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Online business marketing plan. Without a plan in writing, you can not succeed in client capture. There are many free and easy ways to winning

Estimated reading time: 11 minutes

Why bother with a marketing plan if they don't work

First of all, when you don't know what is not working you can't fix it.
Secondly, marketing is based on risk and reward, if you invest $10 you want $20 in return
Finally, Multimedia is a new way forward but what outlets will you use in your business?

Having a plan also includes a cashflow

A lot of what we do carries little dollar-cost however a greater investment in time.
The time element needs to be considered in your plan because it can easily be misplaced.
An example could be writing a web Blog post. This takes about three hours of time at an appropriate rate. In-house development is probably a lot dearer than outsourcing cheap labor.
However, a blog post could be responsible for a 72% increase in web traffic. Depending on a conversion factor this may return considerable income.
Therefore a good understanding of your traffic can make a big difference to the results. In the above case is the website the winner, the blog post, or a high conversion factor based on price.
These are issues you really need to be aware of to garner the greatest results.

Where do you start your plan?

I like to plan backward so that you can rationalise the inputs.
Set up your goal or target and then decide how you are going to get there and at what cost.

This is easy with one or two products however having many might just be a dollar target.
If you owned a small Shoe store turning over a half-million dollars a year your goal might be to double that in the coming period.

That's an increase of 8% a month over the twelve months but every month.
Therefore selling around 400 pairs of shoes has to end up at 800, a healthy increase.

You are pretty stretched now so you will need a new salesperson and bigger floor stock thus extra money. You need to make an extra storage area for all those boxes and probably introduce another brand to help with sales.

This is fictional however what it sets out to show is that without planning you will be in trouble.

The online business marketing plan includes understanding traffic

Where are your current sales coming from?

This is a good starting place because you can see what is working and maybe what is not.
For a fixed location store, you would start at external graphics and signs. Are they appealing and can you do more? Flags and bunting are cheap and effective.

Your search location on Google must be up to date with at least five Google reviews. Plus hours of operation and a link to your web page. Make this a local search because they are your traffic.

You can get call stats from the website however visitors may be different to lookers.

Online sales are necessary

Certainly, the Covid times have made online shopping more important than ever. If you are not there it is time to get moving. My wife just bought me a branded pair of shoes for a special occasion, coming from the US to Western Australia with free postage.

Online sales can take over floor sales when done properly. There is an investment to set it up and an ongoing commitment however it is cheaper than paying extra rent for more floor space.

Online shopping also drives in-store traffic. They search online and find you are close so wander in and you never know. That is unless you ask.
learn more about building a store.

Working your data base for more traffic

You must know the name, mobile number, and email address of every customer that buys from you. These are recorded and used for future marketing. ( an Excel spreadsheet is fine)
Your Database has real value and is an excellent form for future promotions.
For all your Nike buyers a new release Gym shoe just may be a must-have. With a list, you can tell them by email, SMS, or newsletter and watch the role of the order in.

A friend of mine is a corporate executive for an international company and this means she has to dress really well. The problem is she travels a lot and is hard to get hold of.
One boutique in another state simply sends a new frock at regular times with a return note and package. They know the size and the style so pick out random frocks on appro. Very few are returned and it saves her the shopping time. Understanding your base is important.

Increasing contact by any medium will increase sales if done with thought and consideration.

Online business marketing plan includes all opportunities

Using opportunity to increase sales

Telling your customers that you have a limited stock of the latest Nike Gym boot available.
Just 5 pairs in size ten-US and 10 in 11-US available on a first serve basis will sell the shoes in 5 minutes if you contact the correct buyer group.

A local restaurant in Sydney rarely has available table bookings. They are filled for months in advance with a very willing customer base. This is no cheap joint they are a Seafood and lobster outlet with premium prices.
On some nights they may have cancellations or even slow night bookings so they send an SMS to a part of their database. They fill the seats every time costing just a couple of dollars in messaging.
My BMW dealer sends me a list of all the demo cars he has available. He knows my old demo is five years old and due for replacement. He does not want me going anywhere else.

My daughter in a clothing shop emails special opportunities when available. One rack of Winter Woolies 50% off at the start of summer will clear the rack for new season stock. She knows the cheap shoppers so targets them with opportunities.

