American Express

Posts Tagged ‘strategy’

A common question that arises is, “How do you plan your Internet strategy in a world where technology is changing constantly?” This is a somewhat valid question. Yes, technology changes, but this does not affect only your Internet strategy; it affects every facet of your business. The best way to answer the question is with the following question: “How do you plan to grow your business?” If you don’t have an answer to this question, you have a bigger issue and probably should be reading a book on developing a business
strategy. More importantly, if the Internet (or related technologies) is not a part of how you plan to grow your business, you should definitely keep reading this Blog.

So how do you typically plan to manage the growth of your business? For starters, you forecast to the best of your ability where your business will be six months, one year, two years from now, and so on, and you develop a strategy to facilitate this growth both from a sales and a delivery point of view. How does this relate to the Internet? Well, your Web site and Internet strategy should be flexible enough to grow with your business without having
to start from scratch every time your business reaches a new milestone.Figure 2.1 illustrates what we refer to as “the foundation” for all Web site activities. If you don’t take the foundation into account, then the structure of your entire online marketing strategy will fall to pieces. The key components of your foundation include:
• Understanding your primary online marketing objectives
• Identifying your primary and secondary target market segments
• Having a clear understanding of what you’re promoting on your site.

A well-planned Internet marketing strategy distinguishes those businesses that are committed to the long-term potential of the medium from those who are simply marketing online because the market says they should. Typically, the latter can easily be detected. I am sure you’ve stumbled across a Web site that is nothing more than an electronic brochure—a site that does not communicate the promise of the brand to the target market or a site that is stamped “Last Updated . . .” only to display a date one or two years prior to your visit (or more.) These are examples of businesses that have yet to fully embrace the potential of the Internet and how it can not only grow their business, but also reach more users in a more cost-effective manner.

Planning plays a critical role in the success of your Internet marketing strategy with regard to your Web site itself, the online communication channels that you choose, and how you actually execute each campaign you launch to your target market. Those businesses that are capitalizing on the mainstream use of the Internet are those that plan their Internet strategies well in advance. For example, research reveals that the average online marketer that is using targeted PPC campaigns or organic optimization as a means of driving traffic to their Web site are dedicating on average 36 percent of their total online advertising budget to the medium. That represents 15 percent of their total online/offline advertising budget. Does this seem like a surprise? It shouldn’t. It’s not unrealistic for search engine exposure to be able to represent 60 to 80 percent of a Web site’s total traffic.

Understanding what you are trying to achieve online plays a critical role in the planning process for your Web site and your overall online marketing strategy. It seems like a simple concept, doesn’t it? I mean, why would you build a Web site if you didn’t understand what you want it to do? Well, the problem is that even in this day and age, many businesses are developing their online presence simply because it’s just one of those things that businesses need to do. These businesses build Web sites that are online brochures for their business with little or no thought about their customers or what they want their site to achieve.

Any online marketing activities, whether it is the development of your Web site or planning sessions for an online campaign, should begin by documenting the specific primary objectives for the activity. Typically it boils down to one primary objective that is common across any business—revenue generation. But what does this really mean? Do you have to sell products online to generate revenue for your business, or can you simply use the site to qualify sales leads for your internal sales department? Overall there are many different online marketing objectives for a company Web site or a specific campaign. People tend to label their objectives simply as “revenue generation” as opposed to breaking down the objective into more specific terms. Below is a list of common online marketing objectives:

• Generate increased brand awareness
• Generate and qualify leads for the internal sales department
• Increase revenue as a result of online sales
• Provide increased customer service by providing the Web user with more   self-service tools and information
• Increase customer retention
• Decrease internal costs by streamlining the share of information online.

A well-planned Internet marketing strategy distinguishes those businesses that are committed to the long-term potential of the medium from those who are simply marketing online because the market says they should. Typically, the latter can easily be detected. I am sure you’ve stumbled across a Web site that is nothing more than an electronic brochure—a site that does not communicate the promise of the brand to the target market or a site that is stamped “Last Updated . . .” only to display a date one or two years prior to your visit (or more.) These are examples of businesses that have yet to fully embrace the potential of the Internet and how it can not only grow their business, but also reach more users in a more cost-effective manner.

Planning plays a critical role in the success of your Internet marketing strategy with regard to your Web site itself, the online communication channels that you choose, and how you actually execute each campaign you launch to your target market. Those businesses that are capitalizing on the mainstream use of the Internet are those that plan their Internet strategies well in advance. For example, research reveals that the average online marketer that is using targeted PPC campaigns or organic optimization as a means of driving traffic to their Web site are dedicating on average 36 percent of their total online advertising budget to the medium. That represents 15 percent of their total online/offline advertising budget. Does this seem like a surprise? It shouldn’t. It’s not unrealistic for search engine exposure to be able to represent 60 to 80 percent of a Web site’s total traffic.