Factors Involved in Developing an Internet Marketing Plan
Internet marketing plans are written documents that outline your strategies and tactics for promoting your business online. Considering there were more than 266 million people online in North America as of March 2011, planning and organizing your marketing efforts for the Internet is important. Many factors are involved when developing an Internet marketing plan, and understanding some of these factors can help set you up for future success.
Other People Are Reading
-
Market Research
-
Market research forms the basis of all marketing plans. It can help you understand your market, your competitors and your own company's competitive strengths and weaknesses. When developing an Internet marketing plan, market research is one of the most important factors. Your marketing plan should contain a section that details all research you have gathered to date. This research will help you formulate your marketing objectives, too, which form the first section of your plan. For example, if you learned through research your customers perceive your prices to be high, one of your marketing strategies may be to communicate low-cost options for your product or service.
Website Evaluation
-
When developing a marketing plan, another important factor is evaluating your website. Make a list of strengths and weaknesses for your website. To be objective, ask several friends with web development experience to evaluate it for you as well. Analyze your web analytic statistics to understand how many visitors come to your site; what the sources of visitor referrals are; what keywords visitors use; and what pages attract the most interest. When developing your online marketing plan, these statistics will help you create your marketing strategies.
-
Budget
-
Budget is a crucial factor when developing an Internet marketing plan. Before developing the plan, find out how much money you have to allocate to your Internet marketing efforts. Communicate your budget in the marketing plan when you outline your Internet marketing tactics. For example, you may have $2,500 for search engine advertising, $2,000 for website enhancements and updates, $1,000 for email marketing and $1,000 for social media marketing.
Objectives
-
Your company objectives are the driving factor behind your marketing plan. This means you will build your marketing plan to align with your company objectives. For example, if one of your objectives is to increase website visitors by 20 percent by the end of the year, your marketing plan will communicate research, strategies and tactics that support this goal. Create your objectives before writing your plan. Meet with key stakeholders across several departments in your organization to gain agreement on what your objectives will be.
-
