“If Johnny jumps off a bridge, does that mean you should, too?” It’s the age old rhetorical question asked by mothers across America, and the answer is always a sounding, “no.” Or is it?

While jumping on the bandwagon is not necessarily enough of a reason to jump off a bridge, it has certainly been proven as a worthwhile and beneficial propaganda technique. And, if the majority of people are all in one area, then that’s definitely the area towards which you want to be pointing your most worthwhile advertising. And in the case of internet marketing, more people are jumping in than ever before.

Jenny Servis, Vice President of Marketing for SnapRetail, is quoted in Forbes as saying, “Ten years ago it may have been a choice to jump on the online bandwagon, but now it’s an absolute must to survive and thrive as a small business. With over 85% of searches for products and services happening online, it’s just a “duh” at this point. Being online means having a responsive, search optimized website as well as an engaging and growing following on social media plus using email as part of your marketing mix.”

Servis is right. The majority of people who are looking for a new product or service are using the internet to find the right one. If that’s where the majority of people are looking, that’s where your business information needs to be. It’s just common sense to utilize internet marketing.

 

Standing Out In the Crowd

So, yes. It is important to have a dog in the internet marketing fight. But it is just as important to make sure your company can stand out and catch peoples’ attention and not just the attention of anyone. You want to attract the right people and match them to the right service or product. This means you need to know and establish a solid identity and know who would be most likely to purchase your products and services. In other words, you need to know and create your brand and identify your target market.

More than 84% of businesses have some level of online presence. But having a presence alone is not enough. In fact, the wrong sort of presence can actually hurt your business. And having a presence without a purpose can mean simply spinning your wheels without seeing the results you’re hoping for. So, how do some companies reap great results online while others flop? It all starts with developing a strategic internet marketing plan that helps you to stand out from the thousands of other advertisements one will see on social media or online in a given month. Don’t jump into the internet marketing game without creating a strategic plan with the help of industry experts who can show you what’s been proven to work and who are familiar with the hottest trends as well.

If you are interested in building an internet marketing plan but need more direction or have additional questions, email us at info@visionpath.com to schedule a consultation today.

VisionPATH Business Solutions offers personalized consulting and advisory services to companies large and small. We have a long-standing reputation of providing honest, individualized advice to our clients. No matter your need, whether it is to capture new market share, to streamline processes and cut costs or to add services and grow your business, you can rely on VisionPATH to provide you with honest advice to help you achieve your goals