I ran across another great article from eMarketer today that detailed the growing number of baby boomers turned senior citizens who are frequent users of the internet. Such an immensely large demographic group promises to present rich internet marketing opportunities for a variety of businesses.  eMarketer suggests that a company's online business development should begin to also focus on creating a niche website that offers an eclectic blend of products that senior citizens have difficulty finding in the local store.  The graph below details the current and projected growth of internet users aged 62+.

 

Jeff Meuzelaar
Click Rain
Sioux Falls, SD

In the broad spectrum of internet marketing, paid search has become a fundamental element of a well balanced campaign.  Nearly every Jo Schmo business out there can utilize paid search as it is one of the most accessible forms of small business online marketing that exists.

However, what many of these users don't realize is that there are ways to optimize your ad ranking (i.e. position in the sponsored listings).  Google Adwords, for example uses what they call a "quality score" that plays a very significant role in where the ad is displayed.  Long story short...optimizing your paid search ads will ultimately lead to higher rankings, more leads, and a lower cost per click.  So next time you're thinking about increasing your bid amounts, consider improving your quality score instead and keep that money in your pocket.

If you peruse the web these days, I'm sure you'll notice how interactive websites and even advertisements have become.  As the world wide web continues to shape our society, it is critical that businesses develop internet marketing strategies to boot.  Quite a few social media applications exist to help develop your online business presence.  Whether you're a large or small company, utilizing these widgets will definitely add an interactive element to your online marketing presence.  Not to mention, they're super fun to use.

Check out some of our favorites.

Sproutbuilder
Makes flash ad and even website design accessible to anyone with internet access.  Easy to embed and share with others.

Twitter
Some say it's a waste of time, but we contend that it can be used to strategically market certain aspects of your service offerings. Similar to updating your status on facebook which actually has its own twitter application.

del.icio.us
A great way to share online bookmarks with friends and complete strangers.  Easy to organize and manage.

ChaCha
Ask a question via a text message from your cell or on the internet...get a response delivered to your phone or e-mail mailbox minutes later.  Maybe not the most relevant application for small business online marketing, but its such a neat application we had to share it with you.

I recently read a great report put out by Forrester on social networking, who's doing it, why they are doing it, where it is headed, and all kinds of other data goodness.  Below is a very interesting chart from the report.  For a small business online marketing strategy, social networks can plan a very cost effective role. More good news?  The household income of social network users is quite appealing, making them a great target for online marketing efforts.  Bombs away.

For the first of many posts on this blog, I want to take a moment to welcome what I hope will be a growing audience of readers who want to learn how to harness the power of the web.  That is the mission of Click Rain– to help organizations not only understand the wide array of online marketing tools that can help grow their business, but to develop the proper strategy on how to use them. 

 

Through mediums such as blogging, e-mail, search, advertising, affiliate marketing, social media, and a variety of other areas, the web can drive your bottom line.  Period.  Some of these tools are newer than others, but all are continually evolving.  And we are tracking that evolution to stay on the leading-edge.  Fun for us, good for your business.  Heck, we all win.

Let's do this.