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Like with anything else in internet marketing pay-per-click advertising would have its own set of pros and cons. In the past I have discussed the Pay-per-click – 7 Benefits of Pay-per-click Advertising. So, after citing the advantages of pay-per-click advertising to your business we will move over to the other side and discuss the disadvantages or the drawback of pay-per-click advertising.

Internet marketing is getting more and more competitive each and everyday. Because of this reason, why a lot of marketers are finding various types of marketing campaigns for their products and services. Pay-per-click advertising is both easy and quick to put into operation. It also has the potential to be an extremely cost effective means of advertising, but only if approached with the right strategy and knowledge.

As easy as it is there are still many online marketers who seem to give up at the first sign of difficulty without realizing the wonders of pay-per-click advertising. We hear the similar issue all the time from new marketers: “How come my click-throughs are not converting?”

Like what I have said earlier, as good as it seems pa-per-click advertising has its own set of disadvantages and drawbacks. Let us go over some of these things so at least you have a better picture of pay-per-click advertising.

Pay-per-click Disadvantage #1: Easy

You might be thinking that being an easy strategy should not be a disadvantage. There are two sides to this, yes, it is true that pay-per-click advertising is easy to get going, however it does not mean that success is on your side right away.

Before you plunge into pay-per-click advertising you have to do careful keywords research to ensure you are not going to be part of an overflowing market. A sorry excuse for a copy will surely affect your ad’s ranking which means you are spending unnecessarily.

Per-per-click Disadvantage #2: Click fraud

To explain this in non-technical language, click fraud happens when your competitors click on your advertisements hence eating up your budget. Click fraud in per-pay-click advertising can be done by an actual person or it could be done by a program that is designed to click on ads without detection.

Be sure that you check the conversion rate of your pay-per-click with each search engine that you use. After getting this information drop whatever it is that is not doing well and save some money in the process.

Do not go thinking that since Google is the biggest search engine right now that you should only use that. It sure is big but together with that, there is a lot of competition. You stand a better chance of getting conversions if you use small pay-per-click programs, and not to mention it is less expensive.

Per-per-click Disadvantage #3: Poor keyword research

What are your prospects doing to find products like yours? Do you know what they are typing in that search box? If you are guessing as to what that is then you are costing your business unnecessary expense.

A well-researched keyword phrase will clearly show what the main purpose of the search is. So when you think you have found a keyword, ask yourself, “What problem is this person trying to solve? What are his issues?” If you are not able to answer those then what you have is too general so you have to research again otherwise you are going to loose money.

If you are just starting out you might want to try out Google Adwords because that is for free and it can help by providing you an amazing range of information that will help you zero in on inexpensive, targeted keywords that will bring in people with a problem that your product can solve.

Per-per-click Disadvantage #4: Scattergun ads

Every advertisement that you think of should be based on one keyword phrase that is relevant to one specific problem. Using an advertisement that is too general might result to clicks that are not valid. What do I mean? Someone might click it but in reality, these people are actually looking something entirely different.

In writing your advertisements make sure that you do it right, spend some time on it. Write as if you are the one with problems that needs resolution. Use your keyword in the header and try to integrate it to the body of the advertisement. In the body of your advertisement, be sure to mention the product benefits instead of just mentioning the features.

Per-per-click Disadvantage #5: Unrelated landing page

People click on your advertisement because they want to know if you can solve their problems, so if you link unrelated landing pages and prospects see it is a different thing then they will for sure close that window and never click on your advertisement ever again.

If your prospects click, on an advertisement, that sells handbags and then they are taken to a landing page with all sorts of other products, or they have to figure out how to navigate to get to the handbags section then chances are you have lost a sale.

Per-per-click Disadvantage #6: Click-throughs cost money and conversions keep you in business

So be sure that you make the most out of each click you receive. The conversion of each click is what keeps your business going.

Per-per-click Disadvantage #7: Continuous work

If your advertisement is not working, test other advertisements against it by modifying some elements and running them against each other. Think of your original ad the control ad, change the headline, and see if the new ads yield better results. Keep doing this until you get the results that you want.

 

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As I have said in my previous article Social Media Trends more and more entrepreneurs have come to realize the edge of using media in their marketing plan. More trends are expected to be seen this year, one of those trends will be the increased popularity of Facebook.

Each and every day social media expands and it has defined internet marketing now more than ever. I do not know what happened but in the past couple of months Facebook has become the “IT” social network, well where I come from that is. It currently boasts of over 350,000 applications and over 300 users worldwide.

This particular social media has a lot of features that sets it apart from other social media networks. One such feature is the Facebook fan page. A fan page is a tool by which you can increase your social network, interact with your customers, and at the same time promote your company.

The good thing about fan pages is that it is accessible to everyone even if they are not members of Facebook. A fan page is good for online marketers who are promoting their business or who are looking to manage their image because Google indexes fan pages.

Facebook fan pages are the easiest way to get in touch and interact with your customers as well as your prospects. All top companies have a fan page on Facebook, from computer industry to garments industry; everyone is taking advantage of the Facebook fan page.

The best Facebook fan pages have a lot of fans. Many entrepreneurs have proven and witnessed the advantages of having a Facebook fan page. Facebook fan pages are really vital for any online business who wants to expand their online presence.

Facebook Fan Page Advantage #1: Provides a base camp for your business on the internet

If your business has its own Facebook fan page you have the opportunity to provide more information to prospects as well as customers about the products and services that you offer.

You might be thinking that all that can be achieved by your website. True that it can be achieved by your website however Facebook fan page increases your exposure to a lot of people not just customer or prospects it gives you a chance to introduce your business to future employees, vendors, and even the media can find information about your company.

