Whilst internet marketing has grabbed all the recent marketing limelight, with everyone twittering away and talking airily about their Facebook friends, online marketing is just one aspect of the marketing communications mix.  All forms of marketing communications are still as relevant as ever: PR, print, radio, TV, exhibitions and online.  These are the ways in which a business communicates messages to customers.

Before an organisation works out what messages it is going to transmit, and how, it is vital that it understands exactly who its target customers are and exactly what products it wants to sell them.  Once this is understood, it is equally important to find out who else is trying to sell the same products to the same people: the competition.

Then an organisation can start to work out if the internet is a key part of its marketing strategy.  It may also be a fundamental part of the product or important for customer support.

For some clients a simple brochure website working alongside a PR campaign and a sales team, plus a careful selection of social networking to amplify physically getting out and networking locally, is ideal.  For others, online expenditure is a much higher percentage of marketing spend.  But even the most online of businesses often underestimate how much they need to spend on old-fashioned sales, PR, networking and even print.

Before developing their website or helping with their social networking, Sophie works with clients to develop their marketing strategy so that their new website or social networking targets the right people with the right messages about the products they really want to sell.  Online marketing must work within the overall marketing strategy of the business and and its marketing communications plan.