One of the major problems for managers of any e-commerce business face is the ways to promote the business and get more traffic diverted to the site so that the sales can be improved. Distribution channels normally have been viewed as a strategic asset of any online business and a perfect channel design is the main key for successfully competing with other players (Gallaugher). Getting the attraction of a greater number of people is generally no easy task. The longer the website exists the more the chances that it will do better in search placement. Some of the ways the business can be promoted are:
Swapping Advertising: By using links, banner ads, coupons, and swapping articles the business can be improved. Depending on the products and services the company deals with it can trade articles with any other company in the industry which is not in direct competition (nichfree). Having articles about smartspending.com on other websites will make the site authoritative.
Word of Mouth Marketing: Word of mouth marketing is one of the effective ways of promoting the kind of business smartspending.com is in. Search engines top the list as the channel for spreading the news. The promotion of the business can also be undertaken by postings on message boards by virtual strangers or email friends. Described as “viral marketing” word of mouth marketing is considered as one of the biggest success factors in online marketing. An effective email marketing strategy without a big budget but with a catchy marketing message will do the trick. Company logo or name in a recognizable way can be attached to the emails containing the marketing message so that the company can create trust, credibility and effective sales.
Free Offers: Offering something free will attract more people to the website. However, it may not be possible for a small online company to offer freebies. Something creative can be done in this direction by offering a free product with the first ten or twenty purchases of another product from the website.
Message Boards and Chatrooms: Word of mouth or viral marketing can be promoted to new heights through message boards and chatrooms. When the company wishes to attract younger customers in the age group of 20 to 25, chatrooms are the best bet. In chatrooms, people share ideas and concepts and this acts as good promotion for the website and the products and services being sold on the site.
Co-branding: Though co-branding is a bit confusing for the Internet user, it is one of the possible channels for promoting the business of smartspending.com. The company needs to choose a partner who has something in common with the product or service smartspending.com is selling. When the Internet user clicks on the website of the partner, he/she will be taken to the smartspending.com website. With carefully drafted web content, there will be an improved business. Co-branding has been proved cost-effective for small online businesses and at the same time, it may prove detrimental with the selection of a wrong partner or a greater number of partners (Jerry). There is also the potential danger of losing some customers to the partnering company. Joint promotions, value endorsements, joint ventures, and alliances are some of the activities that can be undertaken in co-branding. When the company has a brand that is little known it is better to tie up with a more well-known brand so that the overall image of the former is improved. However, it is always advisable to partner with a company of equal standing.
Joint Ventures: Entering into joint ventures by teaming up with another marketer in a compatible way should also help the company as an effective business promotion idea. Joint ventures involve promoting the products of both the companies working as affiliates on mutually beneficial terms. The company can find joint venture partners by searching search engines or by visiting forums and seminars.
Social Networking: Social networking is another channel for promoting the website. Squidoo, Twitter, Facebook are some of the means of effectively advertising and making the presence of the company felt. Similarly, a well-drafted maintained and updated blog about the products and services the company is dealing with will be able to help draw more traffic to the site. A printed insert in all the packages you dispatch to the existing customers will positively help to raise the awareness of the site among new customers.
Well-written content can attract more people to the site, as effective content put up on the home page by itself will act as the best means of promotion for the website. Effective web page content with factual information will enhance the reliability of the site and make it attractive too.
Choosing important keywords about the products and services the company deals with will increase the chances of attracting more traffic through search engines.
Thus, getting more traffic to a website is difficult though not impossible. Constant attention to the contents of promotion messages, emails, banners, and ads will have the effect of improving the market position in the long run.
Works Cited
Gallaugher, John M. E-Commerce and the Undulating Distribution Channel. 2002. Web.
Jerry. Getting Targeted Web Traffic – Part 5. 2008. Web.
Nichfree. Getting Targeted Web Traffic- Part 4. 2008. Web.