Making social media work

Not all media is equal. they all have a demographic and you need to pick the one that resembles your market. For instance, Instagram is mainly women 18-45 so sending men's shoes to them is a bit of a waste, not that they don't shop for the boys.

Maybe targeting TicTok which is younger may be a bigger stretch.
We recommend using just one media (sometimes two) and doing it well. That is a daily post at the very least every working day. Anything less is not good enough.

this is a pretty old hack now so I won't go too deeply other than to say it still works.

Online business marketing plan and retargeting

Remarketing and Retargeting

This is playing with the big boys but certainly works for those that do it properly.
These are Adverts that pop up everywhere after you have searched a subject. You looked at a pair of shoes and the advertising follows you around the internet enticing you to buy.
This is retargeting and is paid for advertising that many find valuable.

Remarketing is when they sell you new socks to go with your shoes or boot polish it something similar. They know you are a buyer and take advantage of your weak moments.

Can you justify the expense? Only a trial will tell and if you are selling high-priced products it will very likely return a profit. You generally only pay when someone clicks on your advert so the delivery needs to be really good.

Google search paid advertising

This is grabbing one of the prime positions in a Google search. Again it is a trial and error game to see if you can get great value out of it.
Most searches go to the first three free adverts which are obtained via SEO but take time to grab a position.

The online business marketing plan includes paid advertising

A multi media approach to marketing

Buyers and customers need to be touched by your material on a consistent basis therefore using several forms of media will achieve a result The more often someone sees your material the greater the chance they will buy.

You see this on radio and TV advertising when ads are repeated often even to the point of being annoying. However, it is done because it works.

My local Grocery chain is a good example. It is a competitive industry and they don't want me straying to the enemy. I get a weekly mail drop of the products and pricing. This is on top of regular emails and even SMS messages to make offers or remind me of the things I need to know. They also promote Reward Programs

Reward Cards and systems

A necessary evil or opportunity to gather repeat business. Yes, you need to give away a small percentage of your profit but it does have them coming back on a regular basis. Everyone loves something for free even it is only the tenth coffee on the card.

It works so well that you can never get past a supermarket checkout without being prompted to use your card. The rewards may be small but they do add up and keep your customer Faithfull

Newsletters have not lost their charm

In fact, a newsletter could be considered an essential part of your plan. They cost little however can return a lot covering an extensive amount of time.
I have had buyers after 12 months pop up because the time is right. It may be a slow burn however it is mass marketing so all about results.
Newsletter are not a sales document they are educational however always contain a link for those that want action. Cheap and effective they can be done by anyone and remain a consistent touch on your base.

Holding instore events

For the right products, this can work extremely well and pay massive returns. It could be training on a product, presenting a new range, or any manner of customer-focused interest.
A breakfast, evening drinks, lunchtime barb queue all provide an opportunity for a one on one conversation. Yes, there is a cost but you are in sales mode so make sure you have something to loosen their wallets.
I have several customers using this to great effect and consistently throughout the year.

Online business marketing plan, lock it in.

This is a lot to lock into your business plan

Use the greatest return at the least cost and do it well. Most of the above ideas would fit into any business plan and work to your goal of a 100% increase by growing your market every month.

A friend of mine works on the 1% rule. Increase ten things by just 1% each and you soon have incremental growth.
increasing any marketing by just 1% should not be a big ask. However, applying consistency to the rule soon achieves the bigger gains.

Conclusion

We started looking at a plan, in writing including a cash flow, and aimed to achieve a certain target. Nothing is left to choice and the end will deliver results. furthermore, we will do better than our competitors because we are focused on a result.

Of course, it requires regular analysis and changes where necessary. Don't hesitate to drop that which is not performing and replace it with something better.

I have left out emails, autoresponders, SMS, and inbound SMS for the sake of brevity.
These are all useful tools that can be thrown at the customers if you run out of ideas.

Marketing is a continual battle that enhances your followers and has them returning over and over again.

Enjoy the battle

Online business marketing plan by Peter Hanley

• Keyword suggestion website
• Free Traffic to Affiliate Links (How to avoid the mistakes I made)
• 7 Really important ideas for planning in small business

• 7 Reasons for better traffic on your website.
• How to increase business sales
• Customer loyalty for small business
• How to do retargeting
• List growth strategies