In the previous article “How to Start Web 2.0 / Internet Marketing”, segmentation and positioning were explained. In this article, effectively reaching buyers/customers is discussed, which is the next step after segmentation and positioning.
1. What are KFS (Key Factors for Success) for companies to reach prospects directly, turning them into buyers/customers?
Targeting is the next step to take after market/customer segmentation, and this is about identifying one or more buyer/customer personas to target based on market/customer segmentation and positioning already done. As Scott (2007) says, buyer/customer persona profile for each customer segment, a kind of simple biography, needs to be built. This is best done by interviewing people of the customer segment.
The importance of buyer/customer persona in web marketing cannot be exaggerated, especially when customization/personalization is one of the characteristic of the Internet and it is logical to leverage Anderson’s (2006) concept of “The Long Tail”. Based on this theory, one-size-fits-for-all mass marketing approach is inappropriate in the Internet era, without the constraints of physical shelf space and other bottlenecks of distribution, but instead, narrowly targeted goods and services can be as economically attractive as mainstream fare. To succeed in long-tail marketing (and PR/IR), different criteria accompanied by different customer segment each with different buyer/customer persona.
It is with good and accurate persona that effective web marketing plan is made, leading to successful online branding. With good and accurate person, web content appealing to target customers is developed and delivered appropriately (i.e. effective communication), turning prospects into buyers.
2. What needs to be defined in web marketing plan?
5W2H are required to be defined in web marketing plan.
1)What:
This is the key message the company aims to deliver to each buyer/customer persona to achieve the goal, such as “please purchase this” and “please sign up this”. This would be the core of the web content planning and development, which determine other “Ws” and “Hs”.
2) Who:
There are two for “Who”. The first and the more important is “who to target”. The company would have clear idea of this by this stage and actually should have defined this by developing the buyer/customer persona for each customer segment, through the process explained in the previous article.
The second is “who is responsible”. Specifying this may seem strange; however, in a large company/organization, defining and sharing with all related parties of who (which department) is responsible for what (which web content, which social media vehicle, which customer segment etc.) is a requirement for smooth operation. This does not mean bureaucracy; role-sharing clarification should never hinder cross-functional collaborative teamwork. Members of the role-sharing usually includes external members such as agency and partners. Company also need to strategically plan to “involve” other stakeholders, mass media, bloggers and other Internet marketers, leveraging viral marketing approach; viral marketing is extremely effective in Internet marketing.
3) When:
This is the timing of delivering the key message by respective web content to each buyer/customer persona. This is determined by the external business environment such as industry and competitors’ trend and events/incidents, and internal business environment such as company events (e.g. new product launch, campaign) as in offline marketing. This is also determined by how the company can find something new or something that the persona will be interested in even if there is no big news or event, to continue conversation with them and win their engagement.
4) Where:
This is which online media/channel to use to deliver respective web content, i.e. selecting which web initiatives and social media tools to use for each web content. There are variety of online media/channels, as already introduced in one of the previous article “Vol.7 - What is the Overview of Web 2.0 Online World?”, all of which has strengths and uniqueness.
It should be noted that selecting tools is secondary, coming after the company/business objectives/goal and “what” mentioned above, and that the tool with most advanced technology is not necessarily the best option. Media/channels/tools should be carefully selected based on the factors such as market share, vertical industry focus, adoption rate and market momentum as Gillin states (2009, p23) as well as web content characteristics and buyer/customer persona needs, and effectively mixed to generate synergy. Gillin proposes matrix chart of social media tools (2009, p24, p39) which are helpful in understanding strengths of each tools and selecting appropriate ones. Gillin’s charts and Clough’s framework of Web 2.0 Online Marketing ROI (2009) are worth referring to in tool selection.
5) Why:
This is the reason for web content development, which can be paraphrased by what the company what buyers/customers to believe such as “this product/service solves the problem” and “it is worth signing up this” so that they would take the action the company wants,. The action is equivalent to “What” already mentioned.
6) How much:
This is about determining the total resource (budget, manpower, infrastructure etc.) to invest and its allocation. In many cases, resources currently available in the company becomes a restraint in creating out-of-the-box ideas and developing an innovative strategy and action plan, and balancing risk taking and feasibility would count. After all, decision making on resource need to be done from perspective of short-term and long-term ROI, both quantitative and qualitative. Web/Internet metrics, especially those of social media, are still immature as Gillin (2009) says, but important to perform PDCA cycle with trial and error concept. This deserves discussion and will be discussed in later article(s).
7) How:
This can be paraphrased by with what web content the company reach directly respective persona. This deserves much discussion and will be the topic in the next article.In the previous article “How to Start Web 2.0 / Internet Marketing”, segmentation and positioning were explained. In this article, effectively reaching buyers/customers is discussed, which is the next step after segmentation and positioning.
References:-
Gillin, Paul (2009), Secrets of Social Media Marketing, Quill Driver Books
Scott, David Meerman (2007), The New Rules of Marketing & PR. John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Anderson, Chris (2006), The Long Tail, in a nutshell
http://www.thelongtail.com/about.html
Clough, Mike (2009), Web 2.0 Online Marketing Series – Overview
http://bestbizpractices.org/2009/08/16/web-2-0-online-marketing-series-overview/
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