You wouldn’t run your business blindly — you have a forecast every year and tools to track the course set by your commercial objectives. Well, the same applies to your website! You need a realistic and precise action plan.
Why an action plan?
As we explain in our article “I’ve launched my website and nothing is happening!”, attracting your future customers requires a true long-distance effort. You also need to know how to engage them and ultimately convert them into loyal clients. Without an action plan, it’s like running a marathon with no preparation, wearing high heels, with a fifteen-kilogram backpack… In short — you’re setting yourself up to fail.
The key to success is having a genuine action plan:
- Who does what?
- For whom?
- When?
An action plan — but where to begin?
Your plan starts with a genuine reflection on your digital strategy. Do not think of this as wasted time — the better prepared you are, the smoother the journey will be, and the more ready you will be to weather any storms.
1/ Know who you are talking to
The first step is to know precisely who you are addressing. Who do you want to attract to your site? The tempting first answer — “everyone” — is simply not workable. You cannot communicate in the same way to a fifty-something professional and a teenager.
Our advice: segment your target audience properly and create personas.
2/ Know where your prospects are online
You now know who to talk to. Next, you need to know where these people are online. There is no point being everywhere — you need to communicate in the right places and know where to relay the information from your site or blog in order to reach your precise target audience.
Our advice: monitor your competitors — they will show you where to reach your future customers.
3/ The right message
You know who and where — now you need to think about what. If your message lacks the right substance or the right form, nobody will engage with it. You must answer the questions your future customers are asking. Use all available formats to reach and connect with them: social media posts, infographics, blog articles, interviews, podcasts, videos…
Our advice: never underestimate the form, and vary your formats.
4/ At the right moment
Your future clients don’t need a barbecue in winter or a raincoat in summer. Communicate at the right time! The year is full of recurring events that are easy to integrate into your planning to create a connection and engagement close to the lives of your future customers and their current needs.
Our advice: use the editorial calendar of recurring events in your sector.
How to put your action plan in place?
Your action plan enables you to send: the right message, to the right person, where they are, at the right time. Now you need to plan and organise your action plan to ensure nothing is missed throughout the year. Depending on your objectives, you might use a simple calendar or a full editorial calendar. It is important to recognise that all of this takes time — which is why planning ahead is essential.
In conclusion: more than just advice, here is a list of questions to help you plan and organise your action plan.
10 questions to ask yourself before you start
- Do you have the internal resources and skills to manage your digital strategy?
- Do you have the resources to produce your content? For graphic design? For video production?
- Do you have a stock of images?
- Do you need one or more external service providers?
- How long will it take to receive your content?
- Who will publish your content?
- Do you have existing content you could repurpose?
- Who will respond to user comments?
- How will you know if someone is talking about you online?
- How will you know whether your action plan is working? Have you defined your KPIs (key performance indicators)?
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