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The face of marketing is changing rapidly with new technology available to us every day. Understanding and keeping pace with these new principles and opportunities can be a challenge. As you are involved in running your auction company day by day, you do not have time to learn and understand all that you could be doing to better market your company. Here's what you need to know.
It's not enough to put some information on a website and hope your customers find it. "Search Engine Optimization" is an overwhelming concept that can lead you down some long and winding technical roads to nowhere. But you really do not need to go that deep. You need to know just enough to ensure that whoever is creating and managing your site is following through with the right tools to provide good SEO for your site. The most important part of good SEO is to determine the best keywords to provide to search engines like Google to make the best matches between the search engine's users and your site. While it may be tempting to select vague, industry-related words that you think will draw a lot of people, this can be a trap. There may be a great deal of competition for such words and your site may be lost in a sea of companies returned by such a search. On the other hand, it is best to avoid buzz words or highly brand-specific words that someone may only know if they're already one of your customers. Choose words that will be relevant to the widest search parameters possible while still returning accurate results for good target customers. This all happens behind the scenes on your website. When Xcira works with our clients to create their online auction site or to provide a tie in with the auction house's existing site, SEO terms will be built into the code, a site map will be integrated to facilitate indexing of the site by search engines, and Xcira will submit the site to key directories and search engines.
Once your site is properly created and the code is optimized to be recognized by the search engines, you will want to augment the site with online as well as more traditional marketing tools that will promote your site to potential bidders and customers. Unless you have someone you can devote fully to these marketing efforts, it may be wise to enlist the help of a Search Engine Marketing vendor. When our clients hire SEM companies, Xcira can provide the technical integration necessary to maximize those efforts. An SEM firm will create a strategy to actively promote the site to the search engines and evaluate the merits of pay-per-click, email, or other online marketing tools that you should consider. The SEM can assist with the use of online articles, social media, online forums, and other online technologies that can further enhance the marketing strategy. Part of this strategy may include news releases as well. Xcira is also available to our clients to assist with articles, news releases, and other content delivery efforts.
Of course all of your online marketing activities should tie to any traditional marketing you conduct. Be sure to include your online information such as your website and social media contacts in anything published or printed such as a postcard campaign or monthly (printed and/or electronic) newsletter. In addition, every employee should include consistent links to your online resources in all email communication. Consistency will be the key to building your brand. There are many tools at your disposal that can help new bidders or consignors find you and help you build your brand and foster relationships beyond just names on a bidder list. Make the best use of these valuable tools by taking time to understand the technology available to you, enlisting help where you need it, and coordinating your efforts in a comprehensive marketing campaign that will get results.
Contact Xcira to learn more about taking advantage of the tools and resources that technology offers the auction industry today. Visit http://www.xcira.com or call 1-800-RINGMAN.
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