I made you wait a little longer than necessary for the'last post in this cycle on the falsehoods of Internet Marketing., but I wanted to choose carefully which other lies or false myths to report in this latest article. The fact is that there are really a lot of them, the improvised professionals in this field are flourishing like grasses in spring, and the lies I hear from clients who have been contacted by these characters are, every day, getting bigger and bigger. In this post I talk about strategies that some people consider advanced, unattainable, or that don't work, but that are actually within everyone's reach and can bring excellent results. I will not fail to point out how often, the usual incompetents, can fool you, telling the exact opposite.
7. LIE: E-Mail marketing is dead, and it is not working.
TRUTH:E-Mail marketing if done right (and there are precise rules and strategies to follow) works great! There are basically two reasons behind this lie: ignorance or envy (or both), and I'll explain why. If you try to do e-mail marketing without knowing how to do it, you will only hurt yourself--but a lot. Starting with being singled out as a spammer to spending a lot of money with no return. A very frequent component, is technological ignorance. There are professionals who still believe that you cannot send hundreds of thousands of e-mails every day, justifying this assumption with excuses such as: "the means to send so many emails do not exist." o "are only within the reach of companies with unlimited funds.". Of course, all false. More than 4 million e-mails are sent through my platform every month without fail for me and my clients. But the motivation I call envy is the one that makes me smile the most. Behind it are probably catastrophic failures achieved in trying to build lists, generate traffic and thus profit, trying to imitate those who have succeeded.
8. LIE: Affiliations do not work, neither for affiliates nor for businesses.
TRUTH: Affiliations, if done properly, bring prosperity to all. As with e-mail marketing, you must have the appropriate knowledge and technology. These are the minimum requirements, then you must not lack creative or enterprising skills (yours or your consultant's) and of course a good offer. Yes because affiliations can never solve your problems if what you are selling is not liked, overpriced or not presented in the right way. These are values you should always keep in mind, in any field. For enterprises I then report the problem greed that kicks in when there is a question of how much to distribute to your affiliates who, I remind you, are rewarded only upon success (sale) achieved. The only way you can attract affiliates and entice them to promote you is juicy commissions. If you're wrong here, you've badly screwed up. Behind the lack of success of affiliates instead there is just poor knowledge or unwillingness. Affiliations work great, are meritocratic and require, like all things, commitment and dedication.
9. LIE: I cannot know what my competitors are doing.
TRUTH: If they are on the Internet, you can totally know, you can even see their advertisements. Sometimes it just seems to slip through the cracks that any activity done on the Web is public, accessible and traceable. I won't dwell on this point too much, because it involves somewhat geeky services and software, but know that you can easily know (sometimes by paying): how much traffic and visitors have your competitors' websites, what ads they have run or are running on AdWords and Facebook In direct competition with your, what marketing collateral activities are the competitors of your or other niches, what conversion techniques are being used to capture leads, make more sales and build loyalty.
10. FAKE MYTH: I open an e-commerce and sell without any problems, everyone goes online shopping anyway.
TRUTH: It is true that e-commerce can lead you to unexpected successes and lots of money, but it is not enough to just make a site to break through. Lately I have been specializing in just that, coming from an industry where people have always done online business, I can also transfer this valuable know-how to anyone in any niche. To my great regret, I could then see all the mistakes made by so many entrepreneurs who relied on the web marketing zombies, spending a mountain of money, and making ZERO profit. Giving the above assumptions (price, product, presentation) as valid forever, an e-commerce without a precise pre-launch, launch and marketing strategy is only doomed to failure. So, OK E-Commerce, but properly!
Bonus: Web Marketing
I'm going to add something that just sits here for me, and I have to get rid of it.
FAKE MYTH: I make my own website (including e-commerce) and save a lot of money.
TRUTH: If you still believe that being successful online is solely related to owning a website...believe me, you'll just rub your face in it. Unfortunately, many people do not understand that the website is just a tool, and it is not even the only tool that you need to activate in order for you to be successful. If you think this way, it would be like claiming to call home, a hut without a roof. Let's not even talk about the savings. Leaving aside every possible aesthetic, creative and functional consideration, know that sooner or later you will find yourself at a loss. You'll be bogged down in some technical problem or you won't know how to activate that feature that everyone has (and you don't), which is essential for your business. There goes the savings, your time flies and the result is pitiful.
In conclusion, I once again feel like advising you to: get well informed, don't believe those who can't argue with tangible evidence what they tell you, to never underestimate the fact that the Internet (and marketing) is constantly evolving. Something that was fine 6 months ago may not only no longer work today, but may even harm you.
Go to the FIRST PART. and to the SECOND PART. Of this series of posts on web marketing.