7 Case Studies To help you Win at internet Marketing

By Hector Cisneros

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In the almost ten years that Working the Web to Win has been in existence, we have met with over a thousand prospects and over 300 clients. What amazes me is that many of both the prospect and clients make the same marketing mistakes. We thought we would put together a resource article to help businesses avoid these common marketing mistakes. After thinking about it, we decided to provide a list of some of our best articles along with an abbreviated case study covering each of the top seven digital marketing venues. So, in this episode, we will take a close look at the most common mistakes actual clients and prospects have made in the top seven digital marketing venues used on the World Wide Web today. So buckle up and tune into this week's BTR show, and be ready to have the facts come at you fast and succinctly as we provide 7 case studies to help you win at Internet Marketing.  




As a marketing company, we write about all types of marketing every week. We feel that digital marketing should focus on two things. Building an audience and generating actions (i.e. leads or sales). We've discussed these subjects in detail, in many of our articles, but two stand out in my opinion. The two articles are called; The Secrets to Building an Audience for Your Business and The Guide to The Working The Web Universe. These articles discuss how we market our company. However, you may not own a marketing company and in general, you will use one or several of the top seven digital marketing venues illustrated in this article. These marketing venues include; blogging, websites, Social Media, video marketing, direct message marketing (email, text, and SMS), Digital shows (i.e. podcasting and WebTV), and pay per click. Later in this article, I will cover seven case studies (one for each venue) so that you can see the most common mistakes. But before I get to that access to a good detail overview of how to do things right next. Here are some of our best articles covering these marketing venues. They are well worth the read and should be used as reference material.

Starting Your Reference Library

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• Blogging - Blogging is my favorite multimedia marketing weapon. It lets you use any media in the blog. A search on our blog for the term "blog marketing"  will return more than a dozen articles that help explain how blog marketing works, Including Blog Marketing - What Works - Exemplified by Five Case Histories.
• Websites Design - Web site marketing has a long history of change.  Typing in the search term "website marketing" on our blog brings up more than two dozen articles on this subject, including;  - It's time to let your Website Evolve - What it has to Have to Win on the Web and 14 Signs That Let You Know Your Website Needs a Refresh.
• Social Media - Social Media evolves faster than any part of the web (except AI algorithms). Posting to social sites is a great way to engage followers. A quick search on this term will return dozens of articles specific to social media marketing, including; - Social Media Tips, Tricks and Best Practices from the Pros.
• Video Marketing - When we talk about video, we are referring to YouTube, Vimeo, and Social Media video platforms. We make a distinction between promo video and Show videos. A search on video marketing on our blog will bring up a half dozen or more articles on the subject. Check out; - Online Video Marketing is Hot! Here are 7 Ways to Succeed and Lights! Webcam! YouTube action!
• Direct Messaging (Email, Texting, and social DM) - This kind of marketing is often referred to as touch marketing even though that term is actually much broader and includes other venues as well. A search on email marketing on our blog will bring up a half dozen or more articles on the subject. Read - Opt-In Email Marketing is a Low-Cost Secret Weapon - Here are our Top 7 Tips, for a good overview.
• Digital Show Marketing (i.e. Podcasting and WebTV) - Podcasting and WebTV are related in that they are recorded media that can be accessed live and then stored for later playback. They are also audience building shows that run on a regular schedule. A search on podcasting on our blog will bring up a half dozen or more articles on the subject. Along with the two articles mentioned at the beginning of this section, I also recommend;  This is Not your Granddaddy's Podcast – Content Casting is a Low-Cost Marketing Winner and Internet Broadcasting for Fun and Profit.
• Pay Per Click Marketing -  Pay Per Click has been a constant topic

  

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  on our blog. It includes any Pay Per Click/View platform, banner ad networks, and social PPC/V.  Any search on the term PPC on our blog will return more than a dozen articles for you to read. I recommend; - Working The Web - Is Pay Per Click Eating Your Lunch? — Here's How to Make It Pay Off BIG! and Why Pay Per Click Frustrates So Many? And What You Can Do to Get Better Results

I want to make sure that you understand that the following case studies are a composite of many clients. We did this to respect the privacy of our clients and prospects and to provide a broader picture in this article format. In reality, a single case study would take up the same amount of space as this article, so we chose this route to be able to provide a wider point of view. Now let's look at the individual cases.

