Do You Need an Internet Marketing Plan?

We've talked about marketing plans (often!) and it's clear that having one gives us a big advantage if it forces us to think properly about strategy and how we're going to meet our business objectives. There are so many elements to most of our marketing mixes already I'm sure we're not the only ones who have ended up with a very large plan indeed!

So, now that web sites, online trading, blogs and podcasts have all emerged as new, instant communication methods it's sometimes appropriate to develop a standalone "internet marketing plan" as a key business tool. This actually makes it easier, because you find that there are now so many "internet" elements to marketing that it breaks away quite easily into a separate action plan.

The same rules apply, you still need to think about your (internet) objectives for the business, what budget you have and the strategy to adopt. Those 4 P's surface again:

1. Which product(s) (Product) are you using the Internet to sell?
2. Where (Place) will you sell them? Obviously using the Internet, but will it be using your own web site or somebody else's?
3. What will your pricing (Price) strategy be? If you have more than one sales method, do you offer different prices for internet purchases for example?
4. How will you promote (Promotion) your products and services on the Internet? Are you using pay per click advertising, linking strategies, blogging, podcasts, viral marketing, email marketing....? Then think about your methods - if you're already set up for e-commerce (selling using your website) is that your main selling method? Do you, or could you, also sell on somebody else's website, or could they sell for you (affiliate marketing)? Here's where it really comes into it's own!

By concentrating on an internet strategy it really drives home how much can be done to improve trade if you're reliant on the web to do business. Even if you're not yet, maybe now it's time to create a marketing plan to make it happen - there's a whole new marketplace out there!

About this Author

Karen McNulty is a renowned author of marketing articles for small and home-based businesses. She is a co-director of http://www.business-umbrella.com and writes marketing articles for her own website.

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