subject: What's Wrong With Your Web Marketing Strategy? [print this page] If we're being honest your web marketing strategy is probably flawed. In fact I would hazard a guess that you don't even have a web marketing strategy. Today I'd like to share why having a strategy will make your website more effective and your life a lot easier.
So why do you need a web marketing strategy?
Your website's goals will determine what your objective is and your strategy is how you're going to get there. Without either of these your website becomes like a rudderless boat that just goes any way the current will take it. Personally I love to highlight this point with a conversation from Alice in Wonderland:
Alice: Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?
The Cat: That depends a good deal on where you want to get to.
Alice: I don't much care where.
The Cat: Then it doesn't much matter which way you go.
Alice: ...so long as I get somewhere.
The Cat: Oh, you're sure to do that, if only you walk long enough.
The sad truth is that most of us start a website like Alice with a vague idea of where we want to go and no idea how to get there. First you need a set of clearly defined goals that display your outcome with some milestones along the way. Then you can start to design your web marketing strategy.
What is a web marketing strategy?
For me a web marketing strategy is a clear and concise 1 or 2 page document that answers 4 questions. You don't need a 50 page business plan as we all know this will go straight in the drawer to never be seen again. Your strategy should be in front of you every day so you can constantly refer to it and make sure you're on track.
Your strategy should be the perfect combination of rigid and flexible. This means that there are times when your strategy is working perfectly and you just have to keep executing it to see even more results. The idea is you don't get distracted by a million fabulous opportunities that come your way each day.
But you also need it to be flexible enough so when something isn't working you can try something else. This also means you can add new ideas into the strategy but only when you're sure they're not going to disrupt your core efforts. And for the record my experience says you should be trying different actions for 3 to 6 months before deciding that they don't work.
How to create your web marketing strategy
In my mind your web marketing strategy simply answers 4 big questions...
Who is my ideal client?
How will I amaze them?
How will I turn website visitors into clients?
How will I get traffic to my website?
And yes I've put them in that order for a reason. If you're not going to amaze your clients and create a unique experience for them then no amount of clever sales techniques or traffic generation will save your website. First you need something worth selling then you can worry about creating an irresistible offer and putting it in front of your target market
What you do next
Write out the 4 questions above and answer them for your business. If you find yourself asking some hard questions about your business then that's a good thing. By asking the hard questions we get clarity and this will lead to dramatic improvement in your results.
