In the early days of the Internet, just having a website was cause for celebration. But like everything else Internet-related, the rules are changing faster than coders can key in ones and zeroes. Now a successful ecommerce site must do more than just show up; it must also have a fully integrated marketing plan.

Unlike the Hollywood fairy tale of build it and they will come, designing a beautiful website isnt enough. Companies need to be proactive if they want people to come, and they have to build trust if they want to shoppers to buy. Separating web-savvy consumers from their hard-earned greenbacks takes more than just a for sale sign; it takes a complete interactive marketing plan.

You need to balance traditional marketing with search engine marketing in order to pull customers to your website. While search engine marketing and pay-per-click advertising will attract the first-time shoppers, the business basics (like advertising, public relations, and good customer service) are key still key factors in building a respected brand.

Search engine marketing includes all aspects of positioning a website within search engines to get maximum exposure. It can include optimizing the site through keywords, link popularity, banner ads, or pay-per-click search terms. It also includes the number of visitors to a website, and how many of these visitors convert to customers.

No matter what business you are in, your customers are still peoplepeople who read newspapers, watch television, listen to the radio, and surf the Internet. The basics of marketing havent changed, theyve just expanded. You still need to follow the four Ps of marketing: Product, Placement, Price and Promotion.

Product In order to have a successful long-term business, you need to have a great product or service. Unlike the smoke and mirrors of the late 90s, you cannot succeed without a sound product or service.

Price How you position your product with regard to price is just as important as the product itself. You can choose to be the cheapest, which means that you will constantly compete on price. You can choose to be the most expensive, which means that you better have bells and whistles that your competition doesnt have. Or you can choose to be middle-of-the-road, which means you have to focus on value over price. Whichever path you choose, choose it wisely, because it is hard to reposition your brand once it is built. Consider price as an important aspect of your brand when writing or revising your integrated marketing plan. In fact, it will be worth your while to do some targeted market research to see what your market will bear before you introduce a new product.

Placement Having a good product isnt enoughyou also have to get your product in front of potential buyers. This could mean national distribution through mass retailers, or it could mean local distribution through specialty stores. This could also mean an online ecommerce site that uses search engine marketing to reach its targeted customer. But companies bewarehaving a website is not enough. If you choose online as your main distribution channel, be prepared to spend money bringing visitors to your site. Just like the old adage of location, location, location as the foundation of success for a brick and mortar store, visitors, visitors, visitors is the new adage for ecommerce sites. Be prepared to spend your rent money on search engine marketing to bring visitors to your site. When choosing a company to help you with search engine marketing, find out what their qualifications are. How successful have they been building other brands? How long will it take before you can expect a return-on-investment? What is their typical return-on-investment? Is it a comprehensive online strategy, or are they relying on one gimmick that promises instant success?

Promotion This is the marketing area where most companies fail. Lets say you have invented the next amazing product the microwave oven of the new millennium. (This is your product.) Retailers love it and give you national distribution. (This is your placement.) You have it priced on the high-side because it is unique and different, but it is still within reason of what the market will bear. (This is your price.) If you dont promote your product through both online and offline public relations and advertising, people wont go to the store and buy it. Then, when the product doesnt sell well, you will lose your distribution. And even though you have come up with the best product in decades, you will be hard-pressed to stay in business long-term. No, this isnt negative thinking, its reality. Promoting your product is not an expense its an investment. Amazon spent almost a decade on marketing initiatives to build market share before they ever turned a profit. They took an online concept and built it the old-fashioned wayby building their brand and increasing their market share. Now they are the 900-pound gorilla in the online marketplace. Like Amazon, you have to be prepared to spend money promoting your product from now until the end of time if you truly want to be successful.

By developing an interactive marketing plan, you can streamline your business and increase your profit margin.

For more information, contact Plonka Interactive at 972-381-1311, or visit their website at http://www.plonka.com/.