7 Case Studies

1. Blogging Case Study - The client complaint was that they had very few followers after a year of blogging and that the blog did not show much in the way of page reads, comments or shares. Our FREE analysis showed us that their prose and article length was good, but they only had a very small audience (300 page views a month). The best blog in the world will not build an instant audience. It's just a billboard in the desert until someone discovers it.  Our solution was to optimize the articles with better titles and subheadings while tweaking the keywords used for search. We also pushed their article out to our 100,000 followers, giving them an instant audience. We also began a recycling program for their blogs based on principles. By the end of the next year, they went from an average of 300-page views a month to an average of 3,200 a month. They also started to receive comments and social shares as well,  where the prior year they had none.
2. Web Design Case Study - The client came to us with the

   

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   complaint that they had all the digital assets in place, but weren't getting enough traffic and were not converting what few visitors they were getting. Our Free analysis showed that they did, in fact, have all the proper digital assets in place, including being mobile-friendly, but, and this is an important but, they were sending all their traffic to their homepage and many of the on-page elements were in the wrong place. Some elements like a call to action and a compelling offer were missing altogether. Their video testimonial was way below the fold and was not being seen by most of their visitors. Once they added keyword-focused landing pages and corrected their on-page elements, their traffic increased by 25% and their conversions went from 1 a month, to 10 a month. This change took place in the first 45 days.
3. Social Media Case Study - The client complaint was that social media was not doing anything for their business even though they had 5,000 Facebook followers. Our FREE analysis showed that they were posting too many offers, and not taking the time to build audience trust. They were just posting sales ads instead of high quality, authoritative, useful, relevant, timely and or entertaining content.  There were not taking into account what their audience wanted. Nobody joins a social network to be sold to. By adding a quality, authoritative, relevant and informative blog and posting that information and other relevant quality curated posts to their social sites, they were able to turn things around in about six months and are now seeing direct calls and sales from their social sites. They have also found that their social paid ads are working much better as well. 
4. Video Marketing Case Study - The client complained that they had 25 videos but had not received a single call or sale from their efforts. Our FREE analysis showed that they had implemented poor keyword optimization and weren't pushing out their video often enough to their audience on social media. Also, their videos had mediocre production value at best. They also were not providing their social audience with posts about their videos. They expected people just to find them on YouTube. This led them to try to get their leads via Adwords or other paid advertising.  This client's primary mistake was not using an integrated strategy where they could share their video posts to their social sites and also use landing pages to increase conversions when someone did click on their videos. They also needed to improve the quality, production and information value of their videos and better optimize the key-words used with the videos. Once they made our recommended changes, they began seeing a return on their digital assets with calls and leads. We later also had them add optimized paid ads on their social platforms to increase their lead quantity.
5. Direct Messaging Case Study - The client had engaged in four

   

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   direct email campaigns and their return on investment was less than .05%. Our FREE analysis showed that their marketing message was weak (weak call to action and no compelling offer). It was being sent to an email database that was not clean or double opt-in. We improved their message by creating a clear, focused call to action and provided a strong compelling offer. We then had them purchase a cleaned, current double opt-in targeted database and their return on investment on the first email was 3%. We then had them follow up all mailings with a phone call and the return on investment went up to 16%.
6. Podcasting and WebTV Case Study - The clients were complaining that their analog TV and Radio marketing cost was too high. There were happy with the product quality and that they could use the podcast or videocast on their web properties. However, they felt that their return on investment was low and they could not directly track calls and leads generated by the show. Also, their digital traffic from the show was minimal. It required them to do all of the social media work to spread the word to their followers. They also found out that they did not own the show they were paying for. Our FREE analysis showed that although they had a strong built-in TV & radio audience, they were not producing the show in a way that could make it profitable. Our solution was for them to move the show to the web exclusively. This lowered the cost, to between $500 and $700 per show (depending on whether it was a single broadcast or simulcasted to two venues). We also made sure that they had access to a large audience by pushing out their show to not only their followers but to our 100,000 followers as well. Previously they were not recycling their shows on social media, so we create a schedule to do that for them. We also added a blog to help them create the script for each show. This gave them additional content items each week to share socially and improved the quality of each show. We also added some paid advertising to support the show. All for 40% less than their TV/Radio schedule, (plus they owned their show).
7. Pay Per Click Case Study -  The client's complaint was that they spend $5,000 over a two month period and only could account for two sales which meant they lost $4,500 on their marketing investment. Our FREE analysis showed that this client used many default settings for their campaign and did not review the campaign often enough. By not reviewing the analytics closely, they missed the opportunity to tweak the ideal marketing times of day and days of the week. They also did not use their keywords strategically. Instead, they used all the keywords they could come up with, whether long-tail or short. They also neglected to add any negative keywords in their campaign. Neither did they use any Geo-targeting, relying on a shotgun approach instead of trying to focus on their ideal customer profile and demographics. They did not have any dedicated landing pages and had a poor call to action and offer. Once we corrected all of the mistakes that our PPC audit exposed, their return on investment went up 5 fold, receiving more than $25,000 in sales on their $5,000 investment. This conversion took 3 months to complete. 

