E-Commerce and Digital Marketing Project Plan for MSMEs
There are many suggestions on how to go about the creation of an E-Commerce Project Plan and Digital Marketing Plan for MSMEs (micro and small medium enterprises).
Embracing e-commerce and digital marketing usually requires a modification in your business model as this usually requires joining e-commerce platforms, utilizing social media for marketing and customer engagement, adopting cloud computing for data management and collaboration, applying artificial intelligence for automation and efficiency, and leveraging big data analytics for informed decision-making, among others. These changes can lead to increased revenue, cost savings, and improved customer experiences.
- Implementing e-commerce involves creating an online platform for buying and selling products or services. This typically involves setting up a website or mobile app, integrating payment processing systems, and establishing a system for managing orders and inventory. It’s important to consider factors such as user experience, security, and scalability when implementing an e-commerce solution.
- Social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn can be used for marketing and customer engagement. These platforms allow businesses to connect with their customers, build brand awareness, and promote their products or services. By creating engaging content and interacting with customers through comments and messages, businesses can increase their online presence and establish a strong online community.
- Cloud computing is a technology that allows users to access and manage data over the internet using remote servers. It offers benefits such as scalability, cost-effectiveness, and flexibility for data management. Data can be stored, processed, and analyzed in the cloud, providing users with easy access to their data from anywhere, at any time. It also allows for collaboration by providing a platform for multiple users to access and work on shared resources and applications from different locations. This can increase productivity, efficiency, and communication among team members. Examples of cloud-based collaboration tools include Google Drive, Dropbox, and Microsoft Office 365.
- Big data analytics is the process of examining large and complex data sets to uncover hidden patterns, correlations, and other insights. It involves using advanced technologies and algorithms to analyze data from various sources, such as social media, sensors, and other digital devices, to gain valuable business insights and make better decisions.
Here’s an example of a step-by-step process I usually cover when creating an e-commerce and digital marketing plan for MSMEs.
Step 1: Know what makes your brand fascinating.
Use your brand adjectives and marketing pillars as inputs in developing your communication program.
Reference: BrandFascination.com
Step 2: Your Value Proposition
What customer pains does your product or service resolved? What benefits does your product or service provide? Does this match your customer requirements?
Reference: Strategyzer
Step 3: Identify your target customer segment for the campaign.
Having a specific audience in mind gives you the opportunity to focus on the needs and wants of this segment. Allowing you to focus on adding value to them.
Think about the process your customers go through at the awareness (when learning more about the problem), consideration (exploring solutions), and decision stages (deciding on product/service options).
Reference: Hubspot
Step 4: Your Content & Blog Plan
Identify important pages your website will have including:
- About Us
- Contact Us
- Shop or Services
- Category 1
- Product or Service 1 (with 2 to 4 product photos and testimonial)
- Product or Service 2
- Product or Service 3
- Category 1
- Product or Service 1
- Product or Service 2
- Product or Service 3
- Category 1
- Blog
- News Category
- News 1
- News 2
- Awareness Category
- Awareness Post 1
- Awareness Post 2
- News Category
- Legal
- Terms & Conditions
- Refund & Returns Policy
- Privacy Policy
Ideally, a website must have 30 to 40 pages. IN addition to blog post, stories, articles, you can also create:
- Pages for bundled packages (combination of products or services).
- Pages for different sizes. (100 grams, 300 grams, 500 grams)
- Pages for volume offering (set of 10, set of 5).
Step 5: Your Website or Landing Page Content Plan
Build your online presence with a mobile-responsive website. Helps build your credibility and give information your target persona will need at the awareness, consideration, decision stages. It can have plug-ins including:
- SEO
- Security
- Shopping Cart
- Lead form
- Analytics
- Live Chat
- Social Media Sharing
Reference:
Step 6: Search Engine Optimization
Think about the how your prospects or customers use search engines (e.g. Google) go through at the awareness (when learning more about the problem), consideration (exploring solutions), decision stages (deciding on product / service options) of the buyer’s journey. Use the keywords and websites you’ll encounter as inspiration on how improve your website pages further.
Reference: Search Influencer Boot Camp
Step 7: Set-Up a Customer Relationship Management System
Building a database of prospects and customers is an important activity for any MSME.
An ideal system will allow you to:
- Receive leads (from lead forms).
- Add team members.
- Record deals
- Send email campaign.
Messaging applications are used for exchanging messages over the internet. These can also be used by businesses to communicate with leads and social commerce customers. Some popular messaging apps include WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, Telegram, WeChat, and Snapchat.
- WhatsApp allows users to send text and voice messages, make voice and video calls, share media, and more.
- Facebook Messenger allows Facebook users to communicate with each other through text, voice, and video calls. It also supports group chats, games, and the ability to send photos and videos.
- Telegram allows users to send text messages, voice messages, photos, videos, and documents to individuals or groups. It also offers end-to-end encryption, self-destructing messages, and the ability to create channels for broadcasting to large audiences.
- WeChat is a Chinese multi-purpose messaging, social media, and mobile payment app widely used in China and also has active users worldwide.
- Snapchat is a multimedia messaging app used to share photos, videos, and text messages that disappear after being viewed by a message recipient.
Reference: Customer Relationship Management 101
Step 8: Social Media Presence
Social media platforms have become a popular way for users to create, share information and ideas, and communicate content with others.
Some popular social media platforms include Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, Snapchat, TikTok, and Pinterest. It mostly allows users to add captions, use filters, and engage with connections and followers through comments, likes, shares, and direct messages.
- Facebook allows users to connect with friends and family, share photos and videos, and discover new content. It is one of the largest social networks in the world.
- Instagram is where users can share photos and videos with their followers.
- Twitter enables users to share short messages called “tweets” with their followers. It is a famous discussion platform for news, entertainment, and communication with others on a national and even global scale
- LinkedIn is mainly used for professional networking and job searching. Users can create a professional profile, connect with other professionals, join groups, and search for job opportunities or sales leads. It is valuable for building professional relationships and exploring career or sales opportunities.
- TikTok empowers users to create and share short videos, ranging from dance challenges, comedic skits, online selling, and educational content, among others.
- Pinterest is where users can discover, save, and share ideas and inspiration for creative projects, fashion, cooking, and home decor through images and videos
The social media platforms’ algorithms enable them to curate content presented to their users. Making them a unique and addictive platform for entertainment and self-expression
Follow relevant profiles and build a following by sharing useful content related to your product or service categories.
Step 9: Social Media Content Plan and Creation
Create useful content at the awareness (when learning more about the problem), consideration (exploring solutions), decision stages (deciding on product / service options) of the buyer’s journey. Check out social media pages of similar products and services to you to analyze their content types and sharing approaches.
Step 10: Execute a 21-day or 66-days Digital Marketing Campaign
Generate awareness-consideration-decision content good enough for a 21-day or 66-days digital marketing campaign. Use Facebook Pages publishing tools and other social media content creation platforms where you can upload the content and set a publishing schedule.
Doing this right gives you the opportunity to focus on user engagement, follow through, analytics monitoring, and content creation.
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