27
2010
The Holy Grail of an Online Strategy
An article by 
There are two premises to a successful online marketing strategy:
- – Find your customers when, and where, they want to be found.
- – And then give them some value.
Everything else is mere detail. But get these two points wrong, and at best you are wasting your time and money, and at worst you are alienating those who contribute to your bottom line.
There are some add-ons to the above two points.
Search Engines are your best friend
A customer will never be happier to come across your message than when he is actually looking for it. And the place he is most likely to be looking for it is in a search engine, like Google. Make sure your site is optimised for search engines, and consider investing in paid-for campaigns like Adwords on Google.
Don’t annoy your customers
That means don’t put up flashing, irritating ads in the middle of the screen that your customers are trying to read. Don’t spam them. Don’t make them commit to you before they are fully engaged in the conversation (so, for example, don’t ask them to register before the conversation gets off the ground). Don’t make it difficult to find information on your website. Give them no reason to attach the #fail tag to your website or product.
Value comes in many forms
If you are focussed on giving value, you are already ahead of the game. Most companies, especially in South Africa, think it’s a win just to get a visitor to their site. The strategy on what happens when they actually get there often seems to be on the next meeting’s agenda. At the very least ensure that your customers walk away more enlightened about your products, and not more disillusioned about your company. Once again, make it easy to find information. Make it easy for your customers to contact you. And make it very easy for your customers to buy from you if that is what they want to do.
Put yourself in your customers shoes. And step out of your own.
You might have an agenda to promote a specific new product or service via your online channels, but ask yourself whether your customer’s agenda might be a bit different. The best way around that is to brainstorm the main reasons why a customer might want to interact with your brand online, and then make those reasons easy to fulfill via your website or other communications. Then, in between, pepper the conversation with links to your agenda. No one appreciates in your face marketing, especially if it gets in the way of other things.
Don’t let technology get in the way.
Apps and widgets and pretty pop up boxes might make your site look professional and well designed, but don’t make the mistake of using technology just for technology’s sake. So, for example, if you don’t understand the value of Twitter, don’t promote your Twitter account just because it seems the in thing to do. Rather, educate yourself first – and do it thoroughly. Remember that with every new tool you add, you need a strategy and a set of policies. Setting those in place later rather than sooner can make you pay a heavy price.
Remember, that although the online space is an ideal medium for effective and efficient communication with your customers, it can backfire quickly. Always keep your customers experience at the forefront of any strategy, and leave them pleasantly surprised.
They’ll pleasantly surprise you right back, with their support and word of mouth power.