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You will notice that in most if not all of these case studies, many of the clients made the same or similar mistakes. Marketing today is all about what their audience wants. A marketer's job is to first analyze the target market, the venues needed and to make sure that enough trust is established for sales to take place. Jumping in feet first without building a plan is a recipe for disaster. Even when a plan exists and the proper elements have been created and used, small mistakes can lead to failure. Some examples include; placing a testimonial video below the fold on a web page, sending all traffic to your homepage, forgetting to list the social connections at the very top of the page, or using the default setting in any pay per click venue. 

The best internet marketing usually includes multiple venues and incorporates an integrated approach that begins with research, planning, implementation, and monitoring. It also needs to be flexible to adjust to the ever-changing demands of the market place. Anything short of this approach will normally lead to lower returns or outright failure. Before you make one of the above mistakes, take advantage of our FREE analysis of your current marketing position. This will provide much valuable information and could save you a lot of headaches and money. Our analysis will cost you nothing but time. Not doing so could not only cost you time, but real hard currency as well. 

That's my opinion; I look forward to reading yours.

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This article provides seven case studies that highlight common mistakes many businesses make when attempting to market their products and services on the web. It also provides links to many reference articles that help the reader better round out their understanding and to provide greater detail on marketing methods and options. Finally, this article also offers a FREE web presence analysis to help you make wise decisions with regards to your digital marketing. Lastly, this article also provides a link to our BlogTalkRadio show that goes with this article.

If you feel your business hasn’t found the profits it expected on the Internet, we can help with guaranteed services that produce positive results, or you don’t pay. We also make sure that your websites are secure. If you would like to see your websites rank higher, you can contact us by dialing 904-410-2091. We are very good at cost-effectively creating tangible online results for our clients. We also provide 27 different digital products to help businesses get their message out. If you’re ready to take your web results to the next level, simply call me at 904-712-9355. I will email you the Free Web presence anlisys worksheet for you to fill out. It only take a few days for us to create the Free 4 page report for business. No hard sell, just useful information. An informed prospect is more likely to make wise choices which is why we don't sell, we help businesses find solutions. Our claim to fame is that we are one of a few companies that actually provide real guarantees at a fair price.

If you found this article useful, please share it with friends, family, and co-workers. I recommend checking out the links on the blog, along with checking out other related articles on our Show Notes Page.  Also, don’t forget to listen to the BlogTalkRadio show on this subject. If you have a related useful comment or opinion about this article, leave it in the comment section of this blog. Also, don’t forget to share us on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn as well.

Hector Cisneros is COO and Director of Social Media Marketing at Working the Web to Win, an award-winning Internet marketing company based in Jacksonville, Florida.  He is also the co-host of the weekly Internet radio show, "Working the Web to Win" on BlogTalkRadio.com, which airs every Tuesday at 4 p.m. Eastern. Hector is a syndicated writer and published author of “60 Seconds to Success” and the co-author along with his business partner Carl Weiss of their hit book also called “Working the Web to Win.”