Up until about three years ago, I had been in the print advertising industry for the previous ten years. I ran a magazine publishing company where our advertisers were doctors, real estate professionals, home-improvement companies, high-end retail and the like in the suburbs of Atlanta. Over the last three years I created Mette Media to bring these same local companies into online advertising. I have worked with more than 1000 local companies and met with at least five times that amount during my advertising career, and there is one phrase that consistently resonates with me:

Advertising Doesn’t Work!

In the early days, it made me so mad. I thought, “How can people make such an idiotic general statement about one of the oldest industries in the world?” I have since learned that for the most part, these people are simply misspeaking. What they really were trying to say is, “I ran a print ad and it didn’t work.” Those are two entirely different statements.

Now when I hear someone say, “Advertising doesn’t work,” I first try to clarify if they are actually expressing the latter (the ad itself simply didn’t work). If so, I ask them if they would like to know some of the most common reasons an ad or campaign does not work. Regardless of their answer, I pull out my soapbox and begin to preach like a small-town Baptist minister in the heat of July.

In this blog-post series, I will discuss five key components that are necessary for making an online marketing campaign successful (actually they are equally important in off-line marketing as well).

• What Is a USP and Why Does Your Product Need It?
  Our product must have a unique selling proposition (USP) that will set it apart from your competition if you are going to put together a good online marketing campaign.
• Make a Plan and Set Objectives
  Does your online marketing campaign have clear-cut objectives with timely goals set? What do you want to accomplish through online marketing?
• A Good Ad or Landing Page
  The ad needs to communicate your USP and have a clear next step or call to action.
• How To Target The Right Prospects with the Right Message
  Make certain you have defined your core clients and developed a message that speaks to them directly.
• The One-Yard Line
  So many marketing efforts fail after all the hard work has been done. In this post we will feature a real life story where we changed one word in the phone conversations and the ROI of the entire campaign went from Negative to more than 100%.

Need more guidance on how to market your business? Click here to get started.

This is a great example of a client who had a great product at a great price, and just needed to, well, effectively get the word out. Salespeople were making multiple outbound calls a day and were somewhat content with marginal results and just chalked it up to selling custom clothing in a down economy. Mette Media put a program in place mixing the following services thus creating results that far surpassed the client’s expectations…did we mention that those results were realized in a down economy? Here’s what we did:

• Website re-design
• Search engine optimization (SEO)
• Customized content

Upon analyzing the keywords in Google, Jeff Mette of Mette Media knew that he would be able to bring the web traffic to Custom Suit Shop and in order to turn leads in to sales, the current Custom Suit Shop website needed to be revamped with specific emphasis on the following:

• Customized content to educate the browser about the benefits of custom clothing vs. typical retail store clothing also content expelling the myth about custom clothing and its perceived high price tag
• Examples of testimonials of satisfied clients detailing experiences of dealing with a custom clothier vs. retail
• Strategically created the look and feel of the web site to include colors that brought out the vivid colors of the photographs of various clothing items to emphasize the appeal of the clothing as well as an updated and upscale look to the website. We also included fonts that attract and draw the reader into the content of the site

Search Engine Optimization:

When Custom Suit Shop of Atlanta came to us in July of 2009, we weren’tsure we were going to be able to help. The challenge was that after investing significant money and time into a website they had notreceived one lead from the website after three years in existence. Of course being July of 2009 we thought the problem may just be that there was not much market left for custom clothing in the Atlanta area. Afterall very few people where suits anymore, the economy wasn’t being kind to luxury items so maybe the web just wasn’t going to work. Of course in the online marketing area it is easier than anywhere else to determine if there is a market. So mette Media went out to answer the question “Is anybody in Atlanta looking for Custom Clothing? The answer, Yes. We found each and every month that the following searches were being done:

• Custom Shirt Atlanta 720 monthly searches
• Custom Suit Atlanta 280 monthly searches
• Custom Clothing Atlanta 340 monthly searches

Knowing that there were hundreds of peole looking for our clients services each and every month we felt confident that we would be able to generate results.

The first week the new website was launched Custom Suit Shop received 5 leads and 3 new clients, even better that trend has continued for over a year.

1. Keyword Research:

It’s no fun to win when nobody’s watching!

I have met many people who come to me and say “SEO doesn’t work”. They explain they are on the front page and their phone never rings. In most cases I find that this person was sold an SEO package that was completely absent of simple strategy.

It is easy to find out how many people search for a certain phrase, and if no one is searching, there is no reason to spend time and money trying to win (although in most of these cases it is easy because no one is trying to win). Perfect example: I was recently working with a prospect that ranked very well for “design build firm Marietta” the problem…less than 5 people per month search for this phrase. In my experience if you don’t have at least a few hundred people searching it is not going to garner any results. Now, do a little research and you will find many terms such as “kitchen remodeler Marietta” where there is significant traffic to generate leads. So, first lesson in buying an SEO package: know what keywords you are trying to win and how many people search for them.

