Explode Your Holiday Sales: Five Step Internet Marketing Campaign
By Frank Frederick

A Plan That’s Affordable, Effective, And Profitable
There is still time to make the holiday season a profitable one and begin next year with financial bang.

Coordinating a planned and organized internet marketing plan which does not cost bundles of money and which will generate traffic and sales much faster than search engine submissions alone is not a difficult task. Your internet based marketing plan will take research and some solid knowledge of your target customer, but it can be done in the space of one hard-working day.

Follow this simple Five Step Marketing Plan which has been created especially for small business. By following each of the steps listed below, you will develop an effective holiday marketing campaign and create marketing messages which may be implemented immediately to begin reaping sales success.

Five Step Marketing Plan Beginning
Defining your customer is as important as defining your services or naming your business.

If you have not yet done a marketing plan within your business plan, then work through Step 1. If you already have a marketing plan within your business plan, you can skip ahead to Step 2.

Step 1 - Define Your Customer
Answer these questions as honestly as you can. In other words, do not project your expectations or hopes within the answer.

What is your perfect, solid customer really like?

• Is my perfect customer male or female?
• Does my perfect customer work in an office or in the home?
• What is the job profile of my perfect customer - an executive, manager, worker, entrepreneur, stay-at-home parent, etc.
• What is the net income of my perfect customer?
• What level of education does my perfect customer have?
• Does my perfect customer have room in his/her spending budget for my product/service on a one time, occasional or constant basis?
• How do my perfect customers use my product/service - do they buy it for their company or do they buy it for other companies?
• Does my perfect customer spend a lot, some or minimal time on the Internet?
• Where does my perfect customer look for my product/service? Both online and in physical locations?
Once you have answers to the foregoing questions written, you should have drawn a good picture of where to start looking to place your marketing messages on the internet and how to write copy for your message.

Step 2 - Choosing Your Target Customer
Now, where are you going to post your marketing messages? If your messages are seen on several internet web sites; your visibility and retained message is much stronger. Begin with a coordinated effort across several web sites and venues commonly frequented by your customers. Holiday specific web sites which are well promoted are excellent areas to consider for placing your marketing messages.

Quantize your marketing by calculating the conversion rate. A conversion rate is the number of click-through’s it takes to achieve your target measurement. Your page may have 1000 hits, 14 clicks and 1 sale in a day. Your conversion rate is 1:14 or 7.1%. In other words, 7.1% of the clicks are generating a sale during this period.

Do not hesitate to change, tweak or modify your marketing message if advantageous. Marketing is a process of constant change -- until you find the best fit for each location you place your message. Remember too, one marketing message may work may work superbly on one web site, but not on another.

Step 3 - Budget
Many people think the “budget” should be the first step in any marketing plan. Realistically, you can better create the budget for your marketing plan when you have a good idea of the costs involved. Your marking budget can only be done once you have determined your Target Market and how to reach the right audience. You probably already have a figure in mind of how much you can really spend on marketing, so go back to your marketing campaign document and total up the costs of all the message spots you'd like to create. Chances are the total amount of money you would spend for all of your chosen venues will exceed your overall spending limit. It is up to you to determine which avenues of approach your marketing will take to spread your message and how much you are able to afford.

Step 4 - Creating Your Ad Content
Internet marketing works best when you focus only on one or two things. You may have a variety of products or services; but pick one or two items which are good sellers and have a solid appeal to your target audience for this marketing campaign.

Next ask yourself, "What am I selling"? It's rarely the product or service. You are selling a benefit, something that registers at the emotional level.

The most successful ads use words that relate to the customer. Use You and Yours, do not put the spotlight on Me, Mine, Our, My or We. Apply several words which conjure emotion and may be associated with the services or products offered - fun, comforting, relaxing, stimulating, and addictive for example. Try to use at least one of these emotion evoking words in your message.

Coupons are an effective marketing tool, which are easily tracked manually or by an automated shopping cart system. Adapt different codes for different internet or real world marketing locations and you will quickly see which ones get the best attention.

Step 5 - Tracking & Monitoring Your Messages
Tracking and acknowledging your marketing successes is critical to maintaining an effective campaign. From your website statistics to Pay-Per-Click stats, there are many ways to determine what is working and what is not. By paying attention you'll learn volumes about your messages and how to put an edge on them for best results.
On a daily basis for the first two weeks, review the results of your various ads. Watch for any trends or patterns. Which messages are performing, where, and why? If some messages are not generating results, replace them with others that are or try another from your hold list.

Successful Holiday Internet Marketing Campaigns are within the reach of any business, no matter what your budget. Follow Five Step Marketing Plan steps and commit to the follow-through, you can create a cost effective marketing campaign with a substantial return on investment.

Good sales to you for the coming year!