Web Site Marketing Plan News, September 23, 2003

When I first started working on this issue, I envisioned a feature article contrasting information sites with sales sites and explaining how they each can fit into your marketing plan.

Instead, I ended up with *four* articles that, together, show you: how (and why) your sites can meet your marketing goals while also meeting visitors’ information needs; ways to meet your visitors’ needs with the right information; tips to make it easier for customers to order online; and ideas for profiting from information sites.

Today I have two of the first four articles…

My article “Reach Your Website Marketing Goals (Part 1 of 2): Understanding the Customer Decision Making Process” helps you understand your visitors’ decision making process while effectively pulling visitors through to the purchase stage.
In “They’re Searching So Why Aren’t They Buying?“, Karon Thackston takes a closer look at the buying process. She also gives specific advice on how to satisfy a visitor’s information needs according to the visitor’s stage in the buying process.

New Website…

Take-Payments-Online. ECommerce Explained.
A new information site detailing how to build and design your ECommerce Website solution.
This new Website will detail the steps, options, fees, and pitfalls involved with accepting payments from your own Website.
Go here to read an ecommerce overview and sign on to receive updates when I post new information to the site:
http://www.websitemarketingplan.com/payments/Credit-CardArticles.htm

Website Marketing Plan News, September 13, 2003

I think the humidity and heat have finally left St. Louis for the season (”Hurray” and “Knock on wood”.). The weather has been mild for a full week. There have even been a few days within my five degree comfort zone. lol!

Off line marketing in your plan…

Sometimes we get so engrossed in marketing our sites *online*, we forget there are effective *off line* strategies as well. As you develop or evolve your Website marketing plan, take to heart some of Will Dylan’s ideas In today’s guest article, “Off Line Marketing for Online Results“.

eCommerce…

If one of your Website objectives is to sell from the site, then (obviously), you must have an ecommerce system in place. Effectively setting up ecommerce can be confusing and full of pitfalls. In today’s article “Accepting Payments Online: An eCommerce Overview“, I show you pieces to the ‘puzzle’ and explain how to put it all together.

Website Marketing Plan News, September 10, 2003

This is one of those rare times you are hearing from me twice in one week. This because I felt a pressing need to expand on the email effectiveness issue I brought up Monday.

In the last issue, I addressed how email campaigns will continue to become progressively less effectively and how you can compensate with your marketing efforts: http://www.websitemarketingplan.com/NewsletArch/newsletter090803.htm

Today, I want to focus on a main reason *why* email is becoming less effective and what you can do to protect yourself.
August 2003 was the worse ever for damage caused by viruses. According to Digital Risk Specialists mi2g, worms and other attacks caused $32.8 billion in economic damages last month.

Besides general damage to the economy, worms can directly and adversely affect you in at least *three* ways:
They can “spoof” your email address (put your address as the sender of infected emails), making it look like you are sending spam and viruses even though you are not.

They can infiltrate your systems, sending out infected emails from your computer.

They can clog your email with incoming, worm-carrying messages and, if severe enough, crash your systems.

My article today - “Keeping the Worms Away. How to Minimize Virus Threats” - explains how to defend yourself in these three areas. It also includes direct links to recent articles, security sites, and security software.

I encourage you to read it and pass the article along to others who need the information.

Marketing plan gear-up…

As both fourth quarter and 2004 approach, it’s wise to scrutinize marketing plans and budget allocations. To “get the ball rolling”, have a look through some of the marketing articles available on WebSiteMarketingPlan.com.
Read a list of articles here:
http://www.websitemarketingplan.com/MarketingArticles.htm

Website Marketing Plan News, September 8, 2003

With Labor Day behind us and schools back in session, Summer is officially (if not *technically*) over here in the U.S. In other words, “back to business”. As fourth quarter 2003 looms closer for all of us worldwide, it’s time to start thinking about marketing budget allocations.

Many businesses rely heavily on email campaigns as part of the online marketing mix. In fact, a May 2003 MarketingSherpa survey of 700+ marketers showed that 37% planned to *increase* spending on email campaigns in the last half of 2003.

Given the disconcerting trend of increasingly disruptive worms and spam - with every indication that things will get worse before they get better - it’s time to seriously consider depending less heavily on email to deliver your marketing message. It’s time to shift some spending and attention away from email and toward other promotion strategies.

In the above-mentioned MarketingSherpa survey, marketers reported “Public Relations (PR)” as the #2 most successful tactic, behind “Email Marketing Sent to a House List”.

In that vein, today’s articles on press releases and word of mouth marketing - along with other resources shared with the articles - will help you start planning a cost effective PR campaign.

(BTW, go here to learn more about MarketingSherpa and what they have to offer: Sherpa Public Relations)

The Articles…

In “Public Relations Through Work of Mouth Marketing” I’ll get your creative juices flowing with a few ideas on spreading the word through PR.

In today’s guest article, “Reporter Shares 5 Tips: ‘How to Send and Write a Press Release‘”, reporter Jeff Crilley gives examples and tips on how to send and write a press release that gets covered.

More Articles…

As you start thinking about your fourth quarter 2003 and 2004 marketing plan and budgets, you may want to have a look through some of my other articles on the subject. Read a list here:
http://www.websitemarketingplan.com/Free/FreeContent.htm