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The 5-Step website marketing plan.
By Bobette
Kyle
Do you have a marketing plan for your site? If not, it may be
time to think about developing one. A marketing plan helps you
make the right day-to-day and long term decisions. Without a marketing
plan, it is more likely your Website will be a drain on finances
rather than a business builder.
Creating a marketing plan need not be scary or difficult. It does
not require a marketing degree or a lot of experience. You do,
however, need to put some quality time into your plan. Building
your plan is a five step process.
Step 1: Gather and analyze information.
You will need information about your company, competitors, customers,
and other industry players. This includes all you can find about
how the Internet is currently being integrated in your industry
with respect to products, promotions, pricing structures, and
distribution channels. >From this information, you can complete
industry and SWOT analyses as well as identify your target customers.
Step 2: Verbalize your main challenge(s).
Write down the main Internet-related challenges you want to overcome.
Referring to these main challenges will help keep you focused
while developing your plan. You may even want to write your challenges
down in question form - "How do we _____________?" When
completed, your Website marketing plan will answer the question
"How do I address these challenges?"
Step 3: Develop your Web site objective(s).
The objective addresses the "big picture". Your objective
answers the question "How will I overcome my main marketing
challenge(s)?" in broad, general terms. If your company’s
main site-related challenge is figuring out how to use your Website
to help build client business, for example, an objective for your
Website marketing plan could be "To enhance online client
service as well as build site awareness and interest with clients."
Step 4: Create strategies.
Strategies support your objective. Your strategies define the
general approaches you will take to meet your objective. For example,
strategies to support the above objective could include 1) improve
online communication, information, and education, 2) build awareness
of and interest in your company on the Internet, and 3) communicate
the Web site’s existence and advantages to existing clients.
Step 5: Choose tactics.
Tactics are where the action takes place - these are the things
you will do to bring your strategies to life. Tactics for strategy
2 in the above example (improve online communication, information,
and education) could include 1) sharing experience and observations
in your industry through participation in discussion boards, 2)
offering an email newsletter, and 3) listing/submitting your site
to targeted search engines and directories.
The Write-Up
Once you have your plan developed, there are numerous ways to
do the write-up. If you are a company employee, there may be standards
you must follow. If you are an entrepreneur, go with a style you
find usable. For some ideas on what to include, read one of my
previous articles, "What to Include in Your Marketing Plan
Write-Up" at
http://www.websitemarketingplan.com/Arts/WritePlan.htm
After your initial plan is developed, you should treat it as a
work in progress. Tweak and adjust as needed in response to changing
conditions. Many companies update their marketing plans annually
when developing budgets for the coming year and reviewing the
company’s business plan.
Whether you are a one-person shop or part of a good-sized company,
having a Website marketing plan can help your business prosper
on the Web.
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Bobette Kyle is author of the 5-Step Marketing Plan Guide "How
Much for Just the Spider? Strategic Web Site Marketing".
Planning methods detailed in the guide brought Web Site Marketing
Plan from zero visitors to a top 1% Alexa ranking* in just four
months.
http://www.WebSiteMarketingPlan.com/sr.htm
Copyright 2002 Bobette Kyle. All rights reserved.
*According to an Alexa spokesperson, the service ranks about 20
million sites. As of September 2002, WebSiteMarketingPlan.com
had a rank of 48,000.
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