Developing an Internet marketing plan involves taking the end goal into consideration and creating a budget. You will also need to identify competition and ideal customers, in addition to ensuring that the offered service or product stands out from the competition. An Internet marking plan is not a plan someone creates within a day; in fact, many people make a living by becoming an expert on the subject and developing Internet marketing plans for people who do not have the time.
First, consider the ultimate goal of your Internet marketing plan. Figure out whether you want to sell products, increase brand awareness, or gain customer loyalty. Internet marketing can accomplish a lot, but it can accomplish very little if you start without an end goal.
The next step is to determine how much money to spend on marketing each month. You can start with a relatively small figure and then increase the amount when you feel comfortable. Marketing on the Internet, just like marketing in print media, can have an unlimited budget and never reach all potential customers. For this step, think in terms of what you can afford rather than how much money will lead to the best outcome.
You can find the competition by entering your business’ keywords into a search engine. The websites that show up and are not yours are competition, but some are more competitive than others. People searching for a product or service like yours are more likely to click on websites ranked high on search engines. Therefore, all websites above yours should be considered competition. Research their products or service and make note of anything they are doing better than you.
Assess your website and product or service and make improvements if necessary. Your website is like a storefront, and having an unattractive storefront will probably lead to less profit overall. The product or service you offer should be different than your competition’s in some way, even if it is simply higher quality.
Identify the customers you want viewing the advertisements. Advertise on websites they frequent the most; for example, if your ideal customer is a woman between ages 18 and 35 and certain websites attract the same demographic, consider advertising there. Some websites, social networking websites in particular, can also target ads to a specific audience for you.
If you have a large budget but no time, consider hiring someone to develop an Internet marketing plan. Professionals can usually carry out an Internet marketing plan too. Sometimes professional Internet marketers also make guarantees as to how successful the plan will be.