Building an online marketing strategy

When you build an online marketing strategy, you need to take a look at your existing marketing strategies. What are you currently doing to boost your sales and drive people to your web site? If these strategies aren't working, here are some ideas to try with your new online marketing strategy:

First, re-vamp or create an online marketing strategy. The online marketing strategy needs to include information about the mission and vision of the company. When you are developing an online marketing strategy, the following questions need to be addressed:

• How is our product unique?
• How is our web site different from our competitors?
• What are our current web site statistics?
• How does our product relate to the company?

Second, once the online marketing strategy is underway, you will need to create attention for your web site. You can do this using search engine optimization (SEO), press releases, news stories, blogs, emails, and a handful of other sources. You want to let not only your current customers know you are increasing your visibility, but you should let your affiliates know.

Third, the marketing strategy needs to have a timeline for specific promotions. One thing you need to watch is holidays. Do you have products that correspond with certain holidays? Would it benefit your company to make a big marketing push during a specific holiday? Don't forget about company holidays. Company anniversaries are a great time to offer discounts to your customers and to get some new clients in the door. Make sure you have a method to track your progress to see if your online strategy is actually working.

Fourth, target your audience and start generating sales. Email marketing is a great way to target your audience, usually because these people have signed up to be on your mailing list. Use keywords that are relevant to your products and to your company to increase your site traffic from your target audience. When people start searching for a particular phrase, they are considered your target audience.

Fifth, never sacrifice quality, especially on your web site. You may think that people won't browse your web site to look for small things, but they can quickly identify a company that cares about the quality of their web site from another company that only has their web site to sell products. Check your web site daily and check out broken links, outdated information, and other things that could be causing problems for your customers. The products you sell also need to have a high quality to reflect positively on your company. You may need to consider re-designing some of your products for the future. Producing a consistent, high-quality level will help your company achieve long-term success.

Never forget about your company goals when you are creating a marketing strategy. Every product you sell needs to reflect the company image. This is also true for every press release you write and every pay-per-click ad you create. When it comes to online marketing strategies, don't forget to try blogging and social networking sites. Both of these avenues are free and you can post as much information as you want. They provide companies with the opportunity to build their customer-base and strengthen their relationships with them. Having a good customer-base is key to your company's success because these individuals can help you with your break-even costs during slow times. A lot of people like reading the company blogs because they are able to learn about new products that are in the works. They also have the chance to ask key questions to the company and receive an answer from the company. It provides a new avenue for marketing and it can really boost your internet traffic.