Internet Presence Management (IPM)

A brief back story.

Back in the dark ages, there were firms that built Web sites. There were other companies that specialized in search. And still others that handled online advertising. Needless to say, online efforts tended to be disjointed at best and almost never reflected offline tactics. That’s when the need for a more cohesive tactics came about – Internet Presence Management.

Just what is IPM?

Yes, Internet Presence Management is a mouthful. But IPM is a really a simple idea. Everything that happens on the Web – site development, traffic analysis and reporting, SEO, PPC, SEM, optimization, and content development – has to develop in a cohesive manner.

By taking a look at the entire picture, Internet Presence Management helps businesses achieve their goals by maximizing the potential of the Internet. IPM begins with your business objectives. They drive the creation of your Internet strategy. Then, the performance of these goals is tested and improvements are made. It’s an ongoing, ever-evolving process. Let’s take a closer look.

The foundation of IPM.

As we said, business goals drive Internet strategy. Effort should be taken to align a Web site’s goals with a company’s business goals. Some of those goals might be:

•    To generate sales and generate revenue, profit, and leads
•    Increase brand awareness
•    Improve customer service by empowering customers with information
•    To enable efficient processes and data sharing across multiple partners and business units

What the numbers can tell you.

The beauty of the Internet is that everything can be measured.  Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) are attached to each goal and are measured to determine the success of each business goal.

Analytics can give feedback on what happened, but not necessarily the why. A spike in visits might be traced to a product reference in the news. Analytics may also provide a roadmap for future optimization or improvements. For example, analytics can reveal at what point in the shopping experience the shopping cart is abandoned. Fixing the shopping cart would probably take priority in site improvements.

Analytics can also give insights on topics like:

•    Conversion funnels
•    Optimizing Web site navigation and online forms
•    Affinity reporting
•    Detailed content analysis and visitor information
•    Powerful marketing campaign tracking
•    Active visitor segmentation

Perfecting your Presence.

Now comes the fun part. When it’s time to optimize, you want to start by selecting initiatives that will have big payoffs with the least investment. For example, on your site, it might be as simple as changing the location of a call-to-action button. Make a change. Then test it. The key is to make incremental improvements towards your goal.

Test. Optimize. Test. We hate to say it, but you’re never really done.

The benefits of IPM.

Your Internet Presence is your best salesperson, your recruiter, your public relations representative – your multi-faceted face to all your stakeholders. It is the hub of your communications. And with a well thought out strategy, your Internet Presence will realize these benefits:

•    Business goals remain at center stage
•    Thorough evaluation of company priorities and objectives uncovers hidden opportunities
•    Technology serves business needs, not the other way around
•    Leverage efforts across online and offline efforts
•    Avoid costly mistakes that require re-investment later on