How to Make an Online Business Marketing Plan

The marketing plan for an online business is essential for its success. Well planned efforts will reap the most results in web traffic, web presence and profits for a business. Creating an online business marketing plan is easy to do and sticking to it will ensure that you are meeting your goals and generating the traffic and business your company deserves.

1. Assemble a list of ideas that help promote your online business. This list should include various forms of advertising such as Pay-Per-Click, website advertisement, link exchanges, list building and search engine optimization.

2. Perform market research to determine which method is most effective for your business niche. An online business that sells products is more successful with website advertisement and search engine optimization than they will be with pay-per-click advertising and list building.

3. Set a budget for each quarter of the fiscal year that will be devoted to marketing.

4. Price out the services you expect to use in that quarter and set budgets accordingly for each item. For example, if you utilize a SEO company, it will likely cost between $300 and $600 per month for their services. PPC advertising can be budgeted based on the amount you are willing to spend each month, for example $250.00.

5. Find the best software to decrease costs. Especially for companies that are just starting out, performing your own marketing can save thousands of dollars. A good SEO program will cost around $400 for one year and a social media automation program will cost approximately $40 per month. The savings are substantial to hiring someone else to do this work. Keeping money in your pocket for a few extra hours of work each day is worth it.

6. Draft a one-year marketing plan that outlines each month, the budget for each form of advertising and types of ads that will be used. For example, many companies bump up advertising efforts during the holiday season to boost sales and recognition for the coming year and for holiday purchases. You may want to offer special deals or discounts at this time as well.

7. Implement your marketing plan and monitor it closely. Not all marketing efforts are successful. By assessing your marketing efforts on a month to month basis after the first quarter you will be able to determine which methods are most beneficial for your business. With any marketing efforts for online businesses it takes 60 to 90 days to successfully start generating high volumes of traffic to a website.

8. Tweak your marketing plan accordingly based on your findings and continue to make minor changes over the course of several years until you have derived a strong, steady client base.