Online Marketing Strategy isn’t just about creating a pretty picture.
This is about engaging your visitors, building awareness, closing more sales, growing your company – you name it. We get you there.
Here’s how.
Understanding Your Mission
We ask “why” a lot more than we ask “what”. Web design and digital marketing are never done in a vacuum, but as part of a larger business strategy. There are two equally important considerations in laying the foundation for success.
Scope
This is a collaborative process that begins before we have any official agreement in place and is what we use to determine the scope of work.
Through this method all our projects begin with a very clear understanding of what is needed, and gives our clients a chance to work with us before we move forward as partners. You can see a sample of the type of questions we ask on our getting started form.
Timeline
The value of a well-planned, reasonable and on-target timeline cannot be underestimated. Slapping a deadline on a project isn’t going to cut it – we take into account resources available on both sides, black-out dates and deadlines to project a launch date everyone can be confident about.
Competitive Analysis
Our analysis digs into your digital strengths and weaknesses as well as those of your top competition. We ask you a few questions to get started: what keywords would you like to rank for, who do you see as your biggest competitor(s), what have you tried so far, and what how successful have you been. Armed with the answers, we use tools (and brains) to research and answer the following questions:
- Who is ranking for your keywords?
- What have they done to rank?
- Which of your tactics are working, and which are not?
- Where are your best opportunities for short and long term wins?
We are also able to discuss the effort required for various tactics such as SEO, social media, and PPC (pay per click) advertising. It may be that one of your keywords gets a high number of monthly searches but the cost to rank would actually give a negative ROI. On the other hand, a search term with moderate use might be relatively easy to rank for and might make a good target.
The results are reviewed and used to lay the groundwork for a rock-solid on and off site strategy.
Content Strategy & Information Architecture
Content strategy essentially asks the question “What does our target demographic need to see in order to become a customer?” Information Architecture organizes that content for the buyer journey.The solution doesn’t need to be complicated, but it does need to be thorough. We answer the question in two ways:
User Flows
User flows are the paths a visitor takes through the site, for example going from a homepage to the services to the portfolio and finally to requests a quote. It should mirror the way that visitors make purchasing decisions, with each page containing a call-to-action that will eventually lead to a contact.
In reality, it is rare for a visitor to make it all the way through a particular path the first time they land on your site. That’s why we also look at…
The Sales & Marketing Funnel
Prospects in each stage of the funnel require tailored content. A new visitor who stopped by for an interesting blog post via social media is probably not ready for a free consultation, but they might be interested in a download or a useful tool. A returning visitor might be curious about a webinar.
Our strategy in a nutshell: Trade progressively more genuine value to the visitor for more information and commitment from them, eventually leading to an exchange of goods or services for money (read: a sale).
The Deliverable
While this varies with the scope of project, it will always include the following:
- Written strategy brief
- Visual sitemap
Depending on the project, we may also generate:
- Visual sales & marketing funnel with recommended content pieces for each stage
- Ideas for whitepapers and/or tools
It all starts with with you reaching out:
Phone: (503) 489-8819
Email: john@crosshatchcreative.com
