Like Me? Follow Me.
It’s very easy to invest in websites, search engine optimisation and pay per click but unless you’ve planned and set realistic expectations there’s a risk you’ll be disappointed. All too often we come across companies who take the decision to “try out” internet marketing using the age old approach of throwing some mud to see what sticks.
Businesses taking this ad-hoc approach are rarely successful, most organisations wouldn’t make what can be a significant investment on a whim but for some reason they’re prepared to do it when the internet is involved.
You should think about online investment in the same way as you would an investment in a new piece of machinery or any other acquisition. This doesn’t mean that you should necessarily undertake vast amounts of analysis (unless you want to) but rather that you are realistic in your expectations and levels of investment required to deliver results.
To help we would recommend following this simple process to ensure you get the results you need:
- Set some realistic objectives for what you want to achieve - e.g. Increase sales by an amount within six months.
- Understand what you can afford to spend on achieving the objectives - e.g. This increase will result in additional revenue of which I can afford to spend so much.
- Challenge your marketing partner to develop a plan to achieve your objective in the most effective way
- Assess what they recommend in the light of your experience - e.g. Is their recommendation too good to be true or does it cost too much.
- If you decide to proceed, make sure you have the systems in place to measure the success of the initiative.
All too often we speak to businesses that have had a bad experience of internet marketing because and it’s often because they’ve not gone through this thought process.
Discussion
Leave a Reply