Don't miss the boat: Use the OAR method to create an effective electronic marketing program.

Too often electronic marketing programs are an afterthought, or are conducted in a haphazard way. By understanding the three primary components of an effective e-marketing campaign, you can begin to generate more and better leads. There are three primary stages to an effective electronic marketing campaign or program. I use the mnemonic OAR to remember them: Outreach, Acquisition and Relationship. Too often e-marketing campaigns consist of one, perhaps two, of these stages, and are therefore not effective at getting leads or generating new business. By understanding the three stages, and actually doing them, you can make an electronic marketing campaign better. By applying these ideas to your whole electronic marketing program, you can make sure that every campaign gives you a positive return. The life-cycle of a customer always begins with outreach, but after that the stages can and often are mixed up. That is another reason why it is important that your e-marketing program and campaigns make use of each stage. I'll begin with Outreach in the next post...