Marketing Tactics Without An Internet Marketing Strategy is Pointless

“Let’s make a Facebook page” is not an internet marketing strategy. Of course it’s not, you say. Yet every day marketers launch internet marketing tactics without considering how they fit within their overall strategy. Rather than react to the latest, greatest digital marketing tool, we suggest you plan an effective Internet strategy to determine which tactics you’ll use in your Internet marketing plans.

Go Where Your Customers Are, Not Where They’re Not

This one seems obvious, but it’s hard to turn down the newest channel or tool when everyone is buzzing about how great it is. The question you should ask first is whether this is an effective tool to reach your audience, your customers. You may have the greatest thing since sliced bread on your hands, but if your customer base is lactose-intolerant and it’s a metaphorical block of cheese, it does you no good.

Set Goals And Expect Returns

Know why you do what you do and what you expect to achieve by doing it. Starting a search marketing plan? What’s the expected return on that investment? If you’re launching a digital display campaign, review industry standards for performance and compare them to your efforts. Don’t venture into social media channels until you understand what you can gain from doing so.

No Tunnel Vision – See The Bird’s-Eye View

Don’t get so focused on one tactic or channel that you fail to see holes in your overall strategy. User experience maps and channel diagrams can help you understand and visualize how your customers will see your message in different places. Hopefully, they’ll also show you how you can move your customers through the sales funnel and convert more sales. After all, that is the goal of any marketing effort.

Have A Tactic-Neutral Plan

The catch-phrase used to be “media agnostic.” Whatever you want to call it these days, don’t let your tactics drive your strategy. Launching a Pinterest sweepstakes to a customer base that doesn’t use Pinterest is a poor use of your marketing dollars, no matter how much you love the service. Your overall Internet marketing strategy may include Pinterest or monitoring of social media channels, but you should always start with a plan and then identify the best tactics to achieve those results.

Measure Your Internet Marketing Success

Finally, use metrics, review those metrics and measure your achievements against industry norms, your original goals, and your competitors. Make measurement a regular part of your Internet marketing, as this is the only way you’ll know which parts of your Internet marketing plan are worth repeating. If you discover your SEO and link-building strategies are driving more traffic than your display advertising, you might reconsider that rich media banner. However, if paid search is keeping your lights on, it may be unwise to reallocate that budget to the latest social channel.

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