Luxury Experience - From Check List to Integration and Value

The Internet Marketing Check List, unlike the infamous bucket list, things to check off before we die, is not a list to say you did something, but is a list of different marketing options that may or may not fit your company's requirements. Therefore, do not just say you did something, but make sure it fits your business and marketing strategy and if it does, then do it with passion and focus.

I recently attended a seminar where the underlying theme was not to have your company's strategy be "keeping up with the Jones," or if they are doing something then I need to do it. Unfortunately, it is all too true that some companies run their Internet Marketing strategy as a direct reaction to their competitor's strategy or in a reactive move because everyone else is doing it (i.e. Twitter, Facebook, and Social Networks). The side note to the seminar that I attended in 2010 was that when I attended the same seminar in 2008, the main theme was about who was doing the most with Web2.0 and Social Networks, sorry Twitter but your tweet was not yet hatched in 2008. The discussion in 2008 did not revolve around any return-on-investment (ROI) or return-on-objective (ROO); it was all about how many impressions a process drew or how cool the process was perceived. What a difference two years makes.

There is a standing statement used with regards to fashion "It may be in fashion, but it may not be your fashion." Just like fashion, Internet marketing is not a one-size fits all; and more so, just because it is the "in thing" does not mean it will fit your style or business strategy.

Case in point, I met a CEO of a medium size company ($30-40 million in sales a year) who was all excited that they were going to be using Twitter and had contracted with a company to generate the tweets. He was gushing about being progressive and embracing the new avenues. I asked him what the plan was for the tweets, what event were they planning to use Twitter at, and what the overall theme and message they were trying to convey. The response was that he was not aware of any plans or procedures for the Twitter project; he thought Twitter was free flowing and that the value would come from telling prospective customers and clients that his company was using Twitter. I understand that the company no longer embraces Twitter, which may be a mistake for them as they hold some very interesting dynamic events. The use of Twitter at this type of event, if the customer framed their message and set up a relationship through Twitter with clients and customers who could not attend the event, could be a very powerful tool for them.

I remember when Blogging first became all the rage; it seemed that every Internet Marketing strategy that I reviewed had a line item stating that the company was going to blog. I hardly every saw a definition of what was acceptable blogging, how often were they to blog, and who was to be part of the blog team. We all know what happened to companies who did not set up guidelines and rules for internal company blogging.

Though, I still meet with prospective clients and hear how their new website has to have a blog attached, which means that they are just responding to an Internet Marketing Check List versus understanding what this really means. Overall, blogging is still an option, but it has to be embraced by those who know that blogging requires timely and relevant material while creating a following, otherwise you are just writing for yourself.

Like any online activity, if you go into it half-hearted then the result will be weak, and a weak online activity could be picked apart by those who are true supporters of the process (i.e. avid bloggers, tweeters, etc.). In addition, prospective customers or clients may look at your attempt as an unfocused ploy to just be a part of something, which in the online world means that you may be just a click away from losing a potential opportunity.

Therefore, an Internet Marketing Check List is not something you post up on the wall and then tick off your participation in each one. I tell clients that they are not setting up an Internet Marketing strategy, but that they have an overall Marketing Strategy and one of the components is how they will use the Internet to market their products or services, how they will connect with customers and build relationships, as well as initiate a dialogue to learn more about their product or service from the customer while learning what the client or customer wants.