Putting on-line strategies to work for you

“Science fiction does not remain fiction for long…and certainly not on the Internet.”
– Vinton Cerf (Grandfather of the www and co-architect of the ISP protocol)

No other form of media has matured as quickly as the web has. At no time in history have we seen changes, modifications and new avenues of communication appear so fast. In the midst of this rapid development, the web continues to offer advertisers unique marketing opportunities.

How can you apply these strategies and begin prospering from them? First, a little history lesson on the web and its most popular destinations:

(1): Google. What began as a college project in the late 90’s has evolved into the worlds largest search engine generating over 23 billion dollars in revenue each year. Not too bad for only being in business 12 years.

(2): YouTube. Created by three former employees of PayPal, the first video was uploaded in February 2005. Recently, Google bought YouTube for a reported 1.6 billion dollars. YouTube remains one of the top 4 most visited web sites in the world. Age of YouTube – five.

(3) Facebook. In August 2005, founder Mark Zuckerburg purchased the domain name facebook. What began as a site for college students soon became the world’s most popular social networking destination. In less than five years, facebook has captured the attention of the world by providing a new and exciting way to communicate.

So what makes the web so intriguing to your customers that they can’t go a day without it? Here are a few attributes the web offers that you might be able to incorporate into your business giving you a competitive advantage:

– Speed. Nothing beats instant gratification. Go online, plug in what you want to find and in less than a few seconds, thousands of choices appear. How fast are you at getting your customers what they want? Consumers report they would pay more for better service. While many businesses claim world class customer service, customers disagree.

– Entertainment. People are looking for a fun, pleasant and enjoyable experience. The web delivers, do you? Your business exists for one reason – provide what someone wants. Most businesses would see dramatic increases in revenue and customer loyalty if they simply provided what people want in a gratifying manner.

– Communication. Every sales and customer service trainer will tell you to speak less, and listen more. The web is the leader for listening to customers and letting them do the talking. User generated content has made the web the fastest growing medium of all time. Your business can see dramatic growth if you stopped talking, and started listening.

– Innovation. Business development experts have always touted innovation as the path to long-lasting success and profitability. No one is better at this than the web. New applications and better ways to communicate seem to appear daily. For your company to remain viable, you must constantly change and provide new ways to solve your customers problems.

– Free. The most pleasant word to any customer has allowed the web to capture the attention of more consumers faster than any other medium. Email, video, audio, news, information, entertainment, discussion groups, social networking, the list of free applications is virtually endless. Get creative with this one. What can you offer for free?

The web could be the poster child for the most basic economic principle of better, faster and cheaper. For your business to thrive and prosper think how you can apply these lessons from the web.

Author Bio: Ronald A. Heider is the owner of Heider Marketing & Advertising; a Hampton Roads based agency servicing the automotive and auto-aftermarket industries. He can be reached at (757) 288-9957, on-line at http://www.ronaldaheider.com or by e-mail at ronald@ronaldaheider.com.

Category: Marketing
Keywords: advertising, marketing, media, internet, business development,