First Steps to Successful Internet Marketing

Internet marketing is crucial to developing a modern, effective business that makes the most of this excellent way to reach new and existing customers. Internet marketing has become a major industry, and it’s possible to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on professional web design and search engine optimization. 

This may well be beyond the budgets of most small businesses, but even if this is the case there are many simple techniques businesses can employ for free or for a small fee to make their online presence much stronger.

1. Fix Up Your Website

The vast majority of businesses have websites, but a lot of these existing sites aren’t designed effectively or with the customer in mind. One of the most effective Internet marketing strategies is simply making sure that your website is easy to use, which makes it easy for customers to find the information they’re looking for. 

Take a fresh look over your site and ask the questions that a potential customer would ask such as “What is the contact phone number?" or “Can I email the business with my question?”. Are the answers to these questions obvious from the front page of your site? If not, consider adding these details or changing how the existing information is laid out.

2. Try Out Search Engine Advertising

Pay-per-click advertising is a simple system operated by most search engines. You choose search terms relevant to your business, and the search engine places your ad on the results page every time someone types that specific term. You then pay a set amount every time an Internet user clicks on your ad. This can be an excellent way to bring more potential customers to your newly revamped website, and increase knowledge of your business. 

The search terms you choose can be quite general, such as “cake shop,” or they can be much more specific to your business; for example, “cupcake shop Baltimore”. Generally speaking, the more specific the term, the fewer people who will type that term. However, the people who do click on your ad are more likely to be potential customers.

3. Team Up With Other Businesses

Placing ads on the website of a business in a similar industry to you can be a very effective way to bring in people who are already interested in your area of business. Do you sell car parts? Then why not place an ad on the website of a local car magazine? The people likely to browse the car magazine site are much more likely to be interested in your services than people using a general website or search engine. 

Try to enter into reciprocal deals with other businesses so that you can each benefit from the other's customers. A bridal boutique could place its ad on the site of a bakery that makes wedding cakes, and vice versa. If you make an exchange agreement with another company this method of advertising should be free, and the ads will reach the people most likely to be interested in your services.

Internet marketing doesn’t require a huge amount of knowledge, at least not to get started. Try out these first steps and see how Internet marketing can benefit your business.

Connect with Alicia on Google+. Alicia Lawrence is a content coordinator for an Internet marketing company serving clients like 12 Palms private rehab center. Her work has been published by the Association for Business Communication, Yahoo! Small Business, and Spin Sucks. 

Titan Company : Rebranding to a Lifestyle Brand

Corporate Brand : Titan Company

Brand Analysis # 531

Titan Industries was born in 1985 as a joint-venture between Tata Group and Tamilnadu Industrial Development Corporation. Titan Industries introduced Titan Quartz watches to the Indian market in 1986 and virtually transformed the Indian watch market dominated by the likes of HMT and Allwyn. 

With smart branding and some cool advertisements, Titan Watches quickly became the market leader and had created a strong premium image in the market. Titan Industries later build various brands targeting different segments in the Rs 4000-4200 crore Indian time-wear market ( source : Business Standard)

Titan Industries' brand portfolio consists of 

Fastrack : targeting youngsters

Tanishq : lightweight jewelry 

Sonata.: Low priced

Xylys : premium end

The Titan brand adopts a sub-branding strategy where various sub-brands target various segments in the market. The notable sub-brands are   Titan Raga, Titan Zoop,Titan Edge, Orion, Purple, Obaku, Tycoon, Bandhan, Octane, Automatic and HTSE series. ( source : Titan Website)

Titan Industries also diversified into jewelry with the brand Tanishq and then to eye-wear with Titan Eye+ brands.

This year, Titan Industries decided to rebrand itself as Titan Company Ltd. According to news-reports, the name change was to signify the corporate brand's movement from a watch company to a lifestyle company. The company leaders thought that the term " industries" now is not relevant in the firm's new directions.

The current corporate rebranding of Titan Industries to Titan Company has also given a new logo for the corporate brand. The new brand elements were designed by the famed agency Ray + Keshavan.

