In the last post we looked at why you should have a website marketing plan (read it here) and in this post we give you some further ideas for its development:
So what should a website marketing plan look like?
Well, here’s a few key points:
- You need to be clear on who your target market is
This is most important facet of all marketing. Until you’ve identified who your target market is then you’ll (most likely) be wasting large chunks of your marketing efforts trying to sell to people who are not natural customers for your offering. - You need to have activities to promote the website
This could be in the form of social media activities (Twitter, facebook, Pinterest etc), blog writing, offline marketing (all company branding and literature etc), advertising, email footers and loads more. - The website needs to be very clear in presenting what you can offer to clients
If you spend any time on the web you’ll find loads of sites where what the company offers is obscured by the clever design (web designers have a lot to answer for sometimes). - Your website needs a very clear call to action
It’s pointless driving traffic to your website without telling visitors what to do when they get there. - You need deadlines on your planned activities
Deadlines get stuff done so make sure you plan activities properly. This could be things such as: tweet something daily, write a blog post a week, connect with 10 people on Linkedin each week. - Measure the objectives and aim for ROI
Your website is more than just a brochure online, it’s a marketing tool and should therefore provide a return on investment. So make sure you can track all enquiries that come through your website.
In our view your website is a sales and marketing channel and should be used to help you win and keep clients. So a website marketing plan should be one of the first things you consider when thinking about having your website built.
I’m sure there’s plenty more we could include but hopefully this will get you started in developing some kind of website marketing plan to make sure that your website meets your objectives and also pays for itself.
If you’ve any further thoughts on this then please feel free to write them in the comments below: