The Small Business Online Marketing Handbook: Converting Online Conversations to Offline Sales

Chapter 6

Activity: Build Your 12-Month Online Marketing Plan

Since we're about halfway through the book at this point, let's review what we've covered so far. You've taken a hard look at the state of your online reputation today in an attempt to understand potential gaps. You've put together a plan to close those gaps, and hopefully you now are on your way to a strong foundation for giving your online browsers the best chance of converting into offline buyers. You've established ways to learn more about your customers in offline and online environments, which will allow you to more effectively target your advertising time and dollars. This will also help you better understand which social channels you should focus on to give you the biggest bang for your time investment.

You've learned about the kinds of programs you can implement to generate both incremental and last-minute business through targeted and segmented offers. You've gotten a feel for the landscape of the types of promotions you can run throughout the year, and perhaps have decided around which holidays or events you will build marketing programs. You understand the basics of optimizing your conversation through email and social marketing with the goal of tapping in to what your potential customers are already doing through those channels, and you are learning what they expect from businesses in terms of engagement.

Now for the fun part! It's time to build your 12-month online marketing plan. This will help you develop ...