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Internet Marketing Power Tips: Brainstorm Your Business Requirements First
Are you considering building a business web site or re-designing the one you
already have? Here are some of the fundamental things you need to brainstorm
to get the internet marketing power your business needs.
Focus On The End At The Beginning
A business website can't be all things to all people. In fact, you'll soon
find that it shouldn't be. The expense in time and traffic costs can be better
used with qualified prospects and existing customers. For starters, ask yourself
the following questions:
What
are the basic goals of my internet marketing efforts (e.g., branding, lead
generation, customer service, direct sales, corporate communication)?
Now narrow your basic goals down to specifics. What types of web visitors do
you want to attract? What are your goals for each type of visitor?
Try to refine
your goals so precisely that they can be expressed in one sentence. If you have
more than one goal, prioritize them.
Establishing a profitable web presence is
a process-- not a thing. So this is a good time to begin to layout your schedule
requirements too. Think about
a reasonable timeline and a metric for developmental milestones.
From Bricks to Clicks
You already know your sales process requirements in the brick and mortar
realm. You'll need to map those same business principles to your internet
marketing efforts. You'll probably find it helpful to make a checklist
of every element you'll need in place to get whatever transaction you want--
whether it’s an actual sale or qualified lead, or something else altogether.
Sales Information Is The Foundation
Insufficient sales information is the key factor responsible for the poor internet
marketing results that business websites commonly experience. This deficiency
can most often be traced back to an original web design that stressed graphic
appeal over sales and marketing requirements.
Roger Parker in his 'Guide to
Web Content and Design', says business web content should consist of two
components:
- Information Your Prospects Need To Know In Order To Buy From
You
You know the marketing messages that attracted your current customers. This
is the conversation that must predominate on your website.
With the inherent
internet speed and conversion testing tools that are available, you can
select, test, and refine the sales and marketing messages that will
attract the kinds of customers and qualified prospects you desire.
- Information You Know That Will Convince Prospects To Buy From You
Having fielded numerous questions over the life of your business, you know
that out of a hundred questions prospects and customers ask, the majority
of them tend to be variations of a much smaller subset. The same holds
true for objections.
When objections and questions are addressed in advance, a
shortened sales cycle, increased conversions, and savings in time/money
are the results.
The Internet Marketing Golden Rule
A business web site has to be rooted in sound business logic and evaluated
like all of your other business investments. Business investments aren't
judged on beauty-- the ultimate criterion is the ROI.
Beginning your web development
with strict attention to basic sales elements will be the difference between
eventually having a moneymaking internet business
presence and an asset wasting website.
The web, of course, has a variety of advantages
as well as restrictions that come with the medium itself. These are the things
to consider as you move to
the next developmental stage.
The Takeaway
The path to internet marketing power begins with a clearly defined sales process
and only later moves to graphic and functional design. If there's one offline
business truth that internet hasn't changed it's that "poor salesmen
(still!) have skinny kids." That truth may be etched in stone.
About the Author: Kamau Jackson is a Chicago Internet marketing consultant who helps business owners leverage the power of the web to dramatically increase their profits and extend their marketing "reach".
Find out how you can get your free Internet Marketing Knowledge Toolkit-- that's 6 Ebooks and state-of-the-web White Papers (311 pages!) at www.internetknowledgesolutions.com.
You may reprint this article online and in print provided the links remain live and the content remains unaltered (including the "About the author" message). © 2006 Internet Knowledge Solutions.
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