Do you have an Internet Marketing Program in place that you use as a checklist for your daily marketing activities? Or are you simply winging it – performing tasks here and there, as you think of them?
If you do not have a program outlining the marketing strategy for your e-commerce business, then more than likely your internet marketing efforts are not as productive as they could be.
Why You Need A Marketing Program
Chances are that before you started your company, you drew up a business plan. Even if it wasn’t a comprehensive plan, you had an outcome in mind and put some thought into it. You probably did some research to determine which products or services would net you the most sales and put together cost estimates and timelines for getting everything up and going.
That business plan should have included a section on internet marketing. In fact, if you weren’t doing this online and wanted to obtain financing, this would be a requirement. Marketing is a vital ingredient to making money online!
An Internet Marketing Program is only beneficial if you (1) Refer to it, often (2) Revise it as the demand requires, and (3) Actually perform the tasks outlined. So if you created a marketing program some time ago but haven’t even glanced it at since the inception of your business, it’s time to have another look.
Using Your Internet Marketing Program
A marketing program should be a living document, that is it should be referred to often and updated as necessary with a change in strategy. Perhaps you initially included banner ads in the plan but after they were up for several months you realised they were not adding to your bottom line. You should record your results, then replace that aspect of your plan with a different strategy.
Use the items in your plan to create a daily, weekly, and monthly list of marketing tasks you need to accomplish. For instance, if you maintain a blog, you might want to designate each Wednesday as the day you update your blog posts. If you do not have a schedule, it is too easy to get caught up in other details of your business and let your marketing efforts lag.
This also helps you to attain your goals. Write them down and establish a timeline for completion. If your goal is to attain the number one spot in the SERPs for a major keyword, then determine the ways you are going to accomplish this, add those tasks into your list, and ensure that you keep current with all of them.
Without goals, how can you achieve growth?
Elements Of A Good Internet Marketing Program
A good marketing plan should not rely on only one form of marketing; it should consist of several different ways to reach your overall online business goals. Here is a list of just some of the things your plan might include:
• Pay per click advertising campaign
• Website optimisation – meta tags, keyword-rich content, robots.txt file, etc.
• Regular content updates – writing articles, creating video and audio content, etc.
• Blog posting
• Directory listings
• Social media – creating accounts and regularly posting
• Online groups – join and participate
• Link building
As you can see, there are quite a few tasks that must be managed, and this is by no means a comprehensive list.
For marketing to be effective, it must be an ongoing process with a specific strategy in mind. Your goals and direction might periodically change but reviewing your plan and keeping track of your results can help you effectively grow. And to stay on top of all the necessary tasks and determine if you are reaching your goals, an Internet Marketing Program is a must.
See you at the top of Google!
Sean Rasmussen
SEO Australia Pacific
AussieSEO.com © 2007 - 2010
Hi Sean,
This is excellent advice. An internet marketing program is essential for success. I have one but the only problem is that I didn’t update it when circumstances in my life changed and I’ve been making it up as I go along ever since.
This post has given me the kick in the pants I needed to get organised. I just need to make the time to sit down and re-do my plan. I’m sure it will help me get more done.
.-= Jazz Salinger´s last blog ..Learn and Earn Competition – This is It =-.
An Internet Marketing Program is essential to give you a sense of the direction you intend to follow. However, it is not cast in stone. It has to be a living, breathing document that you change as you analyse the successfulness of your marketing strategies.
Keeping a checklist of on-going tasks can be simplified by maintaining an online calendar that sends you reminder emails. Then matter where you are, even if you don’t have a hardcopy of your checklist, if you have Internet access you will be reminded of those daily tasks you have to accomplish.
.-= Don White´s last blog ..New Ireton Data =-.
A Marketing program! I thought I was missing something …. good sense probably as I keep it all in my head! No comment on that please!
It is so important if for nothing else to stay on top of the weekly or daily tasks that keep us outn there in cyberspace.
Hi Sean
A marketing plan is the most essential thing for any business on or off line. Not having a plan is like not having a map or itinerary when starting out on a journey to reach a pre determined location. You can imagine the pitfalls in not planning a journey that has a destination.
I do have a major plan in place and it is chunked down into smaller bites. There is a great saying in NLP, ‘the map is not the territory’, which loosely means that you can see where you need to get to but you need to have a closer look at what you need to traverse or what you need to do in order to get to the goal.
I set my yearly goals then chunk them down to months then to weeks and then days and every day I know what I need to do and I try to stick to it. I do all these on spreadsheets and print the weekly ones off and they sit beside me on my desk. I would be lost, distracted and unproductive without them.
A great article Sean, thankyou.
Blessings
Elly
.-= Elly´s last blog .. =-.
Hi Elly,
That sounds like a great plan. I’m pretty good at sticking to my plan and meeting my goals. But every now and then something will stick a spanner in the works and I find it hard to stay on track.
Case in point; this competition. Before it started, I wrote out a plan I thought I could stick to over the seven weeks. I just couldn’t get everything done, though. So, I’ll have to wait until life returns to normal before I go back to my plan.
Also, after reading Sean’s blog, I always find new strategies I need to add to my routine. Have you found the same thing?
.-= Jazz Salinger´s last blog ..Finding Your Passion =-.
Just remember guys, that you are reading and commenting on lots of content on many different topics. There is no way you can implement all of these tips and strategies, stick to the basics and work on a few things at a time until you are ready to implement more of them
Sound advice. Prioritising and planning well may just help me do this – to avoid misdirection, confusion as was mentioned in another article