3 Reasonsto Increase Your Online Marketing Budget For 2013

By Author: Wsiweb Marketingmatters
Total Articles: 5
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The New Year is upon us and that means it's time to develop a new online marketing budget for your small to medium-sized Canadian business. If you think you don't have room in your 2013 budget for online marketing, you'd better think again. If you want to stay ahead of the competition, you need an effective and comprehensive online marketing strategy in place that includes social, mobile and fresh, relevant content that engages your customers.

You need a social media marketing plan

In 2012, it is estimated that1.4 billion people around the world used social networks, up 19% from 2011, according to EMarketer.com. If you are not taking advantage of this enormous audience, you are likely trailing behind the competition.

While roughly nine out of ten businesses use social media(eMarketer), very few respond to questions posted by fans. Make sure you aren't just posting and hiding......devote time to your social media platforms and establish an open line of communication with your audience.This will help you be recognized as a subject expert.

Social media is all about ...
... engagement. Engage your customers with content they are interested in such as current industry news, a new product launch or ask for opinions on new concepts or products. Increase website traffic and encourage new fans, likes and re-tweets from your social consumers with exclusive coupons and contests or giveaways for subscribers.

You need a mobile marketing plan

IBM estimates the 2012holiday season will be a record-breaking year for mobile sales. According to Elena Anderson, Executive Director of Product Line Management for IBM's Enterprise Marketing Management Group, retailers should make mobile a top priority."This will certainly be a record-breaking year in terms of mobile. We expect mobile sales to reach 20 percent of online sales this year."

Check out these interesting mobile stats:

Mobile coupons get 10 times the redemption rate of traditional coupons (Mobile Marketer, 2012)
While 70% of online searches result in action in one month, 70% of mobile searches result in action within 1 hour.
45% of businesses are conducting some form of mobile marketing, with mobile websites (70%), mobile applications (55%), and QR codes (49%) the most common tactics (StrongMail Mobile Marketing Survey 2012)

What does this mean for your business? To keep up with the competition in 2013, not only do you need a mobile site, but an effective mobile marketing strategy as well.

You need a content marketing plan in 2013

With Google's introduction of Panda in 2012, great content is more important than ever.  Not only should you be producing original content that is of value to your customers, but also you should be providing links to interesting, up-to-date information from other reliable sources. Your content marketing plan should include:

Internal and external links
Frequent blog posts, including well-researched keywords
Use of long tail keywords
Video, photos, infographics
Customer Q&A

Panda will penalize sites with stale content or keyword-stuffed contentand the results will not leave you feeling warm and fuzzy.The only way to avoid Panda penalty in 2013 is to regularly post fresh and valuable content with your audience in mind.

To stay ahead of the competition in 2013, your online marketing strategy must include an active and engaging social media marketing Toronto program, a mobile site and mobile marketing strategies and content that is fresh, original and valuable to your customers. If you need help incorporating these key components into your 2013 online marketing strategy contact us for expert advice.

Source: http://blog.wsiwebmarketingmatters.com/3-reasons-to-increase-your-online-marketing-budget-for-2013/