Online Marketing the Same as Spam?

Internet Marketing has caught on like wild fire and every size of business around is leveraging the power of the online marketplace to get their products and services seen.  It’s caught on so fast that many small businesses have been left in the dust wondering what the craze is about.  After all, many small business owners barely have an offline marketing strategy, much less an online marketing plan.

All this means that there are perceptions abound that online marketing is something sleazy.

As I was speaking with a customer recently explaining the online marketing services offered by ODX Fusion, I noticed she cast a wary eye my way.  Sensing her hesitation, I inquired if something wasn’t clear.

She said: “I don’t want to spam my customers with spams. And I don’t want to be a part of any Many Layer Marketing pyramid schemes either.”

While I fought the urge to inform her that the plural for spam is still spam and MLM stands for Multi-Level Marketing I had to wonder: do small business owners really equate Internet Marketing with spam, scams and MLM pyramid schemes?

Unfortunately some do.  While marketing products and services on the Internet is widely accepted and employed, there are people everywhere that don’t understand what it’s all about.  It’s completely understandable as online advertising is still in its infancy, in a relative sense.

And while Spams, Scams and MLM are prevalent online, legitimate Internet Marketing is about being available to your customer online, where ever they may be.

Are your customers using Search Engines to find you? Search Engine Optimization (SEO) or Pay-Per-Click (PPC) advertising may be in order.  Both entail getting listed high in search results for select keywords, whether you enhance your website for search engines or you pay the search engine to list you in a sponsored ad.  Neither is inherently spam.

Do you have customers developing relationships online?  Think about signing up for a Social Media account and engaging them.  Make connections with past, present and potential customers, offer them discounts, personalize your brand.  The most important thing here is to actually “connect” with them.  If you simply send out your sales copy and links to your product or service, then yes it is spam.  Otherwise it’s making “friends”.

Do you offer a product or service that your customers would enjoy learning more about or is your product or service often misunderstood?  Educate the world on your offerings through a blog for your business.  Tell your readers what they need to know to better understand your industry. No spam issue there.

Are there any businesses out there that market to the same demographic but offers a non-competing product?  Ask for a link to your website in return for the same or some other incentive.  With affiliate marketing, you’re helping each other out then and that’s not spammy.

Legitimate online marketing is a myriad of things, but it is not spam, is not a scam and ain’t no Many Layer Marketing scheme neither.

There are so many compelling ways to market your business online, you have to find the online marketing channel that’s right for you, your business and your customer.

What are some of your favorite non-spam ways to reach your customer online?

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Tags: marketing strategy, online marketing, small business   Posted in marketing strategy