This post is an extract from Chapter 1 of my latest Internet marketing planning book.

What goes wrong when there is no web marketing plan?

To realize the benefits of Internet marketing that we have described, an organization needs to develop a planned, structured approach.

As we will see in Chapter 4, which covers Internet marketing strategy, there are many risks if an ad-hoc rather than strategic approach to managing online channels is used.

Some of the problems that we have commonly seen in organizations are:

• Unclear responsibilities for the many different Internet marketing activities shown in Figure i;
• No specific objectives are set for Internet marketing;
• Insufficient budget is allocated for Internet marketing as customer demand for online services is underestimated and competitors potentially gain market share through superior online activities;
• Budget is wasted as different parts of an organization experiment with using different tools or suppliers without achieving economies of scale;
• New online value propositions for customers are not developed since the Internet is treated as ‘just another channel to market’ without review of opportunities to offer improved, differentiated online services;
• Results from digital marketing are not measured or reviewed adequately, so actions cannot be taken to improve effectiveness;
• An experimental rather than planned approach, is taken to using e-communications with poor integration between online and offline marketing communications.

E-consultancy (2005) research on managing an E-commerce team highlighted the challenges of Internet marketing strategy.

The research involved E-commerce managers at companies in markets where their products could be sold online – for example, mobile phones (Orange, The Carphone warehouse), travel (Tui and MyTravel), financial services (Lloyds TSB and Bradford and Bingley) and direct marketers such as BCA. Respondents were asked what their main challenges were and these highlighted the issues of gaining sufficient resource for Internet marketing.

The research showed that around one third of those surveyed did not have a plan. This figure is surprisingly low because these are mainly advanced E-commerce companies.

Challenges included:

• Gaining buy-in and budget consistent with audience media consumption and value generated
• Conflicts of ownership and tensions between a digital marketing team, traditional marketing, IT and finance/senior management
• Co-ordination with different channels in conjunction with teams managing marketing programmes elsewhere in the business
• Managing and integrating customer information about characteristics and behaviours collected online
• Achieving unified reporting / analysis / actioning throughout the business
• Structuring the specialist digital team and integrating into the organisation by changing responsibilities elsewhere in the organisation
• In-sourcing vs outsourcing online marketing tactics, i.e. Search, affiliate, email marketing, PR
• Staff recruitment and retention

Consequently, this book defines a strategic approach to Internet marketing which is intended to manage these risks and deliver the opportunities available from online channels. In the diagram below we suggest a process for developing and implementing an Internet marketing which is based on our experience of strategy definition in a wide range of companies. This diagram highlights the key activities and their dependencies which are involved for creation of a typical Internet marketing. The purpose of strategic Internet marketing activities and the main point at which these topics are covered in this book are as follows:

Suggested web marketing planning process

The figure highlights the key activities and their dependencies which are involved for creation of a typical Internet marketing plan.

The purpose of strategic Internet marketing activities and the main point at which these topics are covered in this book are listed below.

A. Defining the Opportunity.

Setting objectives to define the potential is the core of this phase of strategy development. Key activities are:

• 1. Set E-marketing Objectives (Chapter 4):

Companies need to set specific numerical objectives for their online channels and then resource to deliver these objectives. These objectives should be informed by and influence the business objectives and also the following activities:

• 1a. Evaluate E-marketing Performance (Chapters 4 and 9):

Applying web analytics tools to measure the contribution of leads, sales and brand involvement currently delivered by online communications such as search engine marketing, online advertising and E-mail marketing in conjunction with the web site.

• 1b. Assess Online Marketplace (Chapters 2, 3 and 4):

Situation analysis reviewing the micro-environment (customers, competitors, intermediaries, suppliers and internal capabilities/ resources) and the broader macro-environment which influences strategy such as legal requirements and technology innovation.

B. Selecting the Strategic Approach.

• 2. Define E-marketing Strategy (Chapter 4):

Select appropriate strategies to achieve the objectives set at stage 1.

• 2a. Define customer value proposition (Chapters 4 to7)

Define the value proposition available through the online channel and how it relates to the core proposition delivered by the company. Reviewing the marketing mix and brand values to evaluate how they can be improved online.

• 2b. Define E-communications mix (Chapters 4 and 8):

Selecting the offline and online communications tools to encourage usage of an organization’s online services and to generate leads and sales. Developing new outbound communications and event-triggered touch strategies to support customers through their relationship with the company.

C. Delivering Results Online.

• 3. Implement E-marketing plan (Part 3):

This details the implementation of the strategy.

• 3a. Implement customer experience (Chapter 7):

Build the web site and create the E-mail marketing communications which form the online interactions customers make with a company. Create online customer relationship management capabilities to understand customers characteristics, needs and behaviours and to deliver targeted, personalized value (Chapter 6).

• 3b. Execute E-communications (Chapter 8)

Managing the continuous online marketing communications such as search engine marketing, partnerships, sponsorships and affiliate arrangements and campaign-based E-marketing communications such as Online advertising, E-mail marketing and microsites to encourage usage of the online service and to support customer acquisition and retention campaigns.

• 4. Customer profiling (Chapter 6)

Monitor and improve online activities and maintaining the online activities (Chapter 9): Capturing profile and behavioral data on customer interactions with the company and summarizing and disseminating reports and alerts about performance compared with objectives in order to drive performance improvement.

You will see that in the process diagram, many double-headed arrows are used, since the activities are often not sequential, rather they inform each other, so activity 1, Set Objectives is informed by the activities around it, but may also influence them. Similarly. Activity 4. Performance management is informed by the execution of online activities, but there should be a feedback loop to update the tactics and strategies used.

In Chapter 6 of Internet Marketing Strategy, we look at these key decisions which form a key part of the web marketing plan.

Key web marketing planning decisions

The key strategic decisions for e-marketing are in common with strategic decisions for traditional marketing. They involve selecting target customer groups and specifying how to deliver value to these groups. Segmentation, Targeting, Differentiation and Positioning are all key to effective digital marketing. The main thrust of Internet marketing strategy is taking decisions on the selective targeting of customer groups and different forms of value delivery for online channels. Rather than selective targeting, another strategic option is to replicate existing offline segmentation, targeting, differentiation and positioning in the online channels. While this is relatively easy to implement, the company will likely lose market share relative to more nimble competitors who modify their approach for online channels.

As mentioned at the start of the chapter, we should remember that Internet marketing strategy is a channel marketing strategy and it needs to operate in the context of multi-channel marketing. It follows that it is important that the Internet marketing strategy should:

• Be based on objectives for online contribution of leads and sales for this channel
• Be consistent with the types of customers who use and can be effectively reached through the channel
• Support the customer journey as they select and purchase products using this channel in combination with other channels
• Define a unique, differential proposition for the channel
• Specify how we communicate this proposition to persuade customers to use online services in conjunction with other channels.
• Manage the online customer lifecycle through the stages of attracting visitors to the web site, converting them to customers and retention and growth.

This said, many of the decisions related to Internet marketing strategy development involve reappraising a companies approach to strategy based on familiar elements of marketing strategy. We will review these decisions:

• Decision 1: Market and product development strategies.
• Decision 2: Business and revenue model strategies.
• Decision 3: Target market strategy.
• Decision 4: Positioning and differentiation strategy (including the marketing mix).
• Decision 5: Multi-channel distribution strategy
• Decision 6: Multi-channel communications strategy
• Decision 7: Online communications mix and budget
• Decision 8: Organisational capabilities (7S)

This post is an extract from Chapter 1 of my latest Internet marketing planning book