Three generations ago, Americans looked forward to the yearly arrival of the department store catalog to plan their holiday gift giving. The next generation discovered new products and services as they sat through television commercials during their favorite network shows. The generation following them complained about all the “junk mail” that showed up in the mailbox every day. Now experiences on the internet and social media bring us all into contact with a multitude of ads, as internet marketing services tailor advertising to users. It is a brave new world of online marketing, and designing a website that attracts traffic is as important as designing an eye-catching catalog was 100 years ago.
Building your brand is key. Potential customers are bombarded with messages, with close to 30 million pieces of content shared daily. It takes some work to get people to remember your brand, typically between 5-7 brand impressions. Viewers can be lured more easily to websites that have images, good design, and dark colors. But once viewers find your website, you have about ten seconds to leave an impression before they move on to another one. Professional website development and design can ensure that your brand is attractive to internet users once they find it.
It is also necessary to know the internet environment and how users discover and keep up with your brand. People use a search engine in 93% of their online experiences, with the vast majority of users seeing search engines as a means to learn more and be introduced to knowledge. Online shopping begins with a search engine for close to half of shoppers. Search engines offer a powerful way of directing potential customers to your website. Paid ads are not necessarily very helpful; most users ignore them in favor of the organic listing provided in a search. The order of the listings is crucial, with the first listing receiving one third of the traffic and the tenth listing receiving a little more than two percent. Search engine marketing and search engine optimization marketing can ensure that your brand comes to the attention of users and potential customers as they are searching the internet.
User patterns are a moving target, however, with different patterns for different age groups and changing technologies. For example, twice as many 18- to 29-year-olds are active on social media as those in the 65 and older age group, and over sixty percent of those younger people keep up with brands through social media rather than other means. And mobile traffic is now exceeding desktop traffic as of 2014. With rapidly changing technology and user patterns, social media marketing and other kinds of internet marketing services can help you stay on trend and relevant.
By helping you build your brand, take advantage of the internet environment, and keep up with user trends, internet marketing services can save your brand from being thrown out with the junk mail.