2. On-Page Optimization:

Tell Google who you can help.

On-Page Optimization involves laying out pages and content in a way that Google and other search engines can understand what your website/business is all about. We won’t get into the finer details here, but basically if you want Google to see you as a valuable site for “Atlanta Roofing Specialist” you better have some titles and content that reference the same. There are some things in this part that could be considered tricks, but by no means is there any magic.

All of our SEO programs will make certain that your Titles, Site Maps, Page Descriptions, etc. are set up to be Google-friendly. For the most part, this is a very small time commitment of only a few hours or less for a local campaign with 5-10 keywords. Many companies that sell you SEO and offer no guarantee as to what will happen are just coming in and doing this one-time fix. In most local campaigns where there is some competition such as the “Atlanta Roofing Specialist” mentioned above, On-Page optimization can take your site from not being found at all to getting you in the top 50-100, unfortunately there is no reason to spend money on the On-Page optimization if you don’t have a plan to get to the front page because from a results perspective, being on page 4 is pretty much the same as being on page 400.

3. Off-Page Optimization:

Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work. ~Thomas A. Edison

The final and most important step to getting to the front page of Google has very little to do with brain power. It is much more about spending large amounts of time researching the web, your industry and your competitors to find links.

Links are basically other websites, directories, blogs, etc. that link back to your website. Google views each one of these links as a vote of credibility. In addition, it is not just the number of links but the strength and relevancy of these sites that are linking to you as well. There have been many strategies employed over the years to buy links from other people (called link farms), trade links or just post your website in some random blog posts. But for the most part, these strategies are basically worthless in the eyes of Google today.

So what is one to do?

First we write articles and/or press releases related to your business and industry we then manually submit these articles to online press release sites, article sites and much more. But this alone will generally not generate enough links, so we go back and look for blogs, directories, associations, social media sites etc. related to your industry where we can post information about your website. For the first 3-5 months of a program we generally will have one person dedicated to this type of activity 20-40 hours per week for your website.

This is a classic example of a client who is a regional distributor “piggy-backing” off of their national distributor’s website that was lacking the local appeal.  Our client had a goal of having a similar look and feel of the national site but with localized content and credibility. As a result we offered the following products to help them achieve their goal of having a more defined local presence on their website:

• New website design
• Downloadable Reports

Website:

To place focus on the fact that SealMaster is a local and credible company for parking lot sealant work, we focused on the following:

• Included customized content to educate the browser about who is at the helm of SealMaster and that they are a local company focused on local issues in Georgia and throughout the Southeast
• Also included downloadable reports about needed information that is useful to their end client
• Strategically created the look and feel of the web site to include colors that are similar to that of the national site, yet distinguishable to SealMaster Atlanta to ensure brand awareness as well as attractive fonts and headlines that attract and draw the reader into the content of the site

Downloadable Reports:

One of the most innovative business strategies that we complete for our clients is producing downloadable reports for them.  These reports educate the browser providing them useful information that oftentimes will distinguish our client from their competitors in top ranked search positions in Google.   This is a great call to action effort that turns browsers into leads for our clients due to the perceived and realized value of downloadable reports.  SealMaster Atlanta had a real desire to provide this value to educate potential clients on industry trends as well as provide value-add content to aid contractors on getting the most out of their sealcoat bid.

This is a great example of a client who had a great product at a great price, and just needed to, well, effectively get the word out.  Salespeople were making multiple outbound calls a day and were somewhat  content with marginal results and just chalked it up to selling custom clothing in a down economy.  Mette Media put a program in place mixing the following services thus creating results that far surpassed the client’s expectations…did we mention that those results were realized in a down economy?  Here’s what we did:

• Website re-design
• Search engine optimization (SEO)
• Customized content

Website re-design

Upon analyzing the keywords in Google, Jeff Mette of Mette Media knew that he would be able to bring the web traffic to Custom Suit Shop and in order to turn leads in to sales, the current Custom Suit Shop website needed to be revamped with specific emphasis on the following:

• Customized content to educate the browser about the benefits of custom clothing vs. typical retail store clothing also content expelling the myth about custom clothing and its perceived high price tag
• Examples of testimonials of satisfied clients detailing experiences of dealing with a custom clothier vs. retail
• Strategically created the look and feel of the web site to include colors that brought out the vivid colors of the photographs of various clothing items to emphasize the appeal of the clothing as well as an updated and upscale look to the website.  We also included fonts that attract and draw the reader into the content of the site

Search Engine Optimization:

When Custom Suit Shop of Atlanta came to us in July of 2009, we weren’t sure we were going to be able to help.  The challenge was that after investing significant money and time into a website they had not received one lead from the website after three years in existence.  Of course being July of 2009 we thought the problem may just be that there was not much market left for custom clothing in the Atlanta area.  After all very few people where suits anymore, the economy wasn’t being kind to luxury items so maybe the web just wasn’t going to work.  Of course in the online marketing area it is easier than anywhere else to determine if there is a market.  So Mette Media went out to answer the question “Is anybody in Atlanta looking for Custom Clothing?  The answer, Yes.  We found each and every month that the following searches were being done:

• Custom Shirt Atlanta 720 monthly searches
• Custom Suit Atlanta 280 monthly searches
• Custom Clothing Atlanta 340 monthly searches

Knowing that there were hundreds of people looking for our clients services each and every month we felt confident that we would be able to generate results.

