Internet marketing strategy for startups

I recently did an online consultation for a client who wanted to learn more about internet marketing and how to apply it in the real world. It occured to me that you might find it useful to glance over the main points of this internet marketing consultation (although there is a full transcript available at "Real life transcript of an Internet marketing consult for a small business").

What makes this marketing consultation interesting is that it looks at the process of building traffic and business online from both the perspective of the marketer and the startup/small business owner.

Here's a summary of the main points of the discussion:

1. Understand your own offering

It might sound silly, right? After all, you should know what you're selling. What I mean by understanding your own offering, is knowing exactly what you can do, how you do it, how well you can do it for each and every little thing you do.

By really analyzing your offering it is possible to better position your value proposition when it comes time to target segmented market groups.

2. Identify and segment the market

You need to know exactly who you want to sell to in as much detail as you can muster, with a reasonable amount of effort. Different groups of people might have use for what you offer, but in slightly different ways or for different reasons. By knowing which groups you are going after, you are better able to focus the message you want to get across.

3. Develop strategic marketing messages

You now have a well understood offering in one hand, and a list of focused target audiences in the other. Now it is time to match each target market to the appropriate offering with a well focused, creative message designed to capture their attention and convert.

4. Identify appropriate marketing campaign vehicles

With the right message for the right person, it is now time to explore and discover the best ways to deliver that message. It might be sponsoring a forum, using social media, writing expert articles, placing an ad in a local paper and so on.

Unfortunately, that is as far as we got in the hour. There's a lot more still to do and the client and I are going to be working together to drive traffic and convert it for his business in the coming months.

To tell you the truth, I can't wait. There's not much more exciting than watching a small business starting to drive sales and growth - especially when it comes from a well planned, creative and scientific approach to marketing, building traffic and converting.

Article first published as Internet Marketing Strategy for Startups on Technorati.