by Paul Slack
We have identified 10 steps in developing a successful business plan and have come up with a helpful acrostic help remember each of the important steps: DART BOARD.This week we are continuing down the path of Developing a Winning Internet Marketing Business Plan. Last week we examined the 3 critical elements of Internet Marketing; Content, Search Engines, Social. This week we will began look at an approach to Internet Marketing strategic development. As you can imagine, there really is a lot to consider from picking platforms, to determining the right audience, to selecting appropriate tactics. We have identified 10 steps in developing a successful business plan and have come up with a helpful acrostic help remember each of the important steps: DART BOARD.
DART identifies all the preliminary activities that are necessary to develop an Internet marketing strategy.
D – Define Goals: You should always start with what the business is trying to achieve and how the web can help you get there. This is first P of the Internet Marketing Balanced Score Card.
A – Audience: The next step is to identify the correct audience, how you want them to interact with your company, and what value you will deliver to them via social media.
R – Results: You will need to determine the key performance indicators that will guide you along the way. This is where the 2nd & 3rd P’s come into play (Profit & People).
T – Tactics: Tactics always follow strategy. Once you have your goals and audience figured out, now you need to consider the appropriate tactics to utilize. The final P (Production) in the Internet marketing balanced score card is all about the tactics and work that needs to be completed.
BOARD will walk you through the elements necessary to maintain your strategy.
B – Build Content: Content is the fuel that makes your campaigns go. You will need to have a content strategy that needs the needs of your audience.
O – Outreach: This is the phase where the rubber meets the road as you work through the tactical wheel and engage with your audience.
A – Action Plan: In this step you will develop the monthly tactical strategy using the Action Plan to consider actions by platform as well as action by each stage of the marketing funnel.
R – Refinement: Looking at your key performance indicators on a monthly basis and using a management by exception process enables you to look at your social media campaign objectively and hone in on areas that need refinement.
D – Define Goals: The first and last step of the process is to define goals. Your strategy should be constantly evolving through the three step process of define, measure, refine. New goals and objectives should be developed as you learn what works and doesn’t work for your audience.
You will not be successful without a plan. A plan will give you direction and a way to measure how you are doing. In our next post in this series, we introduce you to resources we have developed to help you in this process. The rest of this series will take you step by step through our planning process so that you can build a winning strategy for your business.
IN THIS SERIES ON DEVELOPING A WINNING INTERNET MARKETING BUSINESS PLAN WE WILL REVIEW:
PART 1 – An Introduction
PART 2 – What is Internet Marketing Part 1
PART 3 – What is Internet Marketing Part 2
PART 4 – Introduction to DART BOARD Business Planning Process
PART 5 – Overview of Resources Provided (Templates)
PART 6 – Who Are the Players (Search, Social) Part 1
PART 7 – Who Are the Players (Search, Social) – Part 2
PART 8 – Understanding Buyers and Their Motives
PART 9 – Developing Personas
PART 10 – Putting the Internet on a Quota (Developing KPI’s) Part 1
PART 11 – Putting the Internet on a Quote (Stages of Maturity) Part 2
PART 12 – Identifying Tactics
PART 13 – Developing a Content Strategy Part 1 – Overview
PART 14 – Developing a Content Strategy Part 2 – Key Phrase Analysis
PART 15 – Developing a Content Strategy Part 3 – Brainstorming and Topics
PART 16 – Producing an Action Plan
PART 17 – Reporting
