6 Prerequisites to Online Marketing Success

Here’s what you’ll learn today:

The proven benefits of planning
Our 6 prerequisites for marketing success
Preferred website hosting and design options
Setting up successful analytics (and why they’re important)
The ins and outs of social media

“By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.” ― Benjamin Franklin
“Planning is bringing the future into the present so that you can do something about it now.” ― Alan Lakein
“Before anything else, preparation is the key to success.” ― Alexander Graham Bell

We’ve all heard quotes like these so many times that we’ve become almost numb to the importance of planning, right?

The Proven Benefits of a Marketing Plan

Sure, they’re ubiquitous on social media – and for good reason. What we know about planning is simple: it works. From solo coaching startups to seasoned consultant firms, planning offers proven benefits, like these:

Create a bridge between vision & reality
Expose blind spots
Establish accountability practices
Increase productivity
Unite teams with a shared purpose
Lower stress & uncertainty

A lot of the coaches and consultants we work with are still riding the “New Year Buzz” right now as they’re planning for the year ahead.

Maybe you’ve got a new online course in the works. Or you’re re-doing your website. Developing a speaker presentation. Creating a fresh content strategy.

Before You Promote, PLAN!

Here at Marketecs, we have a list of “prerequisites” for new clients. These are key foundational elements we recommend having in place before we can fully help promote them and/or assist with their content marketing needs.

If any of the 6 key prerequisites in the list below are missing, we almost always have to address them before moving on to ensure the most successful outcome.

You can use these as your own checklist to help save time and lots of hassles in the long run.

Ready to find out what they are? Let’s go!

6 Prerequisites for Marketing Success

1. Brand(ing)

At its most basic, your brand encompasses a business name, logo, brand colors, fonts, etc…

Branding can have as much or as little thought put into it as you like. Many coaches and consultants choose a name that represents what they do, or they use some form of their own name.

Tip: Make sure the web URL for the name you choose is available.

You might start simply by choosing a color set and fonts that you like, then build from there. As your business evolves (and it will), you may find the need to re-brand entirely, or give your image a little re-vamp to reflect your growth.

Check out this TED Talk we recently shared with a client that you may find helpful:

2. Website

One of the most important prerequisites? Your unique website URL. It’s more than just a piece of your branding puzzle. You’ll need website hosting services, a professional email address, and active, live pages for driving traffic.

Not sure where to start for your coaching or consulting site? It doesn’t have to be complicated.

We often use Namecheap.com for researching available URLs.

For website hosting, we recommend SiteGround.

Many of our coaches and consultants use WordPress CMS with Elementor (an easy-to-use page building plugin) for website design. Why choose WordPress to build your website? Read our top 5 advantages in this helpful article.

3. Google Analytics & Search Console

After you’ve got your website up and running, you’ll want to track your traffic to discover insights and trends that can drive your business and marketing decisions.

For most of our coaches and consultants, we suggest setting up Google Analytics, which is usually a one-time process. Once that’s setup, there is a WordPress plugin called MonsterInsights that allows you to see the data right from your WP admin dashboard.

MonsterInsights gives you a breadth of useful data at your fingertips:

Real-time analytics
E-commerce reports
User behavior reports
SEO ranking reports
Affiliate link & ads tracking
…and lots more

The nerds that we are, we’ve got lots of useful analytics resources already prepared for you – check ‘em out!

4. Social Media Profiles

The power of social media as a marketing tool cannot be underestimated. Just consider these influential stats:

90% of marketers say their social media marketing efforts have boosted business exposure, and 75% say they’ve increased traffic.
71% of consumers who enjoyed a good social media experience with a brand are likely to recommend it to others. Referrals, anyone?
75% of the world’s population aged 13+ uses social media of some type. That’s about 3 in 4 people!

So, it should come as no surprise when we recommend you identify and establish a presence on the platforms that will aide you in reaching your target audience.

Common social media platforms many of our coaches and consultants use to maximize their marketing efforts include:

Facebook
LinkedIn
Instagram
Twitter
YouTube

5. Ad Accounts

To advertise or not to advertise? In 2022, we heard a lot about declining ad revenue even at Meta (Facebook). Google’s ad sales were also reported to slow dramatically. Whether it’s a temporary blip or a looming sign of bigger change in the economy remains to be seen.

It’s up to you to decide whether it’s worth it for your particular business goals. If your marketing plan includes advertising, you’ll want to get your accounts fully set-up and tracking codes installed. Each platform has its own unique tracking codes that will need to be installed on your website.

There are several plugins that make this easier. We often use the features in Elementor for this purpose. There may be access in your WP theme, and there are other dedicated plugins that work well, too.

If you need an expert opinion on what the best option is, contact the digital marketing experts at Marketecs and we’ll chat about what’s available.

6. Email Marketing System

Successful coaches and consultants who want to scale and grow their business need an active email marketing system to collect email addresses and send messages.

Want to get rolling, but have a tight budget? Good news: MailChimp and MailerLite are two email marketing systems that will allow you to get started for FREE. Both have their pros and cons; do your research to figure out what works best for your business needs.

For paid email marketing systems, ConvertKit is among the easier to use and navigate platforms that our coaching and consultant clients use. If you’re looking for all the bells & whistles (and a price tag to match), see how Keap (fka Infusionsoft) can help you reach your goals.

Plan Your Way to Success…

Whew! Thanks for taking this journey with us as we highlighted the 6 foundational prerequisites for online marketing success. We know they’ll save you time (and a lot of hassle in the long run).

If it all feels just a tad bit overwhelming, don’t stress…that’s what we’re here for. Connect with us to schedule your complimentary strategy session today. It’s easy! https://www.marketecs.com/schedule/