about depending on surfing for traffic sites.Strategic internet marketing is simply about having an advertising PLAN that utilizes proven marketing tactics to get high converting results. Every promotion must have a purpose and it is critical to track the results of each and every advertisement.Tracking is vital to finding ads that are successful and more importantly finding those that are NOT. Ads that do not perform need to be thrown out and those that do convert need to be rolled out on a larger scale.If you are going to be serious about marketing online then you have to get serious about tracking your marketing methods. I will only say this once, if you do not track the results of your advertising methods you might as well throw your money out the window of a moving vehicle.Now, that you know the importance of tracking your ads, let's talk about marketing techniques that work! To make a living marketing on the internet, you need to use these methods. If you don't, you will join the long list of people that say you can't make any money selling on the internet.Below I have listed some of the marketing techniques I have used to build a profitable online business from the ground up:Pay per Click Advertising - For the fastest and most predictable results Pay per Click can't be beat. If done properly, you can get immediate traffic that is laser targeted and high converting.Write and Submit Articles - This is one of my favorite marketing techniques because it does two things for you. The first is that it builds credibility for you and your web site. Second, it is a tremendous way to drive tons of targeted traffic to your site for free. You don't have to be Hemingway, your articles just need to be informative and have very few grammatical errors.Start Your Own Ezine - This is probably the most powerful marketing tactic on the web today. Having your own list of subscribers to send a newsletter to on a regular basis is powerful! I would much rather obtain a new subscriber over a single hit to my web site.Banner Ads - Banner ads can be extremely successful and are a very cost effective way to drive traffic to your site. The most effective banner ads are text rather than graphics. Write a compelling ad that forces them to click, and this technique can provide you lots of sales.Viral Marketing - Give something away that people can use and put links to your web site in it. Information is a powerful tool in marketing. Allow them to share it with their friends and family. Before you know, you will be getting a stampede of traffic to your site.Linking - Reciprocal linking is critical to your online success. This is a time consuming tactic but it is well worth your time and effort. Search engines judge the importance of your web site by the number (and quality) of incoming links pointing to your site. By the way, writing articles is a great way to get high quality incoming links pointing to your site.Ezine Ads - Purchasing ads in quality ezines is like doing joint ventures without sharing the profits. You need to identify ezines in your niche that you can run promotions in. This is an excellent way to get your ads in front of thousands of potential customers at an excellent value.Search Engine Optimization - You need to make sure that your pages are fully optimized for the search engines. The cheapest and most targeted traffic you can receive still comes from high search engine rankings! Make sure your site is optimized and anchored to certain keywords that are relevant to your site.If you will stick with these proven marketing strategies you will get more laser targeted traffic to your site than you know what to do with. You may even have to get more server space and buy a wheel barrow to get your deposits to the bank!So forget about the gimmick marketing tactics that are all over the internet. Stick to what works! This list is not that long and online marketing is not that complicated. To be successful you need to implement proven marketing methods and have a strategic internet marketing plan. Make sure that every ad is tracked and that it has a definite purpose in your marketing plan.So quit wondering around aimlessly in the woods and start thinking about marketing strategically!