After working with businesses of many sizes, it has become evident that most small and medium-sized businesses usually do one of the following with their online marketing strategies: they will sit back and do nothing because they simply don’t get it, or they will jump into it because others said it was good for them but never takes the time to create a strategy.

Success in business is often about planning and strategy.

In both cases, most try it for about 30 days and then put up their white flag and saying that online marketing doesn’t work for business.

In this article, you’ll learn the 5 critical steps to approach online marketing for your business.

Core Objectives for Online Marketing

When you look at the big picture, I have learned from Amy Porterfield that there are really only 7 core objectives that businesses want to achieve through their online marketing strategy:

• Build a Bigger Fan base
• Relationship Marketing
• Heightened Exposure
• Build Authority
• Increase Revenue
• Product/Program/Service Promotion
• List Building/Generate Leads

It is essential to keep these core objectives in mind while following the major steps. Otherwise, it is like climbing a well-built staircase with no reason to get to the top.

Steps to Approach Online Marketing

Let’s get into the real fun stuff! Based on the 7 core objectives, here are the 5 critical steps to approach online marketing:

1) Think about what you really need or where your business is currently hurting.

Most will be quick to answer “we want to increase revenue.” This is fine, but it is also important to determine where you can achieve your core objectives. Try to focus on a single core objective and put your marketing efforts towards it.

2) Find out who is involved, how can you get in front of them, and what they need.

If you just need to get in front of more people, then your strategy will differ from someone who wants to become the authority. This step will help you figure out what you need to do in order to move towards that audience.

3) Determine who is going to do the daily activity to implement your strategy.

The human reality is that we do what we want, and avoid doing what we don’t want. Even if you find something that is working for your business; if you don’t enjoy doing it you will eventually slow down or stop.

It is important to do what you like doing as an individual. If you like using Twitter, figure out how you can use it efficiently for business. However, if you know that blogging is important for your business, but you don’t like writing on a consistent basis, find someone who enjoy doing it and does it really well.

4) Test your strategy and measure your results.

The great news is that there are many tools out there that will allow you to measure your actions. Whether you are utilizing Facebook Insights, or other tools to analyze results, the data will help you understand how well (or poorly) your current strategy is working.

5) Adjust your strategy when necessary.

Don’t be afraid to stop things that don’t work. Anyone who tells you that they achieved their success without any flaws is just too scared to point out their mistakes. Implementing an online strategy is a filtering process that strengthens over time and modifications.

Following these five steps will immediately separate you from the majority of businesses that are not willing to take the time and create a solid strategy. Focus on one core objective at a time, and allow these steps to help you approach your desired results.

About the Author: Brandon Lee is Co-Founder and CEO of Social Stage – an online platform that allows users to build custom websites within Facebook pages. In addition to his current role as CEO of Social Stage, Brandon consults, trains and provides content strategies for clients through his company Social Elevate.

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Wednesday, June 13th, 2012, 9:18 pm   |   General Marketing  |  RSS feed |  Respond  |  Trackback

• http://www.endlessrise.com/ SEO Reseller

  I think the important thing here is the relationship building part. When you build relationships with the people, you’ll be a step closer to being considered as an authority of your niche. There will also be a chance that your leads can convert into real customers. Another good thing about making relationships with people is that you have access to the best source of data for your further improvement: your customers.

  = Gerald Martin =

• http://www.60SecondMarketer.com Jamie Turner

   HI, Gerald –

  Great advice/input. Thanks for providing your thoughts on this. It sounds like you’ve got some good experience on this front.

  Cheers,
  Jamie

• http://www.profromgo.com/pittsburgh-web-design-services-diy-websites/ Pittsburgh Internet Marketing

  Great list, but I think there’s one thing you left out, one thing that’s absolutely critical for having success online – defining your brand!  There are tons of people who try to combine all of their expertise / interests into a single site, brand, whatever…web users want to see focused content.  They want to be able to describe you in one sentence.  If they can’t do that, they’re not going to remember you or buy into your brand.

• http://twitter.com/rcottle86 Rich Cottle

  Great Article Brandon. I run into so many businesses that want to “increase revenue” but have no clue as to what steps it takes to achieve that. Creating a focused plan is key, as well as setting clear attainable goals. Adjusting strategy is a very important part that I feel many SMB’s miss, oftentimes they seem to give up instead.

• http://www.60SecondMarketer.com Jamie Turner

   Hi, Pittsburgh –

  Thanks for your comment. I agree. In fact, we wrote a post called “20 Questions to Help You Differentiate Your Brand.” You can check it out here: http://is.gd/GwAHWC

  It’s one of our more popular posts. Enjoy!

  Cheers,
  Jamie

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