The way to a profitable marketing campaign is to know where, TO whom and how to market the product or service. The days of cold calling are long gone. This article will give answers to all these questions in the context of e-marketing.
The first step is to identify the target market as accurately and realistically as possible. Globalization and technology has opened doors for any entrepreneur in any part of the world to market to wherever and whoever he/she feels appropriate. To do this effectively, dividing the market into different segments (segmentation) is put into practice.
One can segment a market on the bases of;

- Demographic (age, sex, ethnicity, education, occupation, income and family status)
- Geographic (Location, population and climate)
- Behavioral (usage rate and pattern of a certain product, price sensitivity, benefits sought from a product and brand loyalty)
- Psychographic (values and norms, attitudes and lifestyle)

Once the segmentation is done, triangulating the target market from a population becomes easier and the targets become much more realistic and achievable.
Now comes the easy part. If the commodity is being sold over the internet, WEB PRESENCE is essential. Whenever a potential customer shops online, he/she types the name of the product on Google and in most instances does not go more than two pages of ‘hits’.

To capture this audience, Search Engine Optimization (SEO) comes into play. A website needs to be compatible with search engines with the right title, content and keywords. This is very important if you want your website to be in the top 10 links at Google or alike.
To determine the most effective keywords, try the Google Keyword Suggestion Tool.

To support this technique, web presence should be huge, meaning creating presence on social, blog and forum portals in such a manner that Google shows the company’s hits in the first two of its pages even if the search query is not related to the company’s name.
Remember; DO NOT underestimate your target market. If they even get the slightest feeling that your pitch is ‘to good to be true’, you will loose them, then and there. Try to be honest, upfront, show off your competitive edge but also throw in a few minor weaknesses as well. It makes the offer look more real and reliable.

You can market to various online channels to reach your potential customers, some of the channels are.
Social networking – Facebook, Hi5, MySpace.com…, Twitter, LinkedIn.
Social Bookmarking – Delicious, Propellor,
Classifieds – CraigsList. Kijiji, OLX, Backpages,
E-magazines – cnet.com…, ezinearticles, goarticles,
News – Cnn.com…, Foxnews.com…, Nytime.com…

Again, try to be more specific. If the product of sale is computer equipment, then advertising will be targeted to specialized websites like Cnet.com… or PCWorld .com, whose main focus is computers and peripherals.
To conclude, there are three main guidelines one needs to adhere to;
- Identify your target market
- Increase web presence
- Be specific

A blog can typically be a place where you provide support, provide information topics about your product or simply talk about anything that you are passionate about. In any case, a blog can quickly become an intrinsic part of your Google SEO efforts. Don’t be frightened by the prospect of implementing a blog. You can find all the information for free on how to customize it, and the software itself is usually free.

There are many forum/blog software available for free; one which we like because of its customization potential is phpBB. Probably one of the most widely used forum software out there. It will allow you to create topics, get visitors talking which in turn satisfies one of the most important rules of SEO, keeping your content fresh. These forums can be installed with different aspects of security, for example, to allow anonymous visitors to leave feedback.

We advise trying to get the most from it, by forcing visitors who want to leave feedback to register. That will allow you to begin to grow your potential customer base and hopefully increase sales down the road.

While you’re thinking about blog software, check out our first product for WordPress called Shadow Linker… a plugin that gives you an invisible affiliate link!

Everyone will tell you that traffic is the most important ingredient to a successful business and that’s partly true, but it’s what you do with that traffic that makes all the difference.

If you’re an affiliate marketer or you’re intending to make part or all your income from being an affiliate, then you’ve suffered at the hands of the ’scrooge mentality’.

What’s the ’scrooge mentality’? That’s people who for whatever reason, maybe they’re not making any dollars so they don’t want to let anyone else make some, remove your affiliate link and/or your cookie before they buy anything on your recommendation.

Why they do this completely baffles me. It’s not as though you’re adding your commission on top of the price, they pay exactly the same amount for the product irrespective of any affiliate commission. No, any affiliate commissions are an agreement between you, the affiliate, and the product owner… they are paid out of the product cost to compensate you for:

a) Advertising and finding the buyer.
b) Providing the product owner with a new customer.

I know this happens because I’ve had it done to me more times than I can count, so I sat down and decided to see if something could be done about it. I got my programmers to come up with a simple WordPress plugin that totally eliminates the need for an affiliate link.

Why a WordPress plugin? WordPress is the most popular platform used by affiliate marketers, myself included. You only need to click on the links in your emails from the lists you’re on and see how many are using a WordPress blog.

So Shadow Linker was born, the invisible affiliate link. Now instead of giving your visitor an affiliate link to click, you can give them a plain direct link, because Shadow Linker has already placed your cookie on their computer. When they go to the site to purchase, you’re registered as the affiliate and you get your well-earned commission.

You can click the link in the top right or click here: Shadow Linker

1. Copywriting: Is a key component you have to consider not only how the visitor will react to the copy, but also whether the words you use in your copy will attract search engines to your site and increase your rankings within both the search engines, and the directories.

2. Viral Marketing: Can the message be transmitted through word of mouth?
According to mentors, 81 percent of viral e-mail recipients will pass the e-mail on to at least one other person. To work effectively the e-mail you want the recipient to forward must either be free, inexpensive, or offer a discount. Always remember it’s a numbers game!

3. Customer Service should be adequate and responsive immediately or within 24 hrs.

4. Accurate training and tools that offer simple to understand step by step instructions. This can include a free report, monthly newsletter, informative blog, or a widget. All of these tools should directly link visitors back to your main website.

5. Is quality content effectively displayed that will guide the lead through a strategic funnel?

6. What’s unique about this particular Business and why should the lead get involved?

7. Is traffic targeted and suited towards attracting buyers not browsers?

8. Does the website offer Bonuses that leads can use to maximize their potential?

9. Compensation Pay Plan: Must provide upfront and residual commissions this is critical, so that your visitors know exactly what to do to build their income.

10. Is there a specific Call to Action to get the lead to make a immediate decision?

It’s been proven that while people are searching for information that peek their interest, they are also interested in valuable content, and benefits that give them more knowledge.

People will always want to know what’s in it for them. This again ties into the USP or Unique Selling Proposition which offers the lead a list of benefits compared to features. Remember benefits sell features don’t! If you implement this formula in your marketing strategy you will Win the majority of the time when it comes to Increasing Conversions Using Lead Generation.

About the Author:

Neville Easley has been involved with Internet Marketing and Lead Generation strategies for over 10 years, and is here to present trustworthy and valuable information to the online world. He is also a single and happy parent of a 18 year old, and a proud son who provides for his Mom on a daily basis. Build Leads to your Business daily, post ads for FREE! and increase Cashflow. For further info go to: => http://www.AffiliateLeadsSite.com