By: Bobette Kyle
www.WebsiteMarketingPlan.com
How strong are your Website business marketing plan strategies? Do
they move your business toward achieving your objectives or overall
goals? Think of your strategies as a framework that clarifies the
approaches you will take in meeting your Website's objectives. They
are more specific than the objective, but do not include exact
details.
You can increase your business marketing plan strategy and it's
effectiveness by taking into consideration the business environment
you operate in - both online and offline. Two approaches to analyzing
the business environment are to complete
1) an industry analysis such as Porter's Five Forces and
2) a situation analysis such as a SWOT analysis.
Porter's Five Forces
A formal industry analysis, such as Michael Porter's Five Forces,
is more in depth than simply looking for trends and general industry
information and can help you better develop successful strategies.
Michael Porter's Five Forces can provide insight into both your
online and offline competitive environments. In the Five Forces Model,
Porter explains that in any industry there are five forces that
influence what happens within the industry:
1. Existing companies,
2. potential new companies,
3. substitutes for products offered,
4. the suppliers, and
5. the customers.
These five forces combine to make up the business environment. By
studying the structure of and dynamics between these forces, you can
discover opportunities for improving upon your business marketing plan
strategies. Porter designed his basic model to be applied to an entire
industry.
The same analytical method, however, could also be used to study a
narrower universe, such as online presence within an industry. When
developing your Web site marketing plan, for example, you can identify
the "forces" as:
Competitors: Those sites that offer the same product, service, or
information as your site.
Potential new entrants: Your site-less off-line competitors as well
as new companies entering the industry via a Web site.
Customers: Visitors and potential visitors to your Web site and
your competitors’ sites.
Suppliers: Those companies that supply you with the products (or
parts if you are a manufacturer) and/or services offered on your site.
Other suppliers are the Web hosting, software, and other vendors that
supply Web-enabling technology.
Substitutes: Other means and sources for the same products,
services, or information as your Web site provides.
Using these definitions for the five forces, you can get a clearer
picture of the business environment in which your Web site competes.
Be aware, however, this is not a true Five Forces analysis.
This analysis only borrows Porter’s forces to lend structure. His
full analysis goes beyond the information gathering and cursory
analysis explained here. By fully utilizing Porter’s strategic methods
you can gain an even clearer picture of the industry, resulting in
sounder marketing strategies. To fully appreciate Porter's model,
study his two classics, Competitive Strategy and Competitive
Advantage.
SWOT Analysis
In a SWOT analysis, you identify strengths, weaknesses, market
opportunities for your company, and threats to your business. You then
use the analysis to develop strategies that will minimize the affect
of your weaknesses on your business while maximizing your strengths.
Ideally, you will match your strengths against market opportunities
that result from your competitors’ weaknesses or voids.
When completing a SWOT analysis, you may find it helpful to create
a table identifying observations relative to each SWOT component for
both your company's site and your competitors' sites. In the table,
note Internet-related activities such as trade organization
participation, search engine inclusion, and outside links to the
sites. Then, from the table you create you can spot your company’s
strengths and weaknesses as well as opportunities and threats to your
business.
Often, opportunities arise as a result of a changing business
environment. As you study your competitors, be on the lookout for
these opportunities. Some situations that could represent
opportunities for a company include, but are certainly not limited to:
* New technology is created, but the competition has been unable to
deliver acceptable customer service.
* A customer segment is becoming more predominant, but their
specific needs are not being fully met by your competitors.
* A customer, competitor, or supplier goes out of business or
merges with another company.
Once you develop your business marketing plan strategy, you will be
ready to complete your Web site marketing plan by choosing tactics to
support those strategies.
About the Author
Bobette Kyle draws upon 10+ years of Marketing/Executive
experience, Marketing MBA, and online marketing research in her
writing.
Her book, "How Much for Just the Spider? Strategic Web Site
Marketing for Small-Budget Businesses", shows how to better find,
target, and attract Web customers.
Read about it at WebSiteMarketingPlan.com - http://WebSiteMarketingPlan.com
