Making Online Marketing work

August 5, 2007 – 10:51 pm

Marketing online is no rocket science - all you need is a good sense of what makes the website tick. Launching an online store is very much like setting up a brick ‘n’ mortar business. To successfully launch and maintain a profitable site you need to have clearly defined business goals. The solution to your website’s success does not lie in just adding content, carrying out Search Engine Optimization, adding links, banner advertising etc. Many of these are necessary but none alone is sufficient to bring in the traffic you need. Interestingly, somewhere along the way we tend to slip on the most important aspect of the website - the customer.

If you focus on the most important element of the site - the customer you will not go wrong. Answer your customer’s question “What is in it for me” and your web marketing plan will work magic for you. The business is first and foremost about the customer - listen to what they want - don’t push what you know and strive to work around their way of thinking and you will have a recipe for success.

If you make profits the by product of great service, great quality and great teamwork - a by product and not an end product you have moved towards building a relationship and not just a customer.

Developing a Customer-oriented market planning which focuses on understanding the customer needs involves data mining, analysis and planning for both short term and long term goals. Outlining the most important market segments for a given product or service and then using this knowledge to build an effective sales and marketing campaigns helps in maximizing the ROI.