How do you approach any other form of marketing you do in your business? It is quite simply another business decision that follows the same process. You do need to understand what your objectives are, what the returns you seek are, how you measure them in terms of dollars and then decide what you are willing to spend in order to reach those goals. The marketing aspects are no different - know the market segments, align your products and services to those segments, define your value proposition and then define the initiatives that need to be put in place to deliver to the objectives.
The first thing you need to clarify in your mind is what it is you are wanting to achieve as a result of your Internet marketing. Whilst there are a wide range of aspects that can be considered the following 3 questions are a very simple start.
1. What would the average value of sale be worth to you for a well qualified lead?
2. What % of qualified leads can you assume will convert to actual sales or new business?
3. Given a target for new business, how many visitors to your website would you need to generate in order to convert to actual sales?
Now depending on the business you are in, the types of products and services you offer and who your market is and how they make purchasing decisions, the answers you provide will vary considerably. Do not overlook how critical the design of your website also is. Does it induce visitors to take some form of action, does it arouse their interest to find out more and does it support the business operations?
Now check out the current traffic to your website - the source and number of visitors, returning visitors and the pages within your site they actually visit. How many of those visitors convert to new business revenue? This information is at your fingertips and is current of course? If this data is not available I would suggest that you found out how to get it right now as this data is critical to your business.
So now you have all the basic data you need to make a preliminary business decision. It is now a case of determining how many additional visitors you need to generate a set value of additional revenue and what that will cost to achieve. Your return on investment then forms the basis of your business decision. You can now see the opportunity to come form having a well planned Internet Marketing Plan that is cost justified and is likely to realise unrecognised revenue opportunities for your business.
The first thing you need to clarify in your mind is what it is you are wanting to achieve as a result of your Internet marketing. Whilst there are a wide range of aspects that can be considered the following 3 questions are a very simple start.
1. What would the average value of sale be worth to you for a well qualified lead?
2. What % of qualified leads can you assume will convert to actual sales or new business?
3. Given a target for new business, how many visitors to your website would you need to generate in order to convert to actual sales?
Now depending on the business you are in, the types of products and services you offer and who your market is and how they make purchasing decisions, the answers you provide will vary considerably. Do not overlook how critical the design of your website also is. Does it induce visitors to take some form of action, does it arouse their interest to find out more and does it support the business operations?
Now check out the current traffic to your website - the source and number of visitors, returning visitors and the pages within your site they actually visit. How many of those visitors convert to new business revenue? This information is at your fingertips and is current of course? If this data is not available I would suggest that you found out how to get it right now as this data is critical to your business.
So now you have all the basic data you need to make a preliminary business decision. It is now a case of determining how many additional visitors you need to generate a set value of additional revenue and what that will cost to achieve. Your return on investment then forms the basis of your business decision. You can now see the opportunity to come form having a well planned Internet Marketing Plan that is cost justified and is likely to realise unrecognised revenue opportunities for your business.
About the Author:
Greg Tomkins is the Web Architect at Top Left Designs a Gold Coast | Brisbane Internet Marketing & SEO services company servicing website owners for SME business. For further info about Google Analytics visit Measuring Website Performance
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