How long does online marketing take to be effective?

This article first appeared January 9th, 2012.

Gone are the days of having to sit around waiting to see the results of a carefully planned marketing campaign with traditional media, such as newspapers, magazines, TV or radio.

In today’s online world, results are instant.

The beauty of online marketing is that you can see results immediately. By running a Cost-Per-Click campaign (CPC) on Google or Yahoo for example, you can achieve sales instantaneously.

It’s simply a matter of selecting the most targeted and relevant keywords for the product that you are selling, creating a relevant ad that will appeal to your target audience, and you can then have your ads up and running in just minutes.

At Milan Direct, for example, we had our ads up and running on Google the day we placed our very first order for designer chairs, and began selling immediately.

So before our first product had even landed in Australia five years ago, we were achieving strong sales and creating a healthy cashflow from day one.

I often wonder how businesses were run before the net!

Of course, it is not that simple, and in order to achieve a positive return on your marketing investment, you need to constantly measure and monitor all of your online marketing efforts and campaigns, because costs can quickly escalate if left unchecked.

A small typing error, for example, can cost thousands. I recently made the mistake of changing one of our bids on a keyword to $16 instead of $1.6.

Just one decimal place resulted in Milan Direct spending $1,000+ in a given day on a keyword that is not that profitable for us.

Luckily we are analysing and optimising all of our online advertising accounts daily, so mistakes like this get picked up quickly.

If not, we could have ended up spending millions promoting “yellow office chairs!”

Other online marketing activities outside of CPC should also be included to ensure total domination of your market via a comprehensive online marketing campaign.

Although not as instantly gratifying, they are equally important, such as having thorough SEO (Search Engine Optimisation), as well as having a well presented website, showcasing your products in the best light.

By combining all of the above, and provided you are selling desired products, you are well on your way to sales success.