To do digital marketing well, you need to have a digital marketing strategy. Here’s how to plan one.
While most businesses understand the importance of digital marketing, only 44% of the businesses that engage in digital marketing have a digital marketing strategy. A digital marketing strategy can help you focus and measure your efforts and massively increase your chances of success. Here are 7 steps to help you create one.
1. Do your research
Creating a digital marketing strategy begins with research. You need to understand who your customers are in order to make sure your marketing speaks to them. Create a persona for each of your main types of customer, considering their age, where they live, their likes, dislikes, interests, aspirations, buying habits and where they spend their time online.
2. Check out your competitors
You also need to examine your competitors: where and how are they advertising? Who are their followers? What tactics are they using that could work well for you?
3. Consider market trends
Examine your market sector and identify any trends or future developments; then you can make sure that your product or service offering and your marketing efforts keep pace. What seasonal patterns could you tap into – what are people wanting to buy at certain times of the year? Are there any emerging trends driven by factors such as economic conditions, influencers or films and TV?
4.. Set clear goals
You’ve probably heard of SMART goals before; these are goals that are:
Specific
Measurable
Achievable
Realistic; and
Time-bound.
By creating a set of SMART goals you’re creating a means by which to monitor and measure your success – and this will inform future decisions about your digital marketing efforts.
5. Seek the opinions of others
Don’t try to do this on your own; speak to your PR team, your sales team, your management and your staff. Multiple viewpoints, coming from different areas of expertise and different perspectives on your business, will improve your chances creating successful digital marketing campaigns.
6. Define your company’s persona
Make sure you’ve got a set of guidelines as to how you want to come across to your target audience. What tone of voice should you use? What type of language should you use? Do you want to come across as fun and playful or smart and dependable? Come up with some sample phrases that embody how you will communicate with your audience, and make sure you choose compelling images and graphics that chime well with your company’s persona.
7. Create clear messages
Come up with a few clear messages you want to put across in your digital marketing. This will help to focus your efforts. Your messages will almost certainly encompass making sales, but they can also help build your business as a trusted source of information and insights, or as a place to find lifestyle content that fits with your audience’s buying personas – all of which can help drive sales too.
8. Plan your campaigns across multiple channels
When researching your audience you should already have identified the platforms and channels you want to use in your digital marketing. Now you need to plan campaigns that will give a consistent message across your chosen channels while also flexing to suit the style and audience of each channel.
9. Facilitate the digital sales funnel
Customers typically go through a process on the way to making a purchase, beginning with discovery of your business, followed by further research, consideration and browsing, and finishing with the purchase. Plan your digital marketing strategy to cover all bases, getting your brand in front of people, attracting them to your website and then enticing them to return and finally make a purchase. Remember that loyalty is another key part of this process, and that you can help to build this by interacting with your followers, offering special offers and discounts, keeping them updated and making them feel part of your gang.
Need help? At Primedia Marketing we’re experts at building digital marketing strategies. Get in touch today to find out how we can take the strain for you.
