Improving Your Internet Marketing Skills for 2015

marketingThere are plenty of skills that are almost universally recognized for their importance when it comes to internet marketing, and there are some other skills that tend to fly under the radar. One of the skills that tends to fly under the radar is having the ability to negotiate, which is very important when it comes to internet marketing and just about every other area of life, too, in one way or another. Along with negotiation skills, we’ll take a look at some other abilities that are worth focusing on if you’re looking to improve your internet marketing skills – whether it’s for your own business, or to make yourself more employable. Are you ready? Let’s get started!

Critical Thinking & Problem Solving

No matter what type of problem arises, it’s almost guaranteed that someone else has already experienced it and found a solution. Critical thinking is important for online marketing, as is the ability to solve a problem. Sometimes, problem solving can be as easy as knowing what to type into a search engine. Other times, it can be a lot more complicated. In any case, you’re going to run into problems with your digital marketing campaigns, it’s inevitable. What separates the successful from those who continue to struggle is the ability to overcome those problems.

Negotiation Skills

Being able to negotiate effectively is one of the most beneficial skills in business. A lot of people think that negotiating means simply trying to get a better price on things, but that’s very naive – there is a lot more to it than that. Do you need an employee to stay late or to come in early? Is your supplier sold out of eggs and refuses to deliver in time for the breakfast rush? Is your webhost’s support team asleep while your site is down? The types of negotiations you’ll encounter on a daily basis will vary greatly, but having the negotiation skills to find a solution to any problem goes hand-in-hand with the previous paragraph.

Copywriting

Think of everything that your business puts out there on the internet as copy, not just your newspaper ads or sales pages. Anytime you are interacting or communicating with customers or potential customers online under the name of the business, treat it like a million dollar ad campaign. Learning the basics of copywriting and psychology can go a long way. There are many classic books about writing effective copy, and “How to win friends and influence people” should be required reading for anyone who wants to improve their marketing chops.


Free Traffic Sources

There are countless ways to get traffic for free, and every online marketer should be familiar with them. Along with SEO, there are strategies like reaching out to your target audience and finding where they spend time online and building a presence there, offering help and support via a blog or Youtube videos, and a lot more. Ask yourself, “If my customers were looking for me, am I going to be there in the places they might check? Even if they aren’t searching for my name in particular?”

Paid Traffic Sources

There are also many ways to buy traffic online to promote your business and your website. This can be expensive in certain industries, especially if you don’t put in the proper efforts to plan and to test your paid traffic campaigns. You’ll want to make sure you’re paying close attention to track what’s working and what isn’t working so that you can always be adjusting and improving your advertising campaigns. Nothing is more discouraging than blowing through a big advertising budget without seeing any measurable results.

Final Thoughts on Improving your Internet Marketing Skills

Once you’ve mastered the art of negotiation, and you have free traffic coming in everyday and optimized paid traffic campaigns that are ROI-positive, and copywriting skills to pay the skills – pat yourself on the back – you are now an internet marketer with a wide variety of skills! Not everyone has to be a Jack (or Jill) of all trades, but it helps to have a basic understanding of the many elements of marketing online.

Mary Ann Keeling is a freelance writer and business consultant who loves sharing her insights on the latest business opportunities. She also enjoys in discovering leading social media campaigns and all kinds of internet marketing tricks.

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