Internet Marketing Formula
Recently I wrote a quick post about what I believe internet marketing is. In that post I did a two things. First, I defined internet marketing as…
Internet advertising is being a loud voice to your market where you solve their problems with your products or services and build continuous, long lasting, and mutual relationships.
The next thing I did was lay out a quick formula that I think simplifies, and brings that definition, down to its most basic form.
Internet Marketing Formula = P + R = T
In that formula is the basic ingredients for your success with internet marketing. Doesn’t really matter if you’re into network marketing, affiliate marketing, adsense marketing, or marketing your own product or service. If you’re doing it online (or offline really) then these three variables are the main ingredients for your success formula.
But, what does it mean and how can you use it in your own marketing strategy? Just like any other type of algebraic equation, you plug in the numbers you know and solve for the one you don’t.
P = Problems
Or you could also substitute the words ‘need’ or ‘want’ here too. However you phrase it we’re talking about the things, solutions, services, goods, and/or information that people need or want. This is your contribution to their life.
You find out what people need, what they are struggling with, what they are buying now and you offer it. When I first started with copywriting and providing advertising services it was because of two things. First, I knew I wanted to help people. Second, I saw an overwhelming need for a real, personal, low-cost, and creative advertising service. I saw the problem and provided a solution.
Most advertising campaigns are built on trying to get the most traffic to a website so you can monetize that traffic in some way. When you build your advertising around a problem, or a want, or need, that traffic is already pre-sold into buying. Much more effective.
R = Relationship
Think of your favorite places to shop. Think about the people you buy things from. What makes that place, that person, so special?
It’s the relationship you have with them.
I’ve been teaching my clients this for a long time. This is something that I think a lot of affiliate marketers miss out on when they try to go for the quick buck. Long lasting relationships are a very powerful, and beneficial, tool in online marketing. Really for any type of marketing, online or off.
The recent boom in social media and the emphasis on building relationships people are finally realizing this for the first time.
When you think about it, building relationships with the people who visit your site is really one of the most important things you can do. Everything you use should be geared towards creating a foundation for future repeat business and referrals. Social media enables you to put more personality and build those relationships.
If you’re wondering how to build those relationships, here’s just a few different ways:
1. Weekly email newsletter
2. Videos
3. Blog posting and commenting
4. Connecting on Facebook and Twitter
5. Joint Venture partnerships
When you take the time to cultivate these relationships you are in effect stretching your advertising dollars. People want to do business with people they know, like, and respect. They will also refer that person to others.
A lot of my business comes from repeat clients and the people they refer. Relationships is a very powerful variable in the Internet Marketing Formula
T = Traffic
The end result of working with the first two variables is traffic. Every person online wants their share of the billions of people who actively surf the internet. This is the answer to our equation.
When you add both the problems (needs, wants) and the relationships you have built and are building the outcome is traffic.
You can’t have one and leave out the other. The formula isn’t P = T, or R = T. They are not equal or compatible.
P + R = T is the equation to have cemented into your mind as you begin planning, evolving, or implementing your advertising campaign.
Sample Internet Marketing Formula In Action
To get a perspective on what a marketing plan would look like using the P + R = T formula here’s a mock example.
Joe has started a new website focusing on movies. He wants to get traffic that will do a few things while at his site.
1. Sign up for the RSS feed.
2. Interact with comments.
3. Click on product links from Amazon.
4. Click on other related ads.
So, let’s work the formula.
Problem, Want, or Need
Joe sees an opportunity to provide real movie reviews, news from someone who really loves movies to an audience that isn’t as internet savvy and more wholesome. He sees that bigger movie sites are geared more towards a younger crowd.
Joe builds a site with this problem in mind and writes articles and posts directed at this type of audience. He is putting his personality into the posts in an effort to be real, and hopefully people will trust when looking for real movie news and reviews.
Relationship
Joe is thinking this site needs to be more like a family instead of random traffic from search engines. So, he is building relationships on StumbleUpon, Digg, Twitter, Facebook and in movie forums. He is also setting up a weekly email newsletter with special information on movies, dvd releases, and other information.
Another major component to his relationship building is going to be found in the comments on his blog and the comments he leaves on other blogs. He interacts with the people who leave comments on his blog so that they will want to come back. And by commenting on other blogs he is extending his reach to a bigger audience and engaging in the conversation going on there.
One more relationship builder that Joe is going to use is writing articles for article directories. These articles are going to be different from movie reviews and be like ‘10 Best Family Movies’, or ‘What Movies Should You Watch This Summer’. This will provide a jumping off point for people to get to know Joe. The perfect relationship builder.
Traffic
By concentrating on the problem (real, relevant movie reviews from someone who truly loves movies) and the relationships (through interaction and information) his traffic will begin to build over time and actually multiply at a good rate.
P + R = T
The Internet Marketing Formula isn’t some kind of gimmick or get rich quick scheme. It is a process by which you can “plug in the numbers” to help you create an effective internet marketing strategy.
I often tell my kids when they get stuck on an Algebra or Geometry question to do just that. I tell them to remember the formula they had learned to solve the problem and “plug in the numbers”. That’s what I’m telling you now. Use this formula and “plug in the numbers.”
