Internet Marketing Strategy and Philosophy

Checklist:

It is critical that you spend time on the Web. If you do not actually see what your competition is doing, or try to locate a lot of varied topics, you will have difficulties grasping the scale of the following projects. You should be Web educated and this is the best first step!

The average web surfer consumes information at a record pace, they have a lot of time for amusement, they hunt for free items packed full of curiosity value, they will tell you about themselves whenever and if you can make it worth their while, and they are blunt--telling you exactly what they think about your product. They know that you want their business, that you want to impress them, and that they are in the driver's seat. And you thought this was going to be easy!

Determine What You Have To Sell

This should be obvious, if you are already in the midst of a product launch, you should at least know what your features are and have the appropriate pre-launch documentation available.

Determine Who Needs What You Have To Sell

You should be informed about the needs and wants of your potential end users and how "on target" your product promotion is. Selling a solution to satisfy that need is far easier than selling the need and then selling the solution. As a result, it is up to you to clearly describe your product, not in terms of how great you think it is, but rather in terms of "what is in it for the user" -- why should they buy your product. Make this message clear to enough people, and they will want your product. Especially if you present your product in a way that motivates the viewer emotionally, and they end up feeling that they must have whatever you are selling. Search engine marketing and design must be integrated to achieve this objective. There are some GREAT sites that discuss "Solution Selling" techniques. These techniques focus on hooking prospect pain issues, so that you can grab and retain their attention. Once you have their attention, if you have built a product and find that it does not meet all or enough of the needs of your market when compared to your competition, then you must seriously review your product promotion strategy.

Search engine optimization cannot make up for a market-product mismatch.

Additionally, it is important to consider the features of your competition in performing this review. You want to be "first among equals" in all areas, if not distinctly first in most. Be equal to then better, not just different. If the consumer feels that they have a good solution with a competitor, tell them you are the same before you tell them that you are better. If you cannot match their current "solution vision" then you cannot upgrade their vision to be your solution. Your promotion materials need to adapt for this conversion to your solution.

It has been said that the biggest reason web products fail is: the product is wrong for the web, the seller loves their product too much to adapt it to the web, or the seller does not have a differentiated offering. It is clear that the seller must believe in his/her product and also be committed to this project for a long time, but they must also be willing to change their product vision to meet the needs of the consumer.

Determine What They Will Pay

If you have any competition, now is the time to absolutely know what they do to sell their products on the Web, and at what price. There are several steps to keep in mind:

1. Study the latest demographics by visiting Jupiter Research for information about Web usage patterns. These reports are certainly interesting and they provide audience demographics that might be essential to pricing decisions.
2. If you offer a product (rather than a service), start with generic keyword searches by visiting the search engines and searching for products in your category. If you follow the link to the product description page you find the statistics and description for the products in your keyword groups. Make a note of the company name so that you can visit their websites later. This only finds web products available from this dominant site, and may miss some products available from the company web pages or Malls. Specific Steps:
3. Use your favorite search engine (try the major engines) and look for your keywords. This is a little more tedious since you may get articles in the list. Identify products that are not already on your list (these may not be available for demo, but they are probably available for sale).
   1. Repeat this process at the major Internet Mall sites. Even eBay would be good.
   2. Repeat this process at the ZDNET site.
   3. You may visit the above sites directly while you have their links available in the search results, or enter the names from your list, but you must visit each web site on your list.
   4. Their Web pages should also have a Products page with a description of their products and an Order page with detailed pricing information. All of this information is necessary for you to complete a features and pricing comparison chart. If you have any concerns that they might be serious competitions for you, then download and evaluate the trial copies of these products. Know thy competition.
   5. Perform a review of all product features, pricing and value.
   6. Try to consider yourself in the role of the VP of Marketing for your competition. What is their search engine placement, channel focus, and sales strategy? Who do they consider their competition and why? Consider that your competition may have brand name recognition, and thus, can command a higher price for their product. If you know and understand your competition's strategy, you may survive.
   7. If the competition sells their product in a retail channel, they may not be able to compete on a price-point basis. Use this to your advantage.

