Thursday, February 07, 2008

Internet Marketing Plan

As with any plan, beginning is often the real challenge. The first step is gathering information about your company and your product, and also information about your competition, trends, and statistics. When gathering information about your company, remember, it doesn't matter what you think. Allow the facts to speak for themselves. Ask yourself a few important questions: What do your customers want? What do they expect from your product? Where are your customers located? How do you get in touch with them?

A marketing plan seems like a pain to do, and if a business owner is working alone, they are often too busy to create a marketing plan or to update their existing plan. If this is your company, you could be leaving profits on the table. Without a marketing plan, you can become unfocused in your marketing endeavors. You don't want to run your business by guessing what to do next.

Here is a list of some ideas for marketing your website.

Get involved in online discussions. Podcasts, webcasts, blog, RSS feeds and newsletters are all contemporary versions of the soapbox. If you are an expert in your field, volunteer for online interviews.

Identify bloggers in your category and then send them your product as a gift. Bloggers are the current influencers and can give your product a lot of exposure. To attract the attention of bloggers, comment on one of their posts. Bloggers are curious who is reading their work and they will reciprocate. By establishing a relationship with bloggers, they may mention you in their blogs. The idea is NOT to ask them to advertise. It has to be their idea.

Get involved with the Social Scene Online. Online social networks allow you to set up a profile page and interact with others who have interests that are similar to yours. Comment on their page and they will be curious enough to check your page out. If they like what they see, they will respond to you on your page.

Write a press release and distribute it through an online press release service.

Survey your visitors. Establish a survey on your site and ask a very simple question: How likely are you to recommend _________ to others? Then, ask they explain their answer. These answers can assist you in establishing a plan for improvement to your product or your website.