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A successful online marketingsystem includes methods to

promote your products, acquirequalified prospects, convert

prospects into customers, andretain customers so they will buy

your products again.

Set Up to Pull in New CustomersJosh Kerbel07/21/2010

I've been told by some industry insiders that many machineshops have yet to adopt an an online marketing strategy. Infact, that may be a good thing, as it indicates they haven'tpicked up any poor online marketing habits. So, before youput down your hard-earned money in building or improving anexisting website, here is a chance to learn from the mistakesof companies that have already spent millions of dollarslearning how to marketing online.

Chance are that by now you've received a call or two fromsomeone trying to sell your business a website. Unfortunately,a website alone is not going to help your business any morethan a standalone drill press. A website, much like a drillpress, needs to be used as part of a system. So, just as yourdrill press is part of your manufacturing process, a website isjust one part of your online marketing process.

Marketing system basicsAt the most basic level, a marketing system includes methodsto promote your products, acquire qualified prospects, convertprospects into customers, and retain customers so they willbuy your products again. Now, look at your website, or one ofyour vendors’ or competitors’ sites if you don't have your ownwebsite, and see how it accomplishes these four goals. Whatyou will notice, is that even the best-designed website cannotaccomplish these four goals by itself.

A well conceived marketing system has four components:1. Promotion: How are customers going to find you online?2. Acquisition: How are you going to use your promotionalmethods and website to filter out qualified prospects from therest of the herd.3. Conversion: Building enough trust with the prospect sothat they buy your products.4. Retention: Now that someone has bought from you, howdo you keep them as an ongoing customer.

In most cases, your site itself only plays a part in the second and third steps, and even then itdoesn't do it alone. There are other pieces of internet technology that play a big part. Thesituation you are trying to avoid is investing in a website that is nothing more than a billboardalong the information highway that simply screams “BUY ME NOW”. This sort of promotion isuseless to all but the largest, most established companies. What you need is a way to allowprospects and customers to use your website as a business tool. Do this properly and your websitewill be part of a business generating magnet. Mess it up, and you are just another billboard alongthe side of the road.

Take away pointDon't build a website with the expectation that it is somehow going to start throwing off newleads; it needs to be part of an integrated online marketing system. Also, understand thatgenerating online sales leads cost money. However, done properly, it costs your company much

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less money than other marketing channels, so when you set invest in online marketing be sure toaccount for all four steps of a proper marketing system, not just a pretty website.

Josh Kerbel, MBA, the is Managing Director of Sales Funnel, a digital marketing agency thatspecializes in sales lead generation and prospect management systems. For a copy of his freewhite paper, 8 Steps to Internet Marketing Success, email report.am@thejoshkerbelproject.com.

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Set Up to Pull in New Customers http://www.americanmachinist.com/304/Issue/Article/False/86073/Issue

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