Seven Principles to Remember When Developing an Digital Marketing Strategy

Principles for Developing an Online Marketing Strategy

1 Brief your web developer well about your market so that his expertise can combine effectively with your business knowledge. Let's face it most of us business owners think we are marketing experts. But online marketing is a different world which needs a fresh review of strategy. So pick a web developer who can help you arrive at, and also periodically fine tune your online strategy.

2 Online Marketing is one area where a small company can look like a Fortune 500 company: One area that smaller businesses use to compete effectively with their larger competitors is online marketing where the costs of entry are much lower than main stream marketing with its expensive media costs for advertisers. This means that if you are competing with larger companies, spend what you need to on your online presence and you will level the playing field because your online investment is usually more cost effective than other methods.

3 First you have to ensure that people see your site. You can have the fanciest site in the world but it won't do you any good if people cannot or do not find you. You attract people with:

4 Be credible. Stay away from unsupported assertions.

It's pointless to way that your product or service is great without also explaining why? If you can, cite comments (in their own words) from real and prominent customers.

5 Focus on your captions. Remember the KISS rule.

It is said that most people looking at a site will not read the body copy. Short paragraphs and shorter sentences are best. While you are at it, limiting the number of paragraphs is probably a good idea. My writing teacher used to call this the KISS rule (keep it simple stupid!)

6 Consider giving visitors to your site a reason to contact you while they are there: You will need to test what works best, companies have been known to offer complimentary reports, discount vouchers, free downloads and so on. If that does not make sense for you, try polling them on a topical issue that is related to your business. A motor bike retailer could ask if helmets for pillion riders should be made mandatory. Those who vote could be offered a one in ten chance of winning a voucher for free pillion rider helmet (to be picked up at the store).

7 Differentiation and Empathy: At the end of the day, we should always put ourselves in the place of our site visitors and make it easier for them to visit. For example:

Make your site a living evolving communication platform. Review, update and rebuild periodically. Write blog & twitter feed as needed. Don't let your market tire of your site.