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Deciphering Marketing Lingo for Small Business Owners
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Network Marketing Do's and Don'ts
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No one subjects them to the hard work of building a business just for little pieces of paper with the faces of dead...
Ten Ways to MROI--Maximize the Return on Your Investment in Marketing
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Developing a Web Site Marketing Plan
Developing a Web Site Marketing Plan Part One of a Four Part Series Based on "How Much for Just the Spider?"
by Bobette Kyle
For many of us, finding the time and commitment to complete a marketing plan for our Web sites is difficult. There are so many other obligations vying for our attention it is tempting to push planning to the back burner. Giving into that temptation, however, means putting your business at a disadvantage. Your marketing plan is the compass by which you navigate. As opportunities arise or your business environment changes, the objective and strategies in your marketing plan will point you toward the best action. Without a marketing plan, you risk becoming unfocused in your marketing and are only guessing what might be best for your business.
In this article, you will learn the parts to a marketing plan. I will also point you to some marketing plan resources. In parts two through four of the series, I will discuss objectives, strategies, and tactics for your Web site marketing plan.
To be most effective, your Web site marketing plan should be a part of your business marketing plan. By aligning online marketing with your offline efforts, you can better achieve overall company objectives. Additionally, you will present a consistent style and message across all points of contact with your target audience.
Your Web site marketing plan's focus will be partially determined by your site's status. If you already have a site in place, your plan can focus strictly on marketing issues - how to most effectively market using your existing site. If you have a site that needs improvement, your plan should incorporate enhancements into the site’s design in conjunction with marketing activities (While you may not think of these enhancements as "marketing", in this case, they are instrumental to an effective plan.). If you do not yet have a site, you can create one while developing your Web site marketing plan, with your plan focused on launching the site. In any case, remember that your objective, strategies, and tactics will change over time as your situation and focus change.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Parts of a Marketing Plan ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Web site marketing plan is similar to a business marketing plan, but with a narrower focus. Completing a marketing plan includes developing strategies and tactics (also called action plans) that, when implemented, will help you reach your marketing objectives. Objectives, strategies, and tactics are each progressively narrower in scope.
The objective addresses the "big picture". In general terms, your objective answers the question "How will I overcome my main marketing challenge(s)?" If your company’s main site- related challenge is figuring out how to use your Web site to help build client business, for example, an objective for your Web site marketing plan could be "To enhance online client service as well as build site awareness and interest with clients."
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.
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.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Marketing Planning Tools ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The specifics of developing a marketing plan vary according to the source. All can be effective when used correctly. Some sites and software that can help you in developing your marketing plan are below.
Sites
eSOLO’s Marketing Action Plans, http://www.esolo.com/mapslist.php3 , can help you to come up with strategies and action plans (tactics) to support common marketing objectives.
The Web Site Marketing Plan's Marketing Plan Resources page, http://www.websitemarketingplan.com/sr3.htm , includes several links and descriptions of sites with marketing plan information.
Software
Each of these software titles takes a slightly different approach to developing a marketing plan.
- Plan Write® for Marketing, http://www.businessplansoftware.org/marketing_plan.asp
- WebQuest Pro, http://www.webquestpro.com/
- Marketing Plan Pro, http://www.bplans.com/marketingplans
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Other Articles in this Series ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In this, the first article of the series, I discussed the elements of a marketing plan - objective, strategies, and tactics. In the remaining three articles I will take a closer look at objectives, strategies, and tactics you can consider for your Web site.
Part Two: "Your Web Site's Objectives" http://www.websitemarketingplan.com/sr8.htm autoresponder: mailto:ObjectiveArticle@WebSiteMarketingPlan.com
Part Three: "Strategies for Your Web Site Marketing Plan" http://www.websitemarketingplan.com/strategies.htm autoresponder: mailto:StrategiesArticle@WebSiteMarketingPlan.com
Part Four: "Choosing Tactics for Your Web Site Marketing Plan" http://www.websitemarketingplan.com/TacticsArticle.htm autoresponder: mailto:TacticsArticle@WebSiteMarketingPlan.com ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Copyright 2002 Bobette Kyle. All rights reserved.
