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Nothing is more important in reaching your marketing goals than having a plan. The web, like other mediums such as print, radio, television, billboards, and mobile requires a plan with actionable goals.
An effective online marketing strategy should guide you in how you should develop and present your brand online; what channels you should use; how you should use those channels and how much money you should allocate to them and what rate of return in terms of terms of client/customer growth, brand awareness/lift and revenues you should expect…
Determining your web plan and related strategy for reaching your online marketing goals requires a comprehensive look at these four main components:
1. The validity of using the web as a considerable marketing vehicle for your business.
Although this may seem like something that could not be true in today’s world of media consumption, where leaders like e-marketer and Barry Diller of the IAC suggest that web media consumption will overtake television in the next five years, some types of businesses such as B2B and consumer packaged goods companies will drive better brand awareness, lead generation and sales by spending more of their marketing dollars in real where their target is spending their time and money, such as in-store placement, trade shows, specific trade publications off-line and more.
Through real research and analysis of the online marketplace for your business, you can find out: the volume and online behavior of your target audience online; the market share of your competitor online; your online opportunities for press placement, and which channels online you should utilize and with what types of budget for your desired ROI.
2. How you will present your brand online.
Determining your brand position, look and feel, domain name, online user experience and messaging should be your next step. The way to do this in the right way is to discover your brand perception by your current audience and assess whether that is how you want your brand to be seen online. Additionally, you should look at the market leaders online and see how they are driving interest in their brands. A design discovery is essential to developing the right look and feel and user experience for your web site. Make sure that whoever designs your site does this in a comprehensive manner. Your domain name should be memorable and easy to recall. You user experience can turn a user into a customer or the opposite and drive a user away from your site and to a competitor. A simple click path to conversion is essential for online success. Never underestimate the power of your web site on brand loyalty, viral marketing and online sales. Part of that has to do with how your content is written. The balance between an optimized web site and copy that drives interest, sharing and sales is extremely important. Having a copy writer who understands these elements as well as a real understanding of your business and related products and services is the smartest way to make messaging work for you.
3. How you should utilize the many marketing channels available online.
Today, there are more tools and publisher sites to market your product or service on the web than ever. Determining what channel and type of campaign or content to use, how it will be delivered and perceived, where it will drive the viewer to; how much to spend and what results to expect requires a real understanding of your challenges and opportunities online. For example, you can get to know the saturation of your marketplace by manually reviewing Search media for common buzz words and related costs per click and volumes of pages dedicated to those words as well as finding and reviewing related publications online. It is wise to look at volumes and types of ads and offers that run in such areas as vertical social networks, associations, blogs, resource sites, e-commerce sites and online publications. Most importantly, you should survey your customers/clients who are using your product or service online. Your most loyal customer is the best resource for developing the right marketing programs online to help ensure success.
4. How you can measure success from online marketing.
The web is an ever changing marketplace. Sites, blogs and social networks are developed and launched daily in every possible business. Therefore, when using the web to market, it is just as important as it is to have the right plan to launch programs as it is to test them and manage them on a daily basis. You should make quarterly marketing goals for your web programs and change those as necessary as they drive, fail to drive results. Make sure you have analytics running not only on your web site and each page where you expect conversion, but also at each campaign you are running, whether a Google ad campaign, a site buy, online promotion or online pr (e-pr) placement. The same goes for e-mail marketing, which, when done effectively can become, in some industries, your number one customer acquisition and retention tool. There are many great e-mail marketing programs which can detail everything you need to know to optimize your campaigns. Once you have analytics running everywhere, you need to make sure you review your statistics each week in all areas and make changes where necessary to continue to drive the best results. Then update your marketing goals as necessary and repeat each quarter.
Success in online marketing starts with research and then analysis of the online marketplace of your business. A sound strategy comes from a real understanding of where your competitors are, where they are winning, what your target is doing online and how you can effectively reach and engage them. Your brand online, including your domain name, your web site look and feel, user experience and web content should meet the expectations of your target. Specific online marketing goals should be developed initially and refreshed each quarter as programs are developed, implemented and tested.
