How to prepare for online marketing planning

Most business owners I meet are often dazzled by the array of platforms, tools and practices that are available today on the Internet to promote their products and services. Their concerns often revolve around making sure they’re doing the right thing. Should we have a blog? Should we be on Twitter? Have a Facebook page? Make podcasts? Use a location based service like Gowalla? Etc.

I often surprise them by saying: hey sure, you could do all these things but why? What benefits do you expect from them? What issues do you have that you expect them to solve?

I answer their questions with more questions hence confusing them even more.

As a marketer (and consultant), I believe my job is to steer the conversation towards the right questions before getting into the practical details. And the biggest surprise I deliver to my customers is to help them realise they already have most of the answers. All they need however are the right questions.

Do you get any sales leads through your website? Do you fill all your seats? Do you sell your products online? Do you want to promote the opening of a new store? Do you want more people at your events? Do you have too many customer service calls? Is your online advertising revenue low? What differentiates you from your competitors and is it showcased online? Etc.

The right questions stem from understanding the company’s business model, its objectives and its pain points.

While it is true that most businesses want the same things: more leads, more sales, more recurring business, fewer expenses, etc. The concerns and issues they have to address at a certain point in time are often very different and depend on the level of success of a company, its customers, its vision, its internal operations, its understanding of marketing, and its budget constraints which are very unique to each business.

So how should a business owner be prepared before investing money in any sort of online marketing initiative?

Here are my recommendations for planning your online marketing initiatives:

• Define the goals you have for your business or organisation in the next 12 months
• Define what are the challenges you think you’ll have to overcome to meet your objectives
• Define who are your customers and how they usually find you
• Define how you could create recurring business from your current customers
• Define how important is the Web for your business
• Define a marketing budget

Then find a digital marketing expert and tell him or her (or let him or her ask) about your business and about the above points. Then let the expert create the appropriate online marketing mix that will support your goals and generate tangible results.

This last point is particularly important because a lot of business owners talk to Web designers, Web programmers or marketing people who have experience only with a few tactics (the “social media guru” for example).

Beware of so called experts who tell you what to do without trying to understand your business, your situation and your challenges. It is very likely they’re more invested in their own interests than in yours.