The current rebranding has also an interesting offshoot. Now there are two brands - Corporate brand Titan Company with its own logo and the watch brand - Titan with another logo. Newsreports suggest that the watch brand will retain the existing logo and the tagline - Be More. Since the Titan Watch brand is the most recognized and recalled brand, I am not sure how the name change of the corporate brand will help build a lifestyle image. 

Titan Industries started with a single brand- single product company. The initial portfolio strategy was to build a branded house where all the product ( watches ) had the same brand name ( Titan) which incidentally was the corporate brand. The brand architecture was to have sub-brands targeting various segments. This strategy was changed with the introduction of brands like Sonata , Tanishq etc. Fastrack which was launched as a sub-brand later became an individual brand.

Hence over the period of time, Titan Industries' brand portfolio became a mix of House of Brand and Branded House strategy. There were  many individual brands in the portfolio, at the same time bulk of the mid-range watches were endorsed by the corporate brand - Titan. Titan brand was also used to endorse categories like eye-wear .The company also plans to include categories like fragrances in the near future.

With the launch of a logo and name Titan Company, it is to be assumed that the company now wants to develop a corporate brand different from the watch-brand.  The issue here  is that both the brands are the same. 

Confusing isn't it !

Nestle Alpino : To Love is to Share

Brand : Alpino
Company : Nestle

Brand Analysis : # 530

Nestle Alpino is the company's latest offering in the Rs 5562 crore Indian chocolate market. The premium end of this market is witnessing interesting action with Cadbury's Silk, Ferrero Rocher , Toblerone leading the fight. According to reports, 30% of the market is now consisting of premium chocolates.

Nestle always had been a laggard in the Indian chocolate market. After Kitkat and Munch, the company did not have any serious launches. It seldom fought the leader Cadburys and neither did it tried to respond to any of the launches from the market leader.

This year, Nestle stirred up the market with the launch of its premium offering branded as Nestle Alpino. Alpino has a striking resemblance to Ferrero Rocher. The packing and the product form puts Alpino directly pitched against Ferrero Rocher. That comparison gives the brand a premium image without any effort.

Nestle Alpino is being positioned as a chocolate that should be shared. There is a romance touch to this brand and this is highlighted in the launch campaigns.

Watch the TVC here : Nestle Alpino

Besides the product attributes like the chocolate bon-bon with creamy inside, what makes Alpino different are the love messages written inside the Alpino wrapper. There are more than 150 such messages inside the wrappers. This makes the brand a very cute affordable gift of love. 

Nestle has been investing heavily in boosting the distribution and POP promotions for Alpino and it is showing too. The brand is priced at Rs 25 a pack and the pricing is spot-on. Ferrero Rocher although is in similar price range has a perception of being an expensive product and this have prevented many from buying it frequently. But Alpino was able to create an image of an affordable luxury.

Alpino has all the potential to become a success in the Indian market and may eclipse Ferrero Rocher's brand in India. The fact that now Indian consumers are increasingly opting for premium chocolates rather than traditional mithai also favors product like Alpino. 

5 Brands Who AreTotally Winning at Vine!

Mobile app Vine has taken the video world by storm. Available to iOS and - as of two months ago - Android phones and tablets, more and more people now have access to the snapshot videos. WIth such massive potential reach at stake, it was only a matter of time before brands jumped on the Vine bandwagon. Just as Twitter restricts you to 140 characters, Vine only allows for up to 6 seconds of video, forcing brands to get creative in the way they streamline information. So here are just some of the brands who are totally winning at this Vine thing…

1. French Connection
Stop motion art is a popular format on Vine. So, in a collaboration with photographer Meagan Cignoli, fashion brand French Connection set out to exploit this trend with a series of shareable, summer-themed stop motion videos. In this particular Vine, we see FCUK’s latest collection packed up into a suitcase. 

https://vine.co/v/bFPQhPexlDz

2. Wired
Computer magazine Wired have frequently expressed their love for the video app. They put this love into practice earlier this year, getting staff to upload original & creative content. These ranged from a recount of the most loved Star Wars moments to - as shown below - comedian Fred Armisen receiving a tour of the Wired office from a tiny robot. 

https://vine.co/v/b67VzXeH7wX

3. Urban Outfitters
Another fashion brand next. Urban Outfitters have long been pioneers in creative Vine content amongst fashionistas, using it to promote in-store events, sales and generally just the brand itself. Whilst the video below is not strictly apparel-related, the unexpectedness, entertainment factor and general absurdity makes it completely share-worthy and gets people talking about UO. 

https://vine.co/v/bnrPdjDJln6

4. Brit Awards
A great example of using Vine to build momentum to an event. The Brit Awards for their 2013 ceremony released this Vine with teasing preview snippets and backstage footage. Throughout the night, the account continued to post videos of the ceremony from the audience, giving a sense of what it was like to be there. 

https://vine.co/v/b6XWE7Buq7t

5. General Electric
The US conglomerate corporation General Electric are perhaps a more surprising brand to have got all creative with Vine. In attempts to showcase the company as a forward-thinking, innovative and science-based company, the brand released a series of'six second science' Vines which proved incredible engaging and popular. 

https://vine.co/v/bDY9O7xTllv 

Special thanks to Madeleine Hammond, a Marketing Executive at Skeleton Productions, a UK based corporate video production company.

Great Website Marketing Tips You Shouldn't Go Without!

Internet Promotion can be a great way to earn a substantial income. But unless you know how to be successful at web marketing, you may be missing out on an even bigger income. What you are going to read in the following article will help you have a successful career in the affiliate marketing field.

In any internet promotion plan it is important not to push sales on potential customers before they are ready to buy. Selling is not unlike seduction-the goal is to make the customer want to buy of his or her own free will. A sales website should focus on providing seductive information. The option to purchase should always be present but it should always be unobtrusive.

If you are trying to build interest in your online site through your blog, make sure to read the sites of other bloggers. Other blogs will be a great source of inspiration for future posts, as you will be able to see what topics are drawing readers to other blogs and which topics are duds.

Image is everything. When selling something, your photographs need to be of professional quality. No matter how great your product is, people will not be interested if you have amateur-looking photographs. Remember that when shopping online, a person can only go by the picture as a representation of the product, so it needs to be top quality.

Although you've probably read countless tips about title tags and how they relate to Internet promotion, you should also know that these tags will need to be refreshed from time to time. The words and phrases people search change like the weather, so always remember to refresh your title tags every so often.

Successful web marketing isn't just about keeping up with the competition " it's about outshining them. In order to do this, you have to be aware of what they are doing. Check out their website designs and product prices. Read their sales copy to determine its quality and keyword content. Do their sites take a long time to load? Are they consistently offering new services? What kind of external links are they employing? The more you learn, the better prepared you are to use that information to your advantage.

Post all of your articles on your website. This will help your readers and potential clients to know who you are and where to look for you. It adds to your aura of credibility and trustworthiness. Additionally, by adding your good articles to your website, you will attract lots of good, targeted, keyword traffic your way.

Updating content frequently is one of the best things you can do to capture the attention of the search engines. When customers are handed out of date information, they typically assume that the site is not viable or doing well. They will not waste their time on sites like this. A website that is regularly updated and working well encourages visitors.

As was stated in the beginning of the article, a person can earn a large income by web marketing. In order to make the most possible money, you have to know the ins and out of website marketing. Use the advice that was provided to you in the above article, and you will be astounded by the money you can make.

Brand Wars : Pepsodent Vs Colgate

The August of 2013 saw the beginning of another war in the toothpaste market. Pepsodent, the challenger brand from HUL directly attacked the market leader Colgate with a high profile comparative advertisement. The ads directly compared  Pepsodent Germicheck with Colgate Strong Teeth with claim that Pepsodent Germicheck is 130% better in fighting germs than Colgate Strong Teeth.

