There’s an interesting conversation going on at Lee Oden’s Online Marketing Blog about whether one should have a social media strategy before they jump into social media marketing. He asked 40 “social media smarties” what they thought, and the overwhelming answer was YES. What comes first a website or marketing strategy? Does the same principal apply to website development?
Absolutely. Some of the comments from Lee’s post are also quite relevant to website development, because engaging in website development without a marketing strategy is like “writing your message on a paper airplane and aiming it out a window”, “crashing a wedding reception and trying to network with everyone there” or driving a car without a destination. Like diving into a pool without knowing if there’s water in it, or building a house without first deciding where you want to put it or how many rooms it will have; a marketing strategy defines where you want to go and what you want to achieve. Tactics are implemented to help get you there. In website development, it’s necessary to develop a marketing strategy before you do anything else.
So how do you go about doing this? You can start by asking yourself the following questions:
1. Who is my ideal client? The one that gets the absolute best results from my services or product?
2. What are most significant the problems that this ideal client faces, the problems they are desperate to resolve?
3. What solutions do I offer?
4. How do these solutions help them resolve their problems?
5. What are the benefits and results I can promise?
6. What makes me different and better than the competition?
7. How can prove I’m credible and trustworthy?
The answers to these questions become the foundation of your marketing strategy. It will help you know what to say, where to focus your efforts, how to best get their attention and be able to convince them to contact you.
If you’re interested in website development, don’t jump in feet first. Start with your head, focus on your message and remember the marketing strategy should always come first.
Susan Martin, Marketing Coaching
