By now you’ve read myriad surveys and studies showing that even consumers who don’t buy online use the Internet to research purchases. That means driving traffic to your Website is more important than once believed.
To that end, Macquarium Intelligent Communications, an Atlanta-based interactive solutions agency, came up with a top-10 list for driving site traffic:
10) Search engine marketing. A no-brainer…
9) E-mail marketing. “This is still one of the most effective tactics for retention by creating loyalty with customers through relevant content,” according to Macquarium. “This can also be effective for acquisition by renting lists of e-mail addresses and advertising on other e-mail newsletters.
8) Online media, such as banner ads. Macquarium says that a banner ad on Yahoo!, for instance, offers an industry standard click-through rate of 0.15%-0.5%.
7) Affiliate marketing.
6) Contextual advertising. This means bidding on keywords through Google, for example, for ad placement next to relevant content throughout the Web.
5) Viral marketing campaigns. “This can be as simple as e-cards that site visitors can forward on to friend or as unique as a humorous logoed video file that is forwarded around the Internet.”
4) Behavioral targeting. “Some ad networks can now provide tags to place on a site so that companies can message people who have been to their site. The message can be based on the visitor’s previous behavior. Whether they’ve made a purchase or dropped off before completing a transaction, this tactic allows companies to follow up with the consumer.”
3) Rich media. Macquarium includes such advanced forms of online advertising as floating ads under the “rich media” heading. “Customers can get to know a brand and visit a site later on,” according to the agency. “The industry standard click-through rate [for floating ads, expandable ads, and other rich-media ads] is 1%, but it can be as high as 4%.”
2) Podcasting. This is a matter of creating audio or video content that site visitors can listen to or watch at their own convenience. “Distributing this content drives people to site for more.”
1) RSS feeds. “This is a relatively new alternative to e-mail,” according to Macquarium. “Rather than inundating customers with potentially irrelevant e-mail, customers can click on relevant information they find in a feed that takes then directly to that site.”