Develop a Web Site with These Design Principles:

1. There are obviously "things" that a Web architect must know. Much of this is contained in this site and many others linked to this site below. You still need to have a minds-eye image of what is possible before you spend too much money doing it. We recommend that for optimal search engine placement that you start by reviewing this site once, then on the second pass spend more time on the Web by "surfing" my links, and those linked from our links.
2. Write the text and "storyboard" your site much like creating a good product specification. Use a word processor to lay-out all of your pages. Make sure that the flow is simple for the novice Internet user. Try to keep the body content of each Web page to between one and two 8½ x 11 sheets of paper, or if heavy information, minimize graphics and limit the size to no more than six pages. Focus on making the message clear. Creativity, and how quickly the page loads, is more important than the use of extra artwork for the sake of looking "cute". And when this is finished, call a Marketing Consultant first, definitely before you call a web page designer. Message and Placement sell on the web. For artwork, we recommend JupiterImages.
3. It is important to consider some aspects of e-Commerce: web-based commerce with a human touch is very effective in most cases, especially with 60% to 70% of all shopping carts being abandoned. Do not design around human contact if it increases the ability to sell your products. Factor it into your design. While this may be against the Amazon.com hands-off model, some firms like FaceTime Communications are integrating AOL Instant Messager into their website e-Commerce applications to answer last minute questions. Reports are that buy decisions increase six-fold if questions are answered. Customer Service is evolving, and it is alive and well on the web.
4. Double check the site architectural concepts.
5. For all sites that you identify, go to their web site and visit their home page. Choose the browser option to view their Home Page HTML source (this might be a complex process). Scan these sites for search engine placement keywords and terms to make sure that your list is complete. The steps needed to determine what may work best for your site are on our Search Engine Optimization Tools page. Do This Now!
6. Marketing is everything. It brings potential buyers to your door. But proper design is vital, because without effective design, as was mentioned earlier, the buyers who see your home page will leave before it finishes loading. The average home page loads in 48 seconds, and the average visitor stays at a home page for 35 seconds, obviously many leave before the page finishes loading.
7. Create/Design the site by taking content and art, mixing it with navigation and style, testing it on family and friends, and always listen to comments, grunts, pregnant pauses, and blank stares. Specific advice on development of a page is at our Quality Site Criteria page and we suggest that you visit it now, before you code your first Web page! Try not to copy a page layout from another site. Use your own words, ideas, and artwork whenever possible, making sure that the message in the image matches your text. Make sure that the visitor knows what you are saying/selling at all times.
8. Carefully consider the use of database tools, visual tools, and java tools. These are areas receiving a lot of interest, and technology work, and they might be right for your site. Carefully consider your options since some could adversely affect search engine placement.
9. Use the smallest graphics that you can to relay your message. It is estimated that 20% of all Web users surf the Web without graphics enabled! But always have graphics if it helps sell your product. Don't add graphics just to be neat -- an animated mail box is really not something to add to a commercial site.
10. Follow these rules (mandatory for Free Site Listings):
    1. Make sure the site is rated for Family Viewing (keep it clean)
    2. Be courteous to other authors at all times -- respect their copyrights, trademarks, and intellectual property.
    3. Make sure the site is NOT a multi-level marketing site, a network marketing site, or a get rich quick site (although some MLM sites can get into the free lists if they are not moderated).
    4. Make sure the site is NOT graphically overburdened. Minimize the use of CAPITAL letters, large fonts, and extensive graphics, especially animation.
    5. Make sure the site Home Page loads quickly and informs the visitor what you have to offer them right up front. If using sounds, use MIDI files whenever possible instead or WAV files, and default to "off" unless sounds are short. Be careful, some browsers crash when sound is enabled.
    6. If you entice visitors with a FREE OFFER or CONTEST, make sure you explain how to obtain the gift or prize in an obvious manner. (FREE is good, but contests usually don't work and there may be legal problems).
    7. Always choose to communicate information rather than to display wiz-bang nifty technical skills. These gadgets are a no-no to many free sites even if mandatory for some award sites. Animation, although exciting to see sometimes, is a definite distraction on most pages and actually decreases sales. Avoid it unless there is a purpose for it.
    8. If you are going to be selling a service or product, take the time to establish a merchant account and accept credit cards. The good news is that this is easily implemented with or without a store. The bad news is that it takes effort to set it up. It is strongly suggested that you visit our page on e-Commerce considerations and follow those instructions carefully!
    9. Consider a page of Testimonials. We find that it helps with prospects, award applications, and maybe even with free site reviewers.
    10. You must visit a few sites to appreciate the range of artistic contribution a website can make. Browse your competition. Look at Award Sites (discussed later).
    11. You must visit NetMechanic and get a FREE site Tune-up! This is not an optional step! If you alter your content on a regular basis and you think you are going to be active on the Web for a long time, we suggest that you subscribe to this service.
    12. Invite critiques. This is most easily done by joining a critique site such as coder.com.

These are guidelines to make sure your site is reasonable. But remember, the content of your site is the key. You must compel your visitor to stay, learn, and eventually do business with you. As with a direct mail piece, you must "hook" your viewer within seconds of their arrival, or they will be gone forever. This is marketing, pure and simple. This is NOT just web site design, nor is it only search engine marketing, and it is certainly not cloning a neat page from another industry. You cannot afford to be a "me too" site if you want to effectively utilize the power of the web as a sales tool.

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