Understand your target audience. Effective strategic planning should get you on the right track.
Understand your current web audience, their behavior, and how to make your web presence more usable. Analysis of web site statistical data is essential. WebTrends log analyzer is a good starter tool.
Content is the main word of mouth generator. You need to understand which content is best targeted for different user profiles (read web marketing document).
Effective long term scalable information architecture will get you on the right track. What do people find useful? Do I have the talent and time for content creation? If not, may I borrow some content?
Avoiding "web myopia". Use best judgement in deciding when it makes sense to use the web as a marketing, sales, or customer service tool. Common practices are:
Email
Affiliate programs
Search engines
WOM (demands exceptional content)
Link exchange with similarly targeted sites
Link rotation programs
PR (Press)
Pay per click-through
Banner advertising
Traditional: Trade shows, print, radio, and TV
Periodicals/newspapers
Build a customer/prospect database. There is a positive correlation between the scope and depth of your database and the success of your permission marketing campaigns.
You need to aggressively invest resources, consistency,