Develop an e-marketing plan

Introduction :

  E-marketing means using digital technologies such as websites, mobile devices and social networking to help reach your customer base, create awareness of your brand and sell your goods or services. These technologies can be used cheaply and effectively, whatever the size of your company or your business model.

  The basics of marketing remain the same - creating a strategy to deliver the right messages to the right people. Though businesses will continue to make use of traditional marketing methods, such as advertising, direct mail and PR, e-marketing adds a whole new element to the marketing mix. Its flexible and cost-effective nature makes it particularly suitable for small businesses.

  This guide describes the benefits of e-marketing, what the stages are for developing an e-marketing plan and also outlines some of legal issues that you will need to consider. The guide also provides a basic e-marketing plan template that you can download and use for your own business.

The benefits of e-marketing :

  E-marketing gives businesses of any size access to the mass market at an affordable price and, unlike TV or print advertising, it allows truly personalised marketing. Specific benefits of e-marketing include:

  Global reach - a website allows you to find new markets and trade globally for only a small investment.

Lower cost - a properly planned and effectively targeted e-marketing campaign can reach the right customers at a much lower cost than traditional marketing methods.

  Trackable, measurable results - web analytics and other online metric tools make it easier to establish how effective your campaign has been. You can obtain detailed information about how customers use your website or respond to your advertising. See our guide on measuring your online marketing.

  Personalisation - if your customer database is linked to your website, then whenever someone visits the site, you can greet them with targeted offers. The more they buy from you, the more you can refine your customer profile and market effectively to them.

  Openness - by having a social media presence and managing it carefully, you can build customer loyalty and create a reputation for being easy to engage with. See our guide on online business networking and social networking.

  Social currency - e-marketing lets you create engaging campaigns using different types of rich media. On the internet these campaigns can gain social currency - being passed from user to user and becoming viral.

Improved conversion rates - if you have a website, then your customers are only ever a few clicks away from completing a purchase. Unlike other media which require people to get up and make a phone call, or go to a shop, e-marketing can be seamless and immediate.

Stages in developing your e-marketing plan :

  It is important to recognise that planning for e-marketing does not mean starting from scratch. Any online e-communication must be consistent and work with the overall marketing goals and current marketing efforts of your business.

The main components of an e-marketing plan will typically include the following stages:

  Identify your target audience - if you identify multiple targets, rank them in order of importance so that you can allocate resources accordingly. Profile each target group and understand their requirements and expectations. This type of customer segmentation will help you choose the right tactics for your plan.

Understand your competitors - profile your competitors and the market in which you operate. What types of online marketing do your competitors use and how well do they perform? This type of benchmarking will help you understand the environment in which you are operating. See the page in this guide on planning - situation analysis.

   Set your objectives - possible objectives could include raising awareness of your brand, improving sales or online registrations, improving customer retention, providing greater internal efficiencies such as decreased marketing costs and reduced order-taking and fulfilment costs. The objectives that you choose depend on your business needs. For more information see the page in this guide on planning - objectives and strategy.

Plan your tactics - once you have a top-level strategy including your overall objectives, you need to identify the tactics that you want to use. The plan can also cover any other non-internet marketing activities that are being undertaken. Think about how you will measure your success - build in feedback mechanisms and regular reviews to enable you to assess the performance of your e-marketing activities and identify areas for improvement. For more information, see the page in this guide on planning - tactics.

  Agree a budget - careful budgeting allows you to prevent costs spiralling out of control. Identify the returns you expect to make from your investment in e-marketing activities and compare these with the costs in order to develop a cost/benefit analysis. For more information, see the page in this guide on planning - budget.