Do you have a marketing plan for your Website? If not, it is 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. There
are different ways to write a marketing plan , one of which is to develop a marketing plan
outline using a five step process.
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| 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. |
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| 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 filling your marketing plan outline. You may even want to write your challenges down in question form - "How do we _____________?". When your smarketing plan is completed, it will answer the question "How do I address these challenges?" |
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| Step 3: Develop your Website 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." |
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| Step 4: Create strategies. |
Strategies support your objective, defining the general approaches you will take to meet your objective. For example, strategies to support the objective outlined in Step 3 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 Website's existence and advantages to existing clients. |
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| Step 5: Choose marketing programs (tactics). |
The programs are where the action takes place - these are the things you will do to bring your strategies to life. Marketing programs to support 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. |
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| The Write Up |
Once you have a marketing plan outline developed, if needed, there are numerous ways to do an expanded write up. If you are a company employee, there may be existing format and content you must follow. You can find some write up suggestions in " What to Include in Your Marketing Plan Write Up ".
After the 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 marketing and business plans annually when developing budgets for the coming year.
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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Telephone Marketing
Forget high pressured telemarketing . Our clients use the telephone for sophisticated telephone marketing, which nurtures and grows your relationships with your clients and customers.
It is not unusual for a business that implements successful telephone marketing to see profits double within one to three years.
The telephone is one of the most powerful business tools that you possess. Don't use it to ‘sell' to your customers – use it to serve them.
When you make personal contact by telephone an integral part of your business , your profits will soar – it is virtually inevitable.
But organizing Telephone Marketing is not always so simple – so here are some guiding principles that you may want to follow: |
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| But organizing Telephone Marketing is not always so simple – so here are some guiding principles that you may want to follow: |
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If you follow up a mailing with a telephone call, you can improve results by 50 – 1000%. (yes, one thousand percent!) |
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If you're unsure how your customers will react to being sold to on the phone – don't sell to them. Use the telephone call to ask questions, gather information and ensure their needs are being met. |
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Use the telephone to set appointments – measure how long on average it takes to get an appointment, work out how much that costs so that you have an average figure per appointment….then work out how much, on average each appointment brings you in revenue. Compare the figures – and if it's profitable make telephone appointment setting an integral part of your business. |
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Don't force members of your team to make phone calls if they don't enjoy it. There are two types of people in this world – those who love making loads of sales orientated phone calls and those who don't. If they don't want to do it, it wont work. |
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Incentives your staff as much as possible. The higher the commission and the lower the salary – the better the results you'll get. |
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