Internet Marketing It's About Accountability

By Author: Mel Joelle
Total Articles: 4328
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We are being reminded multiple times a day of how tough times are and how much tougher they will get. Unemployment is expected to rise even into the double digits during 2009. The Auto Industry is in an unimaginable mess. Our banking and financial systems are dysfunctional, not even trusting each other to lend between themselves. The federal government seems to lack planning, direction or even the understanding of how to deal with and address these issues effectively. Talk of recession, the worst one since the Great Depression, and even talk of another Great Depression are all part of the daily discussion. For business owners, large and small, marketing executives and managers , sales executives and representatives, these are formidable forces to be reckoned with and are the everyday challenges being faced in conducting business, particularly in the areas of planning and execution with precious sales and marketing budgets.

My basic message is that you must RESPOND to the economic environment and not REACT to it big difference. Reacting will leave you with a policy of retrenchment and withdrawal playing defense. ...
... While this may make sense to some, I ask you to consider this; you are giving your competitors a green light to take your market share as many of them surely will opt to RESPOND by improving their marketing efficiency. Those that RESPOND rather than REACT, will find themselves more efficient, more targeted and more accountable and, as a result, will put the right forces into play to actually maintain and increase sales and market share. Those that REACT will actually be helping those that RESPOND by removing themselves from the marketplace creating a friendlier competitive environment. Moreover, when the economy bottoms, then turns upward, those that have RESPONDED will be leaner, more efficient and overall much better prepared to take full advantage of the next economic recovery.

For those ready to RESPOND read on. Those who are not, you can leave now.

Business owners and CEO's need to achieve full accountability across all operations and marketing is no exception. The idea that marketing is the first to get cut is a losing idea and I will justify this premise here and in future writings.

When your job is to gain market share, increase sales and profits and you have less money in the budget to achieve results, EFFICIENCY is the only answer. You have to do more with less. So, in strict marketing terms, you must focus your efforts on direct response this means Search Engine Marketing. This is the most efficient means of achieving direct response. Google provides the most targeted, efficient and relevant means for consumers and businesses and has the highest satisfaction by buyers. The reasons for this are surely obvious by now:

* Paid and Organic Search provide highly relevant content.
* Search only is used when the buyer is ready they are looking for you and you are not coming at them overwhelmingly when not welcomed.
* Traditional media offline couldn't be more inefficient. Throwing huge volumes on the wall and hoping something sticks.
* Even online traditional advertising in the form of banner ads, pop-up ads and email ads can't hold a candle to search.
* Marketers can directly monitor and measure, even click by click, their ROI.
* Marketers can actually extend and deepen their brand; even in a recession. Consider the impact of being found for highly targeted and relevant terms time after time, search after search.
* High Search Engine Rankings not only increase your relevant, targeted and motivated traffic it actually has a strong influence on the purchasing decision. It is credibility as the website is highly ranking based on the independence of Organic Search Engine Rankings.
* People trust Google worldwide!

Recent studies, including the following from emarketer, clearly illustrate that marketing managers and executives broadly recognize that Search, more than any other form of marketing, online or off, is the strategy offering the best ROI.

The surveys and the statistics tell the story with no ambiguity. Search is the most efficient method of increasing sales and profits, increasing market share and maximizing brand awareness.

In these most challenging times, meet the challenge by sharpening your own focus on those strategies that have the best track record and clearly, even intuitively, make the most sense.
Click here to read the rest of >Internet Marketing. If you enjoyed this article, you also might like our other stories about Search Engine Optimization.