| When an internet marketing strategy is being | | | | Business Structure - the system used to coordinate |
| developed, the company's objectives should be clearly | | | | internet marketing across different departments and |
| stated in the Internet marketing plan. To make it | | | | business units |
| possible to review progress toward these goals, it is | | | | Strengths and weaknesses - it is important to be |
| advisable to attach numerical values to company | | | | mindful of these in order to select the correct strategic |
| goals. | | | | option. |
| Examples of such objectives would include to grow | | | | External audit |
| sales, to add value to the company's product/service | | | | The external audit assesses the business and |
| offering, to build relationships with customers by | | | | economic environment in which the company operates. |
| increasing the number of subscribers, or to save some | | | | The factors to consider for developing an internet |
| administration costs. | | | | Marketing Plan are: |
| Strategic marketing on the internet is a process, of | | | | Legal restrictions - The entrepreneur has to take into |
| which the starting point is Strategic Analysis. Strategic | | | | account all legal limitations to online promotion and |
| analysis (situation review) consists out of an internal | | | | trade, in order to determine the kind of information |
| audit, an external audit and the assessment of | | | | published on the site. |
| opportunities and threats. | | | | Ethical constraints - The entrepreneur will have to |
| Internal audit | | | | consider the ethical constraints that will affect his |
| The internal audit is an assessment of the company's | | | | company's online commerce. |
| resources necessary to maintain an Internet Marketing | | | | Technological constraints - The entrepreneur will have |
| Plan. These resources would typically be: | | | | to consider the type of technology currently available, |
| Financial resources - the cost of a company to have a | | | | and how it will affect the future of his online business. |
| web presence. This includes site construction, site | | | | Assessing opportunities and threats |
| maintenance and site marketing/promotion. | | | | With proper planning, the Internet marketing plan can |
| Technological resources - accessibility and | | | | be developed to enhance a company's opportunities |
| performance of the company's web site. Also | | | | and eliminate/reduce a company's threats. The |
| important are the service level agreements with the | | | | company who pro-actively anticipate changes in the |
| Internet Service Provider. | | | | external environment, and apply these changes on the |
| Human resources - for adhering to inquiries and | | | | Internet marketing plan, will be able to benefit from |
| handling the distribution of goods purchased. Also for | | | | opportunities and minimise the effects of potential |
| updating the company site with the latest information. | | | | threats. |