Watch the ad here : Pepsodent vs Colgate

While this is not the first time that Pepsodent has frontally attacked Colgate. 

Pepsodent is a small brand compared to Colgate. According to ET, Pepsodent Germicheck has a market share of 6.4% while Colgate strong teeth has a market share of over 29.4%. For a challenger brand like Pepsodent, fighting the leader directly certainly puts the brand in limelight.

In India, brands do engage in such direct attacks. Law does  allow certain level of comparative advertising provided it does not disparage the other brands. Usually the challenged brands take the matter to either ASCI or to the court. But since these take time to settle, the comparative ads may have achieved its objectives.

Most of the time, the challenger brand uses research evidence to support their claims of superiority. In this case, Pepsodent claims that it has 130% more germ attack power than Colgate. The fine print says that Colgate is indexed to 100 %. So is Pepsodent in a sense puffed up the numbers to make it seem extraordinarily superior to Colgate.

It is interesting to note that Pepsodent Germicheck chose to attack Colgate Strong Teeth rather than Colgate Total. Colgate Strong Teeth is the largest brand in the Colgate portfolio but this brand is not claiming any germ killing attribute. Colgate Total is the brand which claims the germ killing attribute. So rather than fighting the Colgate Total, Pepsodent Germicheck decided to launch the attack on Colgate Strong Teeth.

Direct comparative ads, that too against an established market leader most often works for the challenger brand. It has the shock value and the ensuing marketing war gets the challenger brand eyeballs and media spaces especially in social media. Frontal attack using such tactics has its fair share of risks. The market leader often will react with full might which may destroy the challenger brand. In this case , it is the fight between the titans and if there is a war, both will bleed.  

Sunfeast Dark Fantasy : Escape into One

Brand : Dark Fantasy
Company : ITC

Brand Analysis : 529

Sunfeast Dark Fantasy is the story of a brand which started its journey as a sub-brand and later acquired the status of a standalone brand. ITC forayed into the  biscuit market in 2003 and Sunfeast Dark Fantasy was launched in 2005. It was only after four years, that ITC thought of taking the brand to the next level.

Dark Fantasy's success can be attributed to the careful detail with which the brand was built by ITC. ITC took a risk in positioning Dark Fantasy as a premium biscuit brand. The premium space was vacant in the Indian market and marketers was unsure how consumers would react to a premium biscuit offering. 

To do this, Sunfeast tried to build the brand among emotional platform taking on the proposition of   ' Indulgence'. So here is a biscuit which would appeal to your sensuous self and take you through an experience of indulgence. It was a risky proposition and ITC backed the theme through some heavy campaigns. 

The brand had the tagline " Pure Indulgence " when it was launched. The USP was the packaging. Dark Fantasy in a way assured in a new wave of packaging in the biscuit market. The bold use of colors and calligraphy supplemented the brand's positioning as a premium biscuit. Later the tagline was changed to " Escape into One ". Dark Fantasy had twin packaging - there is an outer cardboard box and individual choco fills had wrapper packaging. That gave the brand a premium feel.

Watch the ad here : Dark Fantasy 

Rather than restricting itself as a premium biscuit, Sunfeast Dark Fantasy tried to create a space for itself by launching a new variety called Choco fills. Choco Fills are essentially biscuits with   chocolate filled inside. Although these types of biscuits were available, through smart packaging, Dark Fantasy brought lot of interest into this category. Now choco-fills are very popular that competitors like Parle had to launch a new brand in this category.

Buoyed with the customer response to Choco Fills, Sunfeast has extended this packaging strategy to its Cookie category by launching Delishus brand of cookies.
Dark Fantasy can be termed as a packaging success story. The brand has showcased the power of packaging and its influence in the positioning and brand image. Its not the first time that ITC has leveraged the power of packaging , it had tasted success in the FMCG category with Fiama and Vivel which differentiated  through smart packaging..The success of Dark Fantasy has created a freshness wave in the biscuit category with lot of colors and forms emerging from the leading brands. For consumers, shopping for biscuits is becoming  a delightful experience.