Facebook Fan Page Advantage #2: Facebook fan pages drives traffic

Online marketers who have their own Facebook fan page linked it to their website. Facebook fan pages do not have any restrictions on driving traffic to your website. In fact, Facebook encourages online marketers to link their website to their Facebook fan page.

Getting even a small fraction of Facebook’s huge amount of daily traffic to your website could significantly improve the amount of qualified traffic on your site.

Facebook Fan Page Advantage #3: Make SEO better

By linking your Facebook fan page to your website, you can pull social search to drive even more Facebook traffic back to your website. Google, with its advanced features is now indexing content created on sites like Facebook, because of this the contents of your Facebook fan page has the ability to generate favorable search engine results which is of course good for business.

Facebook Fan Page Advantage #4: Facebook fan pages make it easy for you to engage with your customers for free

A Facebook Fan Page provides an inexpensive; actually it is for free channel of communication between you and your customers. Creating it is so easy, with just a few minutes you are able to create a branded Facebook fan page. Your Facebook fan page is a place where customers and other brand promoters can write on your Facebook Wall, ask and answer questions, and interact with you and one another.

Facebook Fan Page Advantage #5: Direct connection to the people outside the business

A Facebook fan page gives you a direct channel to your fans. You can send messages to your fans (prospects or customers) all at once or target individuals or groups by country, town, sex, and even age range. Facebook comes with a. events application that lets you schedule an event and invite people who are close to where the place will take place.

Facebook Fan Page Advantage #6: Deepen customer relations

An online business can drastically deepen their relationships with their customers by connecting with them through a social network. Facebook members may not shop on Facebook, but it is estimated that there are a lot of people expecting businesses they deal with to have their own Facebook fan page.

Facebook Fan Page Advantage #7: A good place for brand enthusiasts to converse

There are a lot of people who sing praises for a good company, and the best place to do such thing is on your Facebook fan page. Set up strong relationships with a number of significant members who have plenty of connections, and you gain precious brand enthusiasts who can truly promote and sell on your behalf.

 

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We have heard a lot of online entrepreneurs mentioning the term “co-branding.” Most of them have high praises when it comes to co-branding. So, what is the fuss about? What is the exact meaning of co-branding when it comes to online marketing? Co-branding is a form of marketing in which you leverage your referral partner’s client base.

In my opinion I think that co-branding is the most underrated and an overlooked online marketing strategy. Co-branding is a marketing strategy wherein it can be an extremely effective way to generate online business. The best form of co-branding is when it adds value and enhances your partner’s website by offering valuable tools and added functionality.

If you plan on doing co-branding you must remember that you should choose a partner that is closely related to the product or service that you are offering. Think of it as like this, a prospect clicks on a link on your website, then after doing so he is directed to another website with a totally different brand or company, believe me when I say that this will confuse prospects.

If your partner’s products or services are so far-off from what you offer yourself then prospects will be of course be confused why they have been directed to an entirely different web page with unrelated content. When it comes to co-branding you need to choose partnerships that have something in common with the product or service that you’re selling.

Co-branding can be very cost effective, particularly for small online businesses. However, if you choose the wrong associate, or too many partners, it might be more harmful than advantageous.

Co-branding online can be done by offering your service, the information that you have, as well as your products under a different company’s identity, while preserving your own brand in less leading format. The later is made for your own advantage and is commonly the main reason for the entire product or service offering.

Co-branding Advantage #1: Less expense to market a new product

If you decide to go with co-branding then I am telling you right now that it results to less expenditure. We all have an idea as to how much it will cost to market a new product right? And of course we all know that if you are alone and you market a new product then the expense will be outrageously high.

However, with co- branding you need not worry about that because it results in very less expenses because of the already existing brand image of the other business in the market.

Co-branding Advantage #2: Boost the company’s brand image while increasing profits

When you start with co-branding you are able to reach out to more and new prospects with your new products and services. Introducing new products or services creates a buzz and stirs curiosity amongst your target market and this result to an increase in brand value and at the same time it boosts profits.

Co-branding Advantage #3: New markets

Co-branding enables you to reach people or areas that were out of your reach before. When you were operating the business by yourself you have limited access, but when you start with co-branding, you are able to tap into customers which you were not able to reach before. This results in bringing new customers to your online business.

Co-branding Advantage #4: The risks involved would be less

If ever you just started your online business then the risks of introducing a new product to the market is higher. It will take some time before you are able to tap into your market, usage and implementation of various strategies is needed. So, it is better for new online businesses to tie up with an established company which have a brand value in the market and this result in reaching the target market easily.

Co-branding Advantage #5: Improvement of products with the use of modern technology

With co-branding, you get to share with the other company’s technology which will assist you to produce better products. This will yield in giving quality products that can be offered at a fair price with advanced features which will of course attract new and existing customers.

Co-branding Advantage #6: Introduction of your products or service to the other side

The best example for this is the promotion of Intel. Years ago Intel came up with the slogan “Intel Inside,” this made consumers realize what was inside their IBM and Compaq computers. Because of this around 300 computer manufacturers started co-branding with Intel.

Co-branding Advantage #7: Benefits from the other company’s customer base

Co-branding can bring in the benefits to a company from its partner’s loyal customers. Back in 1984, Nike got together with Michael Jordan the world-renowned NBA player with the basis that all Jordan fans would feel affectionate and loyal towards Nike and choose it over its competitors. Why? Because, well their idol is with Nike, so they feel the need that they should also be loyal to Nike.