Digital marketing has come to stay and sooner or later it will account for the majority of revenues from most corporations if not all. As a result of the bright prospects of digital marketing and its increasing influence, companies are quickly embracing it. But just like traditional marketing, digital marketing requires planning and careful execution. That is where a digital marketing strategy comes in.
A digital marketing strategy may be defined by many with different words. However, the key lining in all definitions remain constant in the message they put across. A digital marketing strategy is simply a plan that details how a company intends to use the internet and the available digital tools to establish its online presence to achieve its marketing goals. As such, companies spend time crafting strategies to guide them in achieving their digital marketing goals. There are steps that businesses generally follow to craft strategies. These may vary based on the business and could involve multiple steps. However, there are key steps that every business follows regardless of the expertise and resources available. In this article, we present these steps, summarized into 7 key easy-to-follow actionable steps.
Define the Objectives and Target Audience
At the base of every strategy is a goal or number of goals to be achieved. In digital marketing, it is no different. As a result, the first step one must take to create a relevant digital marketing strategy is to define clear and achievable objectives. Many would recommend the use of the SMART goals strategy but I would not limit you on what type of goals you want to set. Depending on variables such as time, you could go for strategic goals or SMART goals. The most important thing is to define clear goals for your strategy. Here, you will ask yourself key questions such as what you want to achieve, when you want to achieve and who you want to target. These would guide you in determining what goals to pursue at what time and with what resources. Detailed audience research is recommended to understand the key things about your target audience such as interests, age, needs and behaviour.
Some notable goals to consider are:
- Creating/increasing brand awareness
- Lead generation
- Increase conversions and sales
- Driving traffic to a website
- Increasing customer engagement and loyalty
Do Competitor Analysis
Every business has competitors. They may be direct or not but there is some form of competition. It is thus imperative to understand who you are competing with for the customers. Remember, what you are thinking of saying to the customers, someone is already probably saying the same thing. Research your competitors and use the insights to differentiate yourself. Key areas to consider during competitor analysis are social media presence, SEO strategies, paid advertising and customer engagement tactics. Thankfully, there are many tools to help you do this including Semrush, BuzzSumo, Similarweb, Ahrefs, Sprout Social, Builtwith and Alexa. A free tool you could use is Google or Bing search engine. Type your competitor’s name in the address bar and hit enter and you will receive many links to lead you to what they do best. A simple social media tour could also help you in this regard.
Determine the Right Channels to Focus
There are so many digital platforms that businesses can use to execute their marketing strategies. A basic mistake most brands commit is attempting to use every platform available. Do not fall for that trap to think you can will on all the platforms at once. Assess the level of expertise your team has if you are relying on an internal team and the budget available. If you are using an external agency, consider your budget too. You should never drain your budget on something except you are sure of it. And as far as digital marketing is concerned, you will not get the best from all platforms because you customers are not going to be on every platform. That brings us to another key consideration you should make when choosing the channel.
In step one, we emphasized the essence of knowing your target audience. Based on the insights from that assessment, you should be able to determine which platforms your target audience uses to seek information. Ask the following key questions:
- Who I am targeting?
- Where do they spend their time?
- What are the demographic data for the various platforms in my target market?
- How much of my budget can I commit?
- Do I have a capable team or am I contracting a third party?
The above questions plus other insights from your audience research in step one should guide you on the choice of platforms to start with first. Note: we are not saying you should not use other platforms, we are saying FOCUS is important. So focus on where the high values will come from and gradually add the others as time goes on. One other thing you can do is to learn from your competitors and if you did a good competitor analysis, you would have got a couple of hints to make this step easier for you.
Develop a Content Strategy
You have heard the saying that “Content is King” and you probably have believed that. What you have not been told is that content is beyond the king, it is life. Without content, the most beautifully and technically crafted digital marketing strategy is a failed project before execution. With the right content, the average marketing strategy could look like a piece of genius work. Thus, creating a content strategy is both foundational and above all the critical step that can undo all your efforts if done woefully. A content strategy details what type of content you will create for what channels and defines what time each piece of content should be made available to your audience; a content calendar. Your content strategy must define the content types such as blog posts, videos, infographics, webinars, etc. It must also clearly state which date each content piece will be published and for those who want everything spelt out, that must include the times of posting. A content strategy must align with the brand’s goals and identity. Quality and relevance must be watchwords when crafting content.
Measure Performance and Optimize Strategies
Part of your digital marketing strategy will be to measure the performance of your campaigns and use the insights to improve. The advantage of digital marketing over other forms of marketing is the ability to access data quickly including real-time data from your campaigns. Do not sit on the data, use it for what it is intended for; to improve. A digital marketing or content strategy is not a static document that must be followed through till the end. These are documents that should be dynamic and adaptable to meet changing essence. One thing about digital marketing is that it is fast-paced so if you rely on tactics you used a week ago to expect results in the next two weeks, you may miss out. That is why your digital strategy must stay up-to-date to align with changing audience preferences and ecosystem trends. Effective use of your data would come in handy in helping you. There also many tools to help you in tracking and analyzing data from your digital marketing campaigns. Most platforms offer native tools such as Google Analytics for tracking website data, Meta Business Suite for Facebook and Instagram, and X(Twitter) analytics. Additionally, tools such as Hootsuite, Sprout Social, Agora Pulse, Brands24, Brevo, MailChimp and others could help you track your analytics whether from a website, social media or email.
Focus on Customer Experience
Businesses operate because they have customers to serve. Though digital marketing operates behind a shield; the internet, it does not take away the human factor needed in brand-customer engagement. Your strategy and content should be geared at giving the customers the best experience possible. Most businesses struggle with the digital tide because they make the mistake of assuming that because digital marketing is done over the internet, courtesies and being human is not required. Such an assumption could mark the end of your business. Focus on engaging the audience as if they were before you in a physical space. The various social media accounts are operated by humans, the emails are read by humans and the forms are submitted by humans so be sure to ensure the interaction on your chosen platform offers that experience which would set you apart from the competition. Your audience should have a reason to always click on your links, engage your post or fill out a feedback form; the experience you give could be that factor.
Stay Updated with Social Media Trends
Just like every other area of business, the day you fail to learn is the day you will be out of business. Unlike some sectors where the effect of your outdated methodologies may take time to reflect, in digital marketing, the effect come quick. This is because new technologies are emerging every day. Take Search Engine, for instance, 15% of Daily Google Searches are new. It means people are changing how they search for things online. Voice search, image search and other forms of search appear as technology is upgraded and innovations appear. So, your best bet to stay competitive is keeping track of trends and changes relating to the digital marketing industry, your audience behaviour and business landscape in general. Only by doing this can you stay relevant and competitive. Also, when you learn new trends and discover new technology. You could easily adapt your strategy to take advantage of emerging trends.
Conclusion
The above steps provide an overview and summarized guide to creating and implementing a digital marketing strategy. These steps would remain relevant for ages as far as digital marketing remains. However, each use case may vary and we advise you to read over these steps again to understand them and consult other relevant resources where needed to help you implement some of the steps. You may also contact 360 Ideas for further assistance in developing and executing a tailored digital marketing strategy for your brand.
