Question
What is the first step in defining your online strategy?
Answer
The answer is: start by thinking of a name.
Even in these days of mobile and apps, when it is possible to have an online presence without a central site, I believe a branded anchor website of some sort is crucial to any online presence. Even if you plan to run a network of sites, one of them will be a flagship. The aircraft carrier around which the rest of the strategy will turn.
So...
This may seem like putting the cart before the horse, but EVEN if you already have an established offline brand that you are building an online presence for, I've found that thinking long and hard about the NAME of your main website is the best first step to think about.
If you have an existing offline brand, you may end up using a distinct name, since many online-presence strategies like content-based or community-based marketing use (and in fact require) a separate brand. But even if you don't, the exercise is useful. Going online is in a sense a reinvention of a brand, and the P. Diddy approach of thinking up a new name for every new phase of your life is actually a very thoughtful one, even if you don't use it.
You may eventually discard your candidates and go with the main brand or a sub-brand, but the exercise will be valuable (i.e. even if you are Toyota or Coke, it pays to consider names like CarMania.com or FizzyFun.com just to get your creative marketing juices flowing)
Naming is a deceptively simple-seeming step, and seems like something you can defer or even outsource/delegate etc. Most people just view it as a chore, an afternoon of frustrating whois searching with "no, dammit, that's taken" muttered, with curses, every few seconds.
If you want precedents, remember that people name babies long before they know what it will grow up to be. Naming is an act of hope, significance, aspiration and introspection about your core values. It is an act of imagination, and a catalyst for brainstorming. If you are in the carpet business, considering "magiccarpet.com," "interiorart.com" and "rugtalk.com" will lead you down very different creative paths (they might spark brand-led, content-driven and community-driven ideas for example).
To me, starting with the name helps me crystalize my thoughts on nearly every other front, from positioning, to entry strategy to audience, to content strategy. It's like the magic key to everything else. Or if you prefer, a radioactive tracer through your subconscious, that teases out and makes visible, every other important aspect. Today, If I can't find a good name, I won't start an online project.
These practical things are secondary though. The main thing is to explore a space of names that you can fall in love with. Trust me, if you don't like the name you eventually pick, you'll hate everything to do with the site. They say the same is true of babies.
Even if you are unable to close on a name, the naming exercise will reveal to you what is important. You can close later.
But start with a name. The exercise will reveal the priorities and sequencing for everything else.
Even in these days of mobile and apps, when it is possible to have an online presence without a central site, I believe a branded anchor website of some sort is crucial to any online presence. Even if you plan to run a network of sites, one of them will be a flagship. The aircraft carrier around which the rest of the strategy will turn.
So...
This may seem like putting the cart before the horse, but EVEN if you already have an established offline brand that you are building an online presence for, I've found that thinking long and hard about the NAME of your main website is the best first step to think about.
If you have an existing offline brand, you may end up using a distinct name, since many online-presence strategies like content-based or community-based marketing use (and in fact require) a separate brand. But even if you don't, the exercise is useful. Going online is in a sense a reinvention of a brand, and the P. Diddy approach of thinking up a new name for every new phase of your life is actually a very thoughtful one, even if you don't use it.
You may eventually discard your candidates and go with the main brand or a sub-brand, but the exercise will be valuable (i.e. even if you are Toyota or Coke, it pays to consider names like CarMania.com or FizzyFun.com just to get your creative marketing juices flowing)
Naming is a deceptively simple-seeming step, and seems like something you can defer or even outsource/delegate etc. Most people just view it as a chore, an afternoon of frustrating whois searching with "no, dammit, that's taken" muttered, with curses, every few seconds.
If you want precedents, remember that people name babies long before they know what it will grow up to be. Naming is an act of hope, significance, aspiration and introspection about your core values. It is an act of imagination, and a catalyst for brainstorming. If you are in the carpet business, considering "magiccarpet.com," "interiorart.com" and "rugtalk.com" will lead you down very different creative paths (they might spark brand-led, content-driven and community-driven ideas for example).
To me, starting with the name helps me crystalize my thoughts on nearly every other front, from positioning, to entry strategy to audience, to content strategy. It's like the magic key to everything else. Or if you prefer, a radioactive tracer through your subconscious, that teases out and makes visible, every other important aspect. Today, If I can't find a good name, I won't start an online project.
These practical things are secondary though. The main thing is to explore a space of names that you can fall in love with. Trust me, if you don't like the name you eventually pick, you'll hate everything to do with the site. They say the same is true of babies.
Even if you are unable to close on a name, the naming exercise will reveal to you what is important. You can close later.
But start with a name. The exercise will reveal the priorities and sequencing for everything else.