Steps in developing your e-marketing plan

Steps in developing your e-marketing plan

 

 

It is important to recognise that planning for e-marketing does not mean starting from scratch. Any online e-communication must be consistent and work with the overall marketing goals and current marketing efforts of your business.

The main components of an e-marketing plan will typically include the following stages:

• Identify your target audience - if you identify multiple targets, rank them in order of importance so that you can allocate resources accordingly. Profile each target group and understand their requirements and expectations. This type of customer segmentation will help you choose the right tactics for your plan.
• Understand your competitors - profile your competitors and the market in which you operate. What types of online marketing do your competitors use and how well do they perform? This type of benchmarking will help you understand the environment in which you are operating.
• Set your objectives - possible objectives could include raising awareness of your brand, improving sales or online registrations, improving customer retention, providing greater internal efficiencies such as decreased marketing costs and reduced order-taking and fulfilment costs. The objectives that you choose depend on your business needs.
• Plan your tactics - once you have a top-level strategy including your overall objectives, you need to identify the tactics that you want to use. The plan can also cover any other non-internet marketing activities that are being undertaken. Think about how you will measure your success - build in feedback mechanisms and regular reviews to enable you to assess the performance of your e-marketing activities and identify areas for improvement
• Agree a budget - careful budgeting allows you to prevent costs spiralling out of control. Identify the returns you expect to make from your investment in e-marketing activities and compare these with the costs in order to develop a cost/benefit analysis.