
How to optimise your online marketing activity
How to optimise your online marketing activity
By
Vicki Allpress Hill
Make the most of your online marketing activity with the ten top tips outlined in this guide.
1. Set up analytics accounts and create benchmarks for comparison
Ensure you have access to Google Analytics for your website (ask your web developer to set it up), Insights for your Facebook fan page and Email Management System analytics, as well as analytics for any other online channels such as Twitter and YouTube. Extract a set of data that you can use to assess your progress and make comparisons in six months to a year.
2. Take the time to write an Online Marketing Strategy
Use The Audience Connection's Digital Marketing Audit Process and Digital Marketing Planning Framework to guide you through the steps in a logical order. Turn your strategy into a series of clear action steps. Doing the hard thinking up front and having a documented plan will help you prioritise and focus.
3. Review your website from your users' point of view
Make a list of all the typical tasks users would expect to complete on your website and give each of these a try as if you were them. See where you hit barriers. Select some volunteers representative of each of your customer base and target audience segments and observe them as they use your site. Use Google Analytics to further prove the usability issues. Make a list of things that need changing and prioritise them in order. Then start making the changes.
4. Set up an email management system and integrate it with your website
If you are still using Microsoft Outlook to send bulk emails, stop right now. Investigate the range of available email management solutions e.g. MailChimp or CampaignMonitor. Small monthly fees make it affordable to use a system specifically designed to manage emails and provide you data from your campaigns. Request their sign-up code and give this to your developer to create a sign-up form on your site that feeds straight into your email management solution. This is all much easier than it sounds.
5. Write a social media plan and policy
To be successful with your social media activity, you need to understand to whom you are speaking and where you will source the content for each channel. Write a social media plan that defines the target audience, tone of voice and subject matter for each channel e.g. Facebook, Twitter, YouTube or blog. If delegating any aspect of social media management with others in the company, it is important to have a policy. That way everyone can feel confident that they are working to the same guidelines.
