Internet marketing for VARs presents an interesting challenge. Internet Marketing is one of the fastest growing marketing avenues particularly for the telecom industry. The IP ecosystem is utilizing search engine marketing (SEM), search engine optimization (SEO), and social media to reach customers in unparalleled ways.  The art of internet marketing involves researching and understanding your customer base. Successful internet marketing combines their knowledge level, method of search, intensity of search and the online venues they may frequent in to a campaign to deliver your messages and create effective lead generation.

Enter the world of SEM. The internet is one of the best sources for general information, innovative products and diverse services. At this time with SEM, there are two methods to use; gain search traffic by purchasing ads through search engines, on a cost-per-click (CPC)  or pay-per-click (PPC) basis, or gain search traffic through free SEO efforts, which is getting traffic through “organic,“ or “editorial” listings on search engines. All major search engines like Google, Yahoo and Bing have search results, sponsored links, and related search pages, where web pages and other content such as videos or local listings are shown and ranked. The rankings are based on what the search engine analyses as most pertinent to users. Each search engine performs its own customized search and placement algorithm before displaying results.

Consider the fact that the IP community landscape is riddled with telephony and computer acronyms. A customer may be the type who wants to know exactly what the letters stand for. For instance, that “SIP” stands for Session Initiation Protocol or that “VoIP” stands for Voice over Internet Protocol

A user may enter these terms into a search. Prior to this they have read about the product and service, and would like to investigate its benefits further. They may need the product and realize the service would be an asset, but want to come to the virtual table and learn more. The individual searching on the internet could be anyone, from someone thinking about starting a business, to the manager of a well-established enterprise. Mixed in there is the fact that not everyone went to school and studied systems engineering and development.

Your company may have a highly specialized focus. Where will it be ranked when a customer enters the term in a search? Each search engine has different optimization guidelines to follow and boost rankings so that the content found will be placed where searchers can more readily see it. The search engines crawl the billions of web pages, build their own index of the data, and then calculate its relevancy and rankings before serving the results. While Yahoo ranks an emphasis on the testing of new product versions as an influential ranking factor, Bing wants to make sure that each page is accessible by at least one static text link, and Google requires a useful, information-rich site, and pages written to clearly and accurately describe content. For these reasons, the services of a search marketing consultant are suggested in the planning and execution of a new website or new content.

If a business only wants to market locally, then effective Geomarketing or Geotargeting can integrate geographical knowledge into the marketing efforts, setting up internet websites, which will geotarget pages for visitors, and deliver different content based on user location.  Sometimes it is the user who enters a specific city or region’s name into their search along with the product name. In that respect, they are geotargeting the search for themselves. Remember that search engines will return the most relevant and useful sites in response to the query. To squeeze more juice out of a search marketing budget, a website can be composed with Designated Marketing Area (DMA) data, which will target a country, region, city, radius, or even a zip code. While fashioning a zip code search campaign might not be cost effective, most SMBs and VARs should consider its regional ability to sell and service as they develop web marketing campaigns.

Internet marketing’s social media factor is an ambiguous term about gaining traffic and attention through social media sites. These sites provide radically different social interactions. For instance, Twitter is a social site designed to let people share short messages or “updates” with others. Facebook, in contrast is a full-blown social networking site with over 500 million members who can share updates, photos, join events, and propagate a variety of other activities. Companies can broadcast new announcements, marketing campaigns and advertise on websites such as YouTube. In general, through social media, companies can learn what people are saying about their products; and if it is good, they may share the knowledge with prospects, customers and partners. If the review is negative, there is the opportunity to correct it, and receive mention about your company’s good service or responsiveness.

The science of internet marketing, while open for all, is not necessarily effective for all. The field of internet marketing requires research to address all the factors that are essential for success in today’s online world. To be successful, ascertain that your website uses easily understood and well established acronyms or terms (SIP, VoIP, TDM, IP PBX, HD Voice, etc.).  Optimize the website to ensure it ranks high when searched either through paid for placement and/or entry of free organic keywords. Finally, leverage social media sites and interact with your customer base in real time. Internet marketing can produce quality leads and support a variety of business models. Knowledgeable use of the tools will grow your business and develop stronger customer relationships.

VoIP, SIP Trunking and virtual PBX are increasing their presence in the business telecom lexicon every day. Don’t miss out by not leveraging the most accessible information repository and advertising venue in history, the Internet.