FORTE CULTURA E-Marketing-Guide

Guideline for effective e-marketing for fortified heritage 6 2.2 O NLINE M ARKETING S TEP BY S TEP Step 1: Analysis Self-analysis is the first step. You should not consider marketing without an in-depth knowledge of your product and your market. Analyse the offer of your fortress and define your (online) prod- ucts. If you already have a website, check it in terms of structure, content, relevance and ease of use. See also Chapter 3. Secondly, you should give an overview of information for your fortress that is available on the Internet, who published it and what objectives they had. You will probably encounter entries on Wikipedia, Facebook posts or fan pages, websites of local fans, mentions on websites dedicated to fortresses and in tourist guidebooks. You will also find images e.g. in Picasa and Google Earth, as well as YouTube videos or entries in review sites. Prepare a list of all publications and update it regularly. The knowledge of the current public per- ception of your fortress and your products is an essential foundation for successful online mar- keting. Check the possibility to influence and qualify materials about your fortress that were pub- lished by third parties. Step 2: Content Creation "Content is King" is one of the industry most quoted proverbs. It says on the one hand, that users tend to react to relevant and interesting quality content rather than to boarder advertising. On the other hand, it is believed that well-structured, high-quality and authentic content improves search engine ranking. So you have two good reasons to work on the content of your website. Start with simple brainstorming: think about what kind of content is interesting for your target audience in connection with your fortress and what content can help you achieve goals that you set for yourself. The more unique, spectacular and more exciting, the better. Take advantage of the entire spec- trum of information and offer of your fortress. Dig into your archives and look for something spe- cial, go outside and look at your walls, the surrounding nature and landscape, find the unique details. You know your location and offers the best, but you might need a change of perspective. Try to look at it from a visitor's point of view. What your visitors think about your fortress, what they think is great and what was not so great? Take advantage of this knowledge! Every detail can be the basis for a good story. A story that attracts users to your website. A story that makes you want to gain more information and eventually leads to the acquisition of a ticket, subscription to your newsletter or simply telling other people about the fortress and to imagine the building.