Develop a powerful online marketing plan to reach business goals

One of the main aspects for you as an entrepreneur to seriously consider is to include an online marketing plan into your business plan. To sell your products to the right market, you need to build a complete and detailed business plan first that matches your business’s objectives.

Through a well-built digital plan, you as an entrepreneur or digital marketer can create safe road maps. These are digital strategies that will help you get to the destination in a timely and safe manner.

An online marketing plan if built correctly is similar to a world map - it takes your business everywhere you wish.

You know, by building and following a digital marketing plan you can

- make informed decisions;

- check how digital marketing performs within your business;

- assess the changes that occur and know the small and big results that are generated;

- differentiate from your competitors and position your business accordingly in your market;

- improve both the online marketing strategy and business strategy;

- find an adequate formula for your business that can help you attract the right clients and increase sales.

See the following 20 tips built to support you in developing a powerful online marketing plan for your business to make the most out of it:

1. REACH DIGITAL MARKETING GOALS THROUGH A SOLID BUSINESS PLAN

a) To be successful and achieve long-term success, a business needs knowledgeable and dedicated personnel in every department - from management to digital marketing.

b) Start working on the business plan first, define and describe your target audience. Then, talk about your product/service, explain its features and why your target market will love and buy it.

c) Write the business plan in a structured manner so all the people connected to your business from employees and stakeholders to investors and business partners understand its points.

d) When we talk about online marketing activity, entrepreneurs need to see it as a vital practice when defining and developing an online brand. So dedicating a special section within the marketing plan (online+offline) is important.

e) Prepare a coherent and comprehensive digital plan in which to include your overall digital marketing strategy. Its role is to help you set digital marketing objectives (SMART) and propose powerful solutions to make your brand known. A well-communicated and goal-oriented digital marketing plan will bring results in line with expectations.

f) Planning and organizing the online marketing activity of your business can have a positive or negative impact on its performance. There are many aspects related to digital marketing best practices you need to be aware of when developing your digital plan. One of them is creating internal digital guidelines for your team to follow. So digital tasks are clearly and appropriately managed by everyone in the company and brand guidelines are respected, for example.

g) In the digital marketing plan consider adding these 10 elements about

- competitor research & analysis to gain a clear perspective on the market trends and challenges;

- website strategy and design adapted to your business objectives;

- ideal customers (buyer persona) profile to understand their behavior, attitudes, aspirations, pain points, etc..

- content types you think your audience enjoys reading and appreciates;

- content structure on your site that needs to be user-friendly;

- methods to increase site and content visibility in a natural way in the search engines and on social media;

- how you combine strategies and techniques to build that online presence adequate for your business values and unique selling proposition (USP)

- types of digital campaigns (paid/free) that you’ll implement - the channels that are the most profitable for your company;

- how your internal and external team should look like - your ideal digital marketing team that will be in charge of the online activity;

- budget allocation to each online channel and strategy.

2. ASSESS YOUR COMPETITION TO MAKE YOUR PRODUCT STAND OUT

h) To position your brand strategically on the web, you need to know your competition. Find out how their products are seen on the web by users and search engines.

* Use Excel to create a list of websites that rank best in Google for specific keywords.

Observe, analyze and acquire an in-depth understanding of the sites from an SEO point of view. Then, the insights you’ll extract will help you come up with excellent digital strategies.

i) Your website’s design and layout need to be innovative, especially your homepage and product pages. Apply a special design to differentiate your site from your competitors.

j) Think about how to arrange call-to-action (CTA) buttons on your landing pages to determine your potential buyers to click on them to order your product or complete and send a contact form.

Craft engaging buttons using strong colors, interesting fonts and exciting messages to capture attention and drive action.

k) Always mention near the CTA button what you want your potential customers to do:

- ask for an offer

- fill out a form

- send a request

- download a file

- free trial

- book a (free) consultation

- call the company

and whatever you want them to do. It depends on the type of business and the product(s) you are selling.

l) To bring value to the lives of customers, offer them something for FREE. It can make a difference in your sales success.

m) When you get to know your competition, you’ll develop a better digital plan. This info will sustain you in developing your website strategy, doing content optimization in an authentic way, or implementing memorable online marketing campaigns.

3. MAKE SURE YOUR BUDGET IS REALISTIC FOR YOUR DIGITAL MARKETING STRATEGY

n) When you open your own company, you must invest more money at the beginning to get your business on the right track.

Your online marketing strategy needs a more consistent budget when you start the company. Thus, you’ll be able to let your potential clients know that your products have the best to offer and deserve their attention.

o) When you get involved in the business plan, consider setting up the budget that will help you implement the digital marketing plan. Include budget aspects in the digital marketing and finance sections of your business plan.

p) To establish which of the digital marketing channels deserve more attention, in the beginning, try to divide the budget equally between marketing channels.

In this way, you can find the channel where your target audience is and invest more there later on.

You can start with SEO and PPC campaigns (together they provide very good results). Or SEO and social media (Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, Linkedin, etc.) to get relevant data and make proper decisions further on.

q) Check and analyze permanently the results you get from the online campaigns. This attitude will help you choose the most suitable channel to promote your products and invest your budget into the right one.

Google Analytics is a free and indispensable tool for digital marketers. It offers digital data about your website and digital campaign(s) helping you improve online strategies (sites' user experience), boost conversions, and achieve business ROI goals.

r) Mention all your scenarios and ideas within the online marketing plan. And start applying them after finishing writing your entire business plan.

While you put your digital plan into practice, you’ll gain knowledge about your target market, product sales, online campaigns. Data and key info will be needed to adjust digital marketing strategies.

4. KNOW WHAT YOU WANT TO INCLUDE IN YOUR DIGITAL MARKETING BEFORE OUTSOURCING IT

s) The only person who knows how the business should look like is you, the entrepreneur. You may think to outsource the online marketing practice because there is not enough time or expertise to apply it on your own.

When consulting a specialist, make sure you discuss also your ideas and have them integrated into your digital marketing plan.

Also, let your employees and collaborators know how your strategy sounds like and what you are expecting from your business. Ask their opinion and make the necessary improvements.

t) If you don’t have enough time as an entrepreneur to implement your online marketing strategy, hire people with experience in the online marketing field, or work with a digital marketing agency.

So, if you think an agency is the best solution for your digital marketing needs, make sure your business is in good hands. Research the agency's experience and projects. Check if it is registered or not as a business, who is the owner, or look after feedback from clients.

Conclusion

An online marketing plan is the best choice for entrepreneurs that are interested in making sense of the business planning, strategies, and scenarios.

An entrepreneur that keeps updated daily on the current trends and online marketing practices and integrates them into the business plan has bigger chances to develop the ideal digital plan.

Do you find this article relevant for your digital needs? If so, copy-paste this link to share it with your colleagues/friends/partners interested in online marketing. This way, you help us grow our digital community BeEMK – Be E-Marketing. Thanks!