Having a reqd through this forum I see people using a lot of different channels for online marketing. Personally I use SEO and SEM mainly with a little social media work like blogging and twittering thrown in. I'm wondering what everyone things is the most effective channel and why? My list is 1) SEO for driving quality targetted free traffic 2) SEM for testing SEO keywords and delivering instant ROI 3) Forum / Blog marketing for driving high CTR and building up free traffic over time
Besides the channels you've mentioned--and they're all highly effective indeed--I'd also use email marketing. Building a list is very important. I discovered the power of newsletters when I was just starting out as a webmistress, several years ago. At that time, I had no idea this was a traditional, proven marketing tool. Yet, my lists generated great results for me. The lesson to take here is: if opt-in email lists worked for a clueless beginner, they will certainly work for those who know what they're doing.
When scaling a profitable niche/campaign - don't forget those who read sources of information offline more than they read online.
I post in relevant forums to promote my niche product. For SEO, I aim to produce quality content in my website. It would be great to have more of the quality articles but I couldn't do it with my tight schedule. Doing IM part-time and I think I still have a long way to go. So learn, learn, learn and promote, promote, promote.
I agree with Karen Zara..."the money is in the list". So always build your list. Regarding SEO and SEM. I think one should utilize both to get the optimum results. On top of that having presence of your website on both SEO part and SEM part of search engines will help you to get more targeted traffic.
I agree traffic is important, but targeted traffic is more so..... Quality SEM programs and 'on topic' SEO, then you can build you list....