The Cost of Internet Marketing
DECEMBER 2003
Internet
Marketing services are expected to become a billion dollar industry
in the very near future. Many people are confused by the offerings,
however, and aren't sure what's a good price to pay. Understandably
so since the price for these services seems to be all over the
board.
What
are you actually paying for?
First, let's break down the various facets of Internet marketing
starting with Search Engine Optimization.
This service is the one where everyone claims to get your site
ranked high with the search engines. For this service, you're
paying for labor, not results. Those companies that get good
results for their clients get to stay in business. Those that
don't soon close their doors.
With Search Engine Marketing (aka Pay-per-Click), you are paying for traffic and labor. For
labor, this service requires at minimum two people. An account executive researches keyword terms and
works with the client to come up with a viable ad budget. Whether
you have $1 to spend on ads or $1million, he gets paid the same.
At Web-Kare our management fee is separate from the advertising
budget and no one except the advertising venues (Google and/or
Yahoo) get any of the ad budget.
Then, of
course, there's the senior account manager who will write the
ads, bid on the terms, track the budget and results, and prepare
monthly reports. It is this person's objective to get you, the client,
the most exposure possible for your budget. This does not
mean that you will have every ad for every keyword
available on the Internet 24 hours per day, seven days-a-week
for 365 days. You are paying for traffic so you only pay
for those who actually click on your ad and visit your site. You are paying for someone to manage this program for you.
Compare
Internet Marketing to other Marketing Channels
Compared to print advertising and media broadcast advertising
(television or radio), Internet marketing is a steal and your
potential audience is worldwide numbering in the billions. None
of these other advertising channels guarantee results of any
kind -- just exposure. You are paying for production costs (including
labor) and, in the case of broadcast media, you are paying for
production of a particular program that you are sponsoring.
It is up to you to track leads that may come from these
avenues of advertising or you have an ad agency to track
the results fo ryou, prepare the media, and place the ads. Most
agencies won't even bother with a client that has less than
$100,000 to spend (including the agency's fees).
Web-Kare,
on the other hand, can offer a complete Internet marketing program
for a nominal management fee plus whatever ad
budget your company wants to spend and the program can start immediately.
No waiting for publication dates. Your site can start
receiving traffic within a week after signing up with us. (Sooner if you've already picked out your keyword phrases and approved your ads.)
