Internet Branding and Marketing
Positive Name and Product Recognition Is Critical to E-Commerce
Jun 21, 2008
Internet branding is critical to a company’s image. For a company to succeed in the e-commerce world, they must develop a branding strategy which allows their name to be associated with quality. This requires the use of search engine marketing (SEM) tools, search engine optimization (SEO) tools, viral marketing, and an Internet branding strategy.
Search Engine Marketing
SEM uses many online tools for attracting customers to a website. The following is a summary of SEM tools available; some are free and some are for purchase:
- Link Development Tools – these tools provide an easy method of developing reputable links with other websites to give a website a better search engine rating.
- Blogs – these are marketing tools used to drive more traffic to a website, such as Bloglines, WordPress, and others.
- Content Development Tools – these tools are designed to help develop and link to better content to allow the website to present knowledgeable information to attract visitors and keep them coming back.
- RSS Tools – these are designed to take advantage of feeds for allowing people keep undated with the latest news and information related to products and services on a website.
- Community Building Tools – designed to help build a powerful website advertising products and services.
Search Engine Optimization
The following is summary of SEO tools available; some are free and some are for purchase:
- Social Bookmarking Tools – these are designed to take advantage of social networks, such as MySpace, YouTube, Facebook, Bebo, and others for viral marketing efforts.
- Blogger Tools – designed to develop a marketing strategy for integrating a blog into marketing campaigns.
- Website Analytical Tools – these are designed to provide key indicators of the success of SEO efforts, campaigns, visitor traffic, conversions, links followed on website, opt-ins, comments, search engines pointing visitors, keywords, pages visited, entry and exit pages, and much more.
Viral Marketing
The basis of viral marketing is every satisfied customer will tell at least three others about the product or service. This in turn is spread to at least nine more people, etc. Before long the product or service is rapidly advertised using only word of mouth to boost sales. Viral marketing relies heavily on social networks and social bookmarks, such as:
- YouTube – social network
- MySpace – social network
- Facebook – social network
- Digg – social bookmark
- Stumbleupon – social bookmark
- Del.icio.us – social bookmark
Internet Branding
Internet branding is about name recognition of a company, along with products and services it sells. Internet branding strategies:
- The reputation of the company as a whole, along with the way it maintains customer relationships.
- Quality and safety of the company’s products and services is an important attribute of branding.
- Service after the sale, how willing is a company to provide help when a customer has problems.
- Refund policies which are adhered to by a company.
- On time delivery of products, this is very important for customers who rely on “just in time delivery” of products for assembly lines.
- Overall condition of products received by the customer is important to positive branding.
- How employees refer to the company when using the Internet for company and personal use.
Product branding is very important for a company today, because of the global implications of the Internet. Internet marketing and branding cater to a global society. A company must maintain a positive brand image on the Internet to increase sales or products and services.
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