The first week the new website was launched Custom Suit Shop received 5 leads and 3 new clients, even better that trend has continued for over a year.

Kurzen Group is a Dental Practice Advisor company with extensive experience that can help grow your dental practice whether you are just starting out or your business is in a slump and needs a little boost. This is a perfect example of a client who decided to change their business model and re-launch a new website. Kurzen Group, Inc. expanded a current coaching business to include a focus on coaching dental practices to help improve their revenue and efficiency. To help this client achieve this, Mette Media performed the following services:

• Website design
• Downloadable Reports
• Customized collateral

Website:

To place focus on the dental industry we customized the website in the following ways:

* Included customized content to educate the browser about why one needs a practice advisor

* Also included detailed case studies of proven testimonials to help with browser decisioning process

* Strategically created the look and feel of the web site to include colors that are amenable to the dental industry as well as fonts that attract and draw the reader into the content of the site

Downloadable Reports:

One of the most innovative business strategies that we complete for our clients is producing downloadable reports for them. These reports educate the browser providing them useful information that oftentimes will distinguish our client from their competitors in top ranked search positions in Google. This is a great call to action effort that turns browsers into leads for our clients due to the perceived and realized value of downloadable reports. Kurzen group had a real desire to provide this value to educate potential dental practice coaching clients as to why they needed a dental practice advisor and what the effects to their practice would be if they did choose to hire an advisor.

Collateral Material:

Due to our client desiring to expand his business model, we created two sets of collateral for him. One set’s look and feel focused on his current business advisor practice, the other set focused on a color scheme that would appear to be focused more on the dental practice environment. Each set contained the following customized product mix:

• New logo design
• Business card design
• Letterhead design

Enjoy!

LB Roofing is a successful Atlanta-based Roofing and Construction company that is growing fast and doing everything right to ensure their success.  This dynamic roofing duo came to Mette Media ready to take their web presence to the next level and we replied with the following product mix:

• Website design
• Customized Content
• Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
  

  

Website:

Upon analyzing the keywords in Google, Jeff Mette of Mette Media knew that he would be able to bring the web traffic to LB Roofing and recommended a new website complete with informative content was a must given that there were a large number of Google searchers in Atlanta typing Roofing Atlanta in the search box and we had to differentiate LB from those competitors.  To do this we had to incorporate the following services:

• Included customized content to educate the web surfer about what differentiates LB Roofing from its competitors and what to look for in choosing a Roofer
• Also included detailed case studies of proven testimonials to help with browser decisioning process
• Strategically created the look and feel of the web site to include colors that are fresh and clean as well as fonts that attract and draw the reader into the content of the site again, differentiating LB Roofing from its competitors

Customized Content:

What is your plan to generate traffic to your website? Don’t have a plan? You are not alone. Most small businesses—hopefully your competitors are among them—create a website without any plan for attracting potential clients. If your website falls into this category, chances are it is comprised of reformatted brochure copy, and most of the visitors to the site are people that you have previously come into contact with. Instead of actually handing them a brochure, you refer them to your website for more information. Rarely is your website the first point of contact; it attracts few, if any, search-driven hits.

That was the old brochure-evolved, had-to-have-one website model (Web 1.0). Unfortunately, a lot of businesses have spent thousands of dollars freshening up this model—adding bells and whistles, and tweaking the content—duped into thinking they are investing in the Web 2.0 version when they have yet to even come up with a plan for generating traffic to their site.

We suggest that before you spend another dime or another minute on developing your website; develop a plan for generating traffic to your site. This is at the heart of the new Web 2.0 version: your website becomes the first point of contact for potential clients, you offer unique advertorial-based content rather than rehashed brochure copy in order to engage searchers and capture leads, and you have a system for turning those leads into sales.

One of our first clients, Custom Suit Shop, developed an attractive website three years ago, but unfortunately they had never gotten a sale from a website-generated lead. So they decided to tweak their website to generate leads. They tried interjecting some SEO (search engine optimization) language, but still received no calls from what they could discern without an actual tracking program.

Enter Mette Media. We used our resources and were able to determine what potential local clients were actually searching for and how prevalent these searches are—500 searches per month for custom suit in Atlanta. Using our knowledge of the Google search algorithms, we enrolled our client in an appropriate pay-per-click advertising program and in less than 12 hours, Custom Suit Shop went from having no significant Internet presence to being one of the top three listings, from having no sales in three years to signing up four clients in five days (in a compromised economy) and from having few first-contact hits to having more than 50 a week. Their website has become a marketing force. And that was just the beginning.

To learn more about how you can optimize your Internet presence and generate traffic to your website, click here.