About the Author
Bobette Kyle has over 10 years experience in Corporate Marketing; Brand and Product Marketing; Field Marketing and Sales; and Management.
The four part Web site marketing plan series is based on Bobette's book "How Much For Just the Spider? Strategic Web Site Marketing for Small-Budget Businesses", http://www.booklocker.com/books/711.html http://www.WebSiteMarketingPlan.com
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KnowThis: For Marketing, Market Research, Internet Marketing ... |
KnowThis.com offers a wealth of information, forums, and resources for professionals, academics and students in traditional and internet marketing, ... |
www.knowthis.com |
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Marketing - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia |
Marketers depend on marketing research, both formal and informal, ... The next big thing is a concept in marketing that refers to a product or idea that ... |
en.wikipedia.org |
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Marketing - Marketing Strategy - Marketing Plan - Marketing ... |
Learn about marketing careers, the stages of developing a marketing plan, how to begin marketing research, create a marketing strategy, and how to market ... |
marketing.about.com |
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Marketing.org - Home of the Business Marketing Association |
Serves the professional, educational and career development needs of business-to-business marketers. |
www.marketing.org |
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Welcome - American Marketing Association - www.marketingpower.com |
Dedicated to serving the educational and professional needs of marketing executives. |
www.marketingpower.com |
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Advertising, Marketing, Media and PR News - Brand Republic |
Find the latest Advertising, Marketing, Media and PR news from Brand Republic, the online resource for up to the minute advertising and marketing news and ... |
www.brandrepublic.com |
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Marketing Magazine - Marketing News - Brand Republic |
Marketing Magazine - Marketing News - Brand Republic. |
www.brandrepublic.com |
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Marketing (Canada) |
Offers a Canadian source of news and articles on marketing, advertising and media. |
www.marketingmag.ca |
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BidVertiser - Pay Per Click Advertising On Sites Of Your Choice. |
Pay per click advertising - online advertising directly on sites of your choice, internet marketing solution for online advertisers. |
www.bidvertiser.com |
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Online Behavioral Contextual Advertising and Marketing. |
Promote your business with today's most effective online advertising technology, contextual advertising at a cost effective metric of CPC, PPC, CPM or CPV. |
www.clicksor.com |
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Sales Jobs / Marketing Jobs / Advertising Jobs - MarketingJobs.com |
Employment site for marketing and sales professionals. |
www.marketingjobs.com |
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The Chartered Institute of Marketing |
The Chartered Institute of Marketing is the world's largest international marketing professional body and helps with career support and information ... |
www.cim.co.uk |
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Marketing: See what people are saying right now on Technorati |
See all blog posts tagged with marketing on Technorati. |
www.technorati.com |
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Marketing Profs - Marketing Concepts and Strategies: Expert ... |
Marketing knowhow from professionals. Newsletter, articles and how-to's. |
www.marketingprofs.com |
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Guerrilla Marketing Online - The Official Site |
Guerrilla Marketing Online is anonline magazine for small business, entrepreneurs, sales people and marketers of all kinds. |
www.gmarketing.com |
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Business Marketing - Small Business Marketing |
Business marketing - Read everything your need to know about small business marketing. |
www.entrepreneur.com |
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All About Marketing |
Adapted from Field Guide to Nonprofit Program Design, Marketing and Evaluation ... Inbound Marketing Includes Market Research to Find Out: ... |
www.managementhelp.org |
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Pages tagged with "marketing" on del.icio.us |
USA Network Announces a NASHVILLE STAR Marketing Partnership With ... - Yahoo! ... Direct Marketing Association: Telephone, Mail & Internet Marketing ... |
del.icio.us |
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ClickZ Internet Marketing Solutions for Marketers |
Includes columns with commentary and analysis on a wide variety of internet marketing subjects ranging from B2B marketing to search engine marketing. |
www.clickz.com |
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Direct Marketing Association: Telephone, Mail & Internet Marketing |
Trade association for users and suppliers in the direct, database and interactive marketing fields, offering seminars and resources, and lobbying for ... |
www.the-dma.org |
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