Content marketing was a top priority for businesses in 2011, and it is going to remain so in 2012. That’s according to a study conducted by the Content Marketing Institute, a marketing education and research company.

In the past year, marketers distributed more business-to-business content on YouTube, LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter than ever, according to CMI.

Content marketing encompasses new techniques and methods of sharing information. Spreading unique, helpful bits within the industry or with consumers creates brand awareness, new customers and client loyalty. Businesses should be sharing information from company research and client data. Data can be displayed in web infographics, articles outlining business tips, videos and slideshows.

This BlueGlass Interactive infographic suggests businesses look at Coca-Cola, Mint.com and American Express as examples of companies that are sharing great content. Coca-Cola has a huge online presence on Facebook, Twitter and other avenues where customers and potential clients can share ideas, photos and videos.

The companies outlined below make interactive material that people want to share, and, in turn, new methods of content marketing means new avenues to reach and converse with your customers.

In an interview with the Sydney Morning Herald, Kate McLean, a children’s clothing designer, said she had to research and understand postage, marketing and effectively running an ecommerce site from home before she experienced success. Her story illustrates some of the challenges common to small business owners getting into ecommerce, the paper stated.

The source reported that many retailers like McLean are turning to ecommerce sites to reduce overhead costs and increase sales. However, retailers must understand how to select an appropriate online shopping model, know how to market their businesses in the digital environment and update their technical skills needed to run the site.

Robert Gerrish, founder of the website Flying Solo, told the source ecommerce newcomers need to effectively market the site to attract new consumers. Ecommerce entrepreneurs need to find something unique about their business to capitalise on, as they battle millions of other advertisements and offerings being presented to consumers online.

Another tool valuable to ecommerce sites is the use of social media to market and engage customers. A recent poll from American Express found female Australian business owners use social media and online retail to further their reach more than their male counterparts. The research showed 43 percent of female business owners use at least one type of social media for their company, compared to 37 percent of men, and 48 percent of women offer products to be purchased online, compared to 40 percent of men.

For any company, word-of-mouth is an important aspect of successful business. For online payment providers, the internet is the No. 1 source for spreading information regarding a certain brand, according to a new study by Google and marketing research firm Keller Fay.

The companies surveyed 3,000 adults and revealed that approximately 2.4 billion conversations about a brand, service or product occur every day and nearly 2 billion are face-to-face. For ecommerce companies, the internet offers an abundance of possibilities to reach even more customers and, according to a recent Practical Ecommerce report, there are certain ways to reach a broader audience.

“Specifically, an ecommerce marketer might produce a video or blog post that reviewed some product or presented it in an interesting way,” wrote Practical Ecommerce’s Armando Roggio. “That content might spark a conversation. ‘Hey you need to see this video about the new Titleist drivers.’”

With the prevalence of social media on the internet, smaller ecommerce companies are branching out to connect with their current and future customers. According to a recent study by Webs, more than 77 percent of small business owners plan to spend more on their social media marketing budget this year.

Innovations for online stores, social media and mobile technology enable customers to search, browse and purchase items from devices during all hours of the day. Because technology has created a population of on-demand consumers, new retailers should be aware of their digital options when deciding how best to offer their products and services to consumers.

ABC reported one way retailers can reach on-the-go consumers is by developing a mobile application that offers products or information on smartphones and tablets. Through the deployment of mobile applications, retailers can present their products, offer customer reviews, collect feedback and even enable purchasing from mobile devices.

Shoes of Prey uses apps to enhance the online store experience for shoppers. The company’s mobile app creates a 3-D image of a shoe that customers are able to customise. Using the app, customers could adjust a shoe’s heel size, fabric and toe structure on their mobile devices before purchasing.

As the technology becomes more widespread, etailers of all sizes will be able to take advantage of mobile apps. Bizelo, a mobile apps company with small business customers in Australia, New Zealand, the U.K., Mexico and other countries recently launched an inventory management and sync program for its retailer consumer base. The application supports online store platforms, allowing online retailers to manage their inventory, sell their items across multiple stores and through multiple warehouses from a single program. The system is a cloud-based application and can be accessed from any device. The tool helps retailers keep track of their business, while freeing up IT expenditures.

To me brainstorming new online business models is a great deal of fun. My team and I really enjoy the challenge of developing innovative ideas and understand the technical freedoms and limitations of the internet. Recently we have had the opportunity to work on some exciting and boundary pushing online strategies. In this post I will share with you some of the key questions we work through to develop an effective online strategy.

In most cases an online strategy is not an off the shelf solution. The internet gives us the freedom to market any combination of products and services and with the technological advancements that are constantly being developed it creates the opportunity to be innovative in the way that they are delivered. These innovations can create a superior user experience and generate a real consumer buzz.

To develop an effective online strategy my team and I like to spend a couple of hours with a client working through (and often brainstorming) what we believe to be some of the key questions. I have grouped them into bite size pieces below. Keep in mind that a lot of these questions are broad stroke and are intended to spark meaningful (and often lengthy) conversations and have natural follow up clarification questions. To keep it relatively simple they are not included here.

Knowing that there is an worthwhile opportunity

1. Who is your potential market or markets?
2. Are they on the internet?
3. Is there a proven demand for your offering?
4. Is demand rising or in decline?
5. Is there an undersupply, or an oversupply of what you are offering?

Branding your offering

1. Is this a new brand, a sub brand or a standalone offering?
2. Have you named it to position it correctly for your market?
3. Does your brand identity and design style appeal to your market? Does it convey the value of what you have priced it at?
4. Does your value proposition communicate the value of your offering clearly and concretely to your market?
5. Is your domain name easy to say, memorable and matches your brand name?

Selling your offering

1. Do you know what motivates your market to buy?
2. What is truly unique about your offering?
3. Why will your market buy from you?
4. Does your offering require short or long term education to be accepted by your market?
5. Does your offering require an introductory offer, or free trial period to make a sale?

Delivering on the sale

1. How do you intend to handle online payments?
2. Are you delivering locally, interstate, or globally?
3. Does your offering require warehousing and shipping? How do you intend to manage this?
4. Is your offering a onetime sale, or is there an opportunity for repeat sales, or a subscription sale?
5. Does your offering have natural complimentary offerings that you can also provide?
6. How do you intend to deliver your customer service?
7. How can you add value for your customers over and above your offering? (This question fits in next category too!)

Marketing & Usability – Getting more sales

1. Does your offering have an inherent referability? Is there one you can create?
2. Is it more important to constantly add new customers, or increase the number of transactions with your existing ones?
3. How scalable is your offering?
4. Do you know what else can be done on the internet with current technologies that may complement of advance your offering?
5. Do you intend to create a community for your clients?
6. Have you considered the useability and functionality of your website for your customers, both immediate and for the future evolutions?

Financing, Longevity & Exit

1. Is your offering immediately monetizable?
2. How many sales do you need to break even and then become profitable?
3. What does success look like for you?
4. Is your offering a short term or a long term business model?
5. What is short term and long term to you?
6. Do you have an exit strategy?
7. How do you intend to fund your venture (short and long term)?

I hope these questions help you with your online strategy. If you would like to dive deeper into any of these categories or questions, or get some professional help developing your online strategy, simply drop us an email now.