A significant percentage of your class grade will be based on an Internet Marketing Plan that you will develop for a local business. This page is intended to provide a general framework for that plan as well as links to relevant resources that will help with the development of your Internet Marketing Plan.
Thank you to the fall 2007 class of BAMA 513 and, in particular, Parinda Tovikkai and Andrew Darby who helped to compile many of the elements of this plan framework.
The "Perfect" Internet Marketing Plan
Given that the needs of each business are unique, there is no "perfect" template for an Internet Marketing Plan. There are however, certain elements that are common and others that are dependent on the particular needs and objectives of the business. This document outlines the common elements of a "perfect" Internet Marketing Plan, provides a checklist of other features and concludes with a list of links supplementry references.
1. Common Elements
Overview and Executive Summary
Corporate Goals
What's the bigger picture into which the Internet Marketing Plan fits?
- Intenet Marketing Plan overview
- company overview: Vision, mission,
background, short-term/long-term goals
- products and/or services overview
- market or industry definition
- Marketing goals
- current & projected sales targets
- Customers,
- New Product Launch
- current & pojected budget
- Internet Marketing goals
- current & projected web traffic
- current & projected online sales
- current & projected registered
members
- current & projected budget
Situation Analysis
Industry overview
What's going on in the industry and with the competitors?
- Competitive
analysis
- Trend Analysis:
Environmental, Regulatory, Technology, Political, Social, Consumer
Trends
- Potential
Opportunities & Threats
- Key Success Factors
and how to be successful in the industry
Internal Analysis
Look at overall marketing efforts, specific Internet Marketing efforts and how they are integrated
- Internal strengths
and weaknesses
- Porter's 4 Ps
- Product.
- Place
- Price.
- Promotion.
- Distribution
strategy & Service touch points (call center, pick up points, online
chat, etc.)
- Integrated
Marketing Activities
- Advertising, Sales
Promotion, Press Releases, Event, Podcast, Wireless marketing, Viral
Marketing
- Customer Relationship
Management Programs
- Online marketing tools
(Search engine marketing, online banner ads, e-mail marketing, etc.)
Target Market
(Demographic, Psychographic, Geographic)
Exactly who are the potential customers?
- Primary target group
- Secondary target group
- Potential Target Market(s)
Strategies
to achieve goals
What SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achieveable,Realistic and Time-based) recommendations are you making?
- Strategy I
- Strategy II
- Strategy III
Technical Plan
- Web Features &
Functionalities
- browse, sitemap,
live help, search engine, online catalog, customer registration,
e-newsletter sign up, blog
- Web Content
- Web Searchability
- Web usability
- Log-in security
- Multimedia usage
- Online checkout
system (Direct debit, online credit card, etc.)
- Customer feedback
form
- Order tracking
- Website hosting
- IT & resource
requirements
- Web backend
management (Content update, E-supply chain)
Promotional Plan
Which Internet Marketing tools and tactics will be used? Why and how?
- Blogs & Social
networking
- Email marketing, newsletters
- Search Engine
Optimization
- Online advertising
- Public relations
- Trade shows
Implementation Plan
How and when will you implement the Internet Marketing Plan?
- Time Lines
- Human resources
(outsource/ in-house)
- Budget
- Risk management
Key Performance Metrics
How will you measure the success of the Internet Marketing Plan?
- Web analytic tools
- Key Performance
Indicators
- Click stream
analysis
- Conversion rate
2. Other Elements
What issues that are specific to the business should be identified and measured?
3. References
The following links provide additional information to support the Interent Marketing framework noted above.
Search Terms
These are the search terms used by the fall 2007 class to identify online resources:
target market, strategic objectives, usability, site map, multiple languages, site search, photos, bulletin
board/discussion forum, blog, podcast, video, wireless, what technology
is needed? what human resources (internal and external) are needed?,
mission statement, goals and objectives, target market (current,
potential), gender, age, demographic, psycho graphic, other
segmentation, purpose, SWOT, techniques, email marketing, viral
marketing, live help, executive summary, excellent quality writing,
writing for the web, Search Engine Optimization (SEO), paid and organic
SEO, overall corporate strategy, public relations, shipping/logistics,
payment method, 4Ps, fit with off line marketing initiatives, channels:
push/pull, unified message across all channels, situational analysis:
success factors, technology, environmental, regulatory, political,
competitive, social, threats, opportunities, promotional strategies,
link strategy, milestones, timelines, email newsletter, risk analysis,
security, privacy, budget, test and measure, tracking and monitoring,
liability, USP, pricing, hosting, staff requirements, quick to load,
content management system, ease of making changes, cost, analytics,
upgrade path, key performance indicators (KPIs).
Good Internet Marketing Plan Examples
Gregor Czempiel recommends:
(1) Marketing to the Internet Generation (Market Research.com)
http://academic.marketresearch.com/product/display.asp?productid=143479&curl=&surl=%2Fsearch%2Fresults%2Easp%3Fprid%3D861930599%26query%3Dinternet%2Bmarketing%26cmdgo%3DGo&prid=861930599
This report focuses on the demographics of potential online customers.
One of the most important parts of the plan should be to backup the
online market size by research data that covers internet users in
specific. The report also covers the different segments and habits of
online users. This adds credibility to an online marketing plan and
allows to identify and target customer groups specifically.
(2) Sample Online Marketing Plan (Techtransform.com)
http://www.techtransform.com/process/PMTech/Sample_marketing_plan.pdf
Internet Marketing takes advantages of new ways to promote and
distribute products and services. E-Mail Newsletters, Ad-words,
link-exchanges, delivery of software via the internet and analyzing site
traffic to optimize the campaign are just a few examples. To keep an
overview of the dependencies and the variety of tasks to complete a
project-plan can be a helpful tool.
(3) Internet Marketing (efuturecentre)
http://www.e-future.ca/sask/pdf/pwt_internet_marketing.pdf
Well researched brochure of the E-Future Centre that includes an
introduction on writing an internet marketing plan and various in depth
information how to advertise and generate traffic. Emphasizes the need
for a solid business model and vision to create an online strategy that
fits the company’s overall strategy.
Rahul Mohandas recommends:
http://to-do-list.backpackit.com/pub/1189472
Mary Clarke Recommends:
Free Internet Marketing Podcasts Covering SEO, PPC and Other Search Marketing Topics: http://www.emarketingtalkshow.com
Parinda recommends:
I'd like to share this great resources on how we can improve conversion rate on our website by Omniture. I find this presentation very useful and interesting through its
audio/visual presentation. Give yourself about 20 min, im sure it'll be worthwhile.
Highlights:
1. The traditional mistake - how firm mainly focus on heavily investing in online ad & Search engines (e.g. google) but not on improving conversion on its website
2. The new engagement funnel - How firm can effectively generate the lead/ customers by starting with audience profiling (40/40/20 rule
3. The 7 Conversion steps: set KPIs, follow 40/40/20 rules, capture lead/customers, etc.
To explore further details, please click on following link:
http://www.omniture.com/custom/marketing/webinars/player.html?wid=12
