A planned, organized Internet marketing campaign with rotation through a variety of targeted sites, directories and venues is not hard to coordinate, does not need to cost a great deal of money and can generate traffic and sales faster than search engine submissions alone. It takes a bit of research and a solid knowledge of your target customer, but you can plan and implement a simple marketing campaign in the space of a dedicated day.

*      It illustrates the dovetailing of different avenues of marketing, which is a hallmark of a successful, skillful marketing plan.

*      It should give you new ideas for making your own enterprise more successful on the Web.

*      It demonstrates that with a detailed marketing plan, you do a lot of disciplined creative thinking once (or hire someone like me to do it for you) and then know every month what steps to take  to remain on track. Making progress is easier because you know what to do as time moves along without having to continually ponder, “What now?”

As with any marketing plan, the online plan includes developing strategies and tactics (also called action plans) that, when implemented, will help you reach your marketing goals. An objective, strategy, and tactic are each progressively narrower in scope:

The objective addresses the “big picture”. In general terms, your objective answers the question “How will I overcome my main marketing challenge(s)?” If your company’s main site-related challenge is figuring out how to use your Website to help build client business, for example, an objective for your online marketing plan could be “To enhance online client service as well as build site awareness and interest with clients.”

A marketing strategy supports your objective. The strategy defines general approaches you will take to meet your objective. For example, strategies to support the above objective could include 1) improve online communication, information, and education, 2) build awareness of and interest in your company on the Internet, and 3) communicate the Website’s existence and advantages to existing clients.

A marketing tactic is where the action takes place. Also called marketing programs or action plans, they are the things you will do to bring each marketing strategy to life. Tactics for strategy 2 in the above example (improve online communication, information, and education) could include 1) sharing experience and observations in your industry through participation in discussion boards, 2) offering an email newsletter, and 3) listing/submitting your site to targeted search engines and directories.

By implementing marketing programs that are consistent with your site objective(s) and marketing strategies you improve your chance of business success.

Successful holiday Internet marketing campaigns are within the reach of any business, no matter what your budget. By following these basic marketing plan steps and committing to the follow-through, you can create a cost effective marketing campaign with a substantial return on investment.