Tamir Berkman works at FRANk media

In my last post here at marketingmag.com.au, I discussed the reasons why you should already be thinking strategically about online and about  your presence in the online space. Hopefully,
for those of you looking to develop your online presence youre now
convinced of the need for an online strategy, but whats your next step?

Well, now its time to think carefully about what you want to do
online. To help you out, Ive prepared this online strategy checklist.
It breaks down some of the major areas you will need to consider before
you even think about hiring a web designer, and poses a number of questions about each of the areas.

Even if you answer half of these questions you’ll find some
insights, focus on your online goals and you might even come up with a
great plan to promote your business. Right, enough talking about it,
let’s get down to business!

Your brand:

1. What are you doing online?
2. Do you have a website?
3. Do you have a place where you engage consumers on your website?
4. Are you doing all the talking or do you encourage conversation and feedback?
5. Do you have any audio/video on your website?

Your competitors:

1. What are your competitors doing online?
2. Have they already worked out how to have a conversation with their audience?
3. What are the advantages of your competitor’s online profile and what will you need to do to beat them?

Your industry/community:

1. What is your industry doing online?
2. Are there any online trends you should be aware of?
3. What are the ideas you like?
4. How can you play a bigger role in this industry?

Your audience:

1. Who are you talking to and why?
2. Who are your evangelists?
3. Where are they online?
4. What is your niche audience?
5. What do they like to do?
6. How can you help make their lives better?

The creative concept:

1. What will get people talking about you?
2. How can you be different?
3. If your brand can produce a show – what will it be?

Production:

1. What is the scope, time line and budget?
2. Who’s going to manage the team?
3. What are the software requirements?
4. Who will be doing the programming, design, audio/video production (if needed) and testing?

Marketing:

1. How will people know about it?
2. How can you spread the word?
3. What is the launch plan?
4. What are the PR opportunities?
5. Do you have a seeding plan?

Maintenance:

1. Who’s in charge of the following: data entry, linking to content,
   comment moderation, email list management and measurement? Don’t know
   yet? Time to find out!

As a marketer, you might be disappointed to see so few questions
under Marketing, but youll also have noticed that many of the
questions in other areas relate directly to marketing functions. My
advice? If you cant find a compelling reason to answer all, or at
least most of these questions before you begin building your online
presence, you might be selling yourself short online, and worse still,
allowing your competitors to take ownership of the space.