Starting an Online Business All-in-One For Dummies®, 3rd Edition

Chapter 5: Revisiting Marketing Strategies

In This Chapter

• Reviewing your company's past year and campaigns
• Involving everyone in your marketing strategy
• Analyzing your mistakes openly
• Learning from past failures and successes
• Growing your marketing efforts in the right areas
• Tailoring your efforts to fit your company
• Working with partners on new campaigns

Whoever said that nothing lasts forever was definitely thinking of the Internet. Strategies, trends, and perspectives changed at lightning speed over the years, as more and more people began to use the Web in different ways and companies responded to meet those ever-changing needs. In the beginning, the strategy was all about grabbing attention for a site. Then the strategy moved from attention to conversion, as the all-important order volume dictated the online focus of a business. Now, your strategy to get customers should contain a mixture of providing quality content, ample variety, and competitive prices — as well as the method of delivery (such as with mobile applications).

Bottom line? As these strategies shift, you must update your marketing strategy. What worked well a few years ago might not work now. Examine your successes and failures and compare them with your overall industry, and then with all Web businesses, to form an idea of what to do next. If you stay ahead of the curve, you stand a much better chance of adapting to changes in the Internet business and surviving while others march on, unchanged, and watch ...