Marketing
[mahr-ki-ting]:
"— n
the total of activities involved in the transfer of goods from the producer or seller to the consumer or buyer, using a plan, method, or series of maneuvers or stratagems for obtaining a specific goal or result" Dictionary.com
If you expect to have a website and a web presence that anyone other than your friends and your pet dog know about, you have to market your website. Whether you have your own business or just want to blog to the world, no one will care unless you convince the world they should know about you. One key to successful web solutions, and your first step of marketing, is market research.
Market Research
Setting a marketing strategy begins with first identifying who it is that you want to reach. Is it the entire world? It usually isn’t. Who is your market? Where is your market?
Next you need to figure out the best way to reach your market. Does your target market prefer smart phones, desktops or laptops? Do you have what your target market wants and needs? How can you leverage an Internet presence with Internet video?
Marketing Strategy
Now you need to study your market research and device a marketing strategy. A marketing strategy is your method of marketing to your market. How do you get people to read your blog? How do you increase your Internet sales? How can you use social media networking to help both increase your market share and increase Internet sales? How can you use marketing communications to deliver your message to the masses?
Marketing Plan
A marketing plan is a specific step of instructions that you’ll use to be a web success. It can also fold into a business plan that you can use to increase funding from banks and other supporters. You can look at a marketing plan much the same way you can look at a road map. A road map may show you several different ways to get from point a to point b. You may want to try several different routes; this is your marketing strategy. The marketing plan is deciding on one route and taking it. All of the above is dynamic; you’re never finished with marketing as it is an ongoing effort to increase your Internet success, whether you determine your own success as gaining more blog readers, increasing Internet sales, or whatever else you’re looking to do online.
