Website marketing

[Sample00]

Our new website is almost complete (thanks to a friend of one of the CP faithful) and I was wondering what people here think about website marketing.

Our focus for business will be mainly in Alberta, seconded by BC, SK and then the rest of Canada.

If you were to market your website online, what would you think would be the best way to do that. Lets say we keep the number to a $1000.00 per month, online marketing.

[HelloHockeyFans]

I'm not sure what their prices are, but I've heard good things about Casale Media and they've really ramped up their reputation in that market in just over a year.

[Bend it like Bourgeois]

Its the marketing weasel answer but, it depends...

Install analytics. Optimize your google profile, make sure you're in relevant local directories and sites. Basic stuff that should not cost much at all.

If its auto and auto credit you're in a pretty competitive space for that budget. You'll likely have to focus your efforts pretty tightly.

Obviously depends on what success looks like for you too. In a past life I used to work with a few auto stores in Calgary and typically they looked for $300 a unit or so for marketing. Often that worked best by focusing on particular makes/models. Others used their online more as a measurement and guidance tool. Eg. they were spending 20k a month in newspapers so they tried to make that more effective through different urls and landing pages to tailor the inventory they showed in different places.

Be clear in your business goals and the return you are after. Usually the biggest mistake small business makes online is checking their business sense at the door because they think online is different.

My 2 cents

[Sample00]

The website we are looking at marketing is an auto credit website. It wont have any inventory attached to it. At this juncture, its only designed to have people apply for automotive financing and then we match them with an appropriate vehicle.
thanks for note and also the PM.