De-Mystifying the Digital Marketing Menu
The “world wide web” launched over 30 years ago, and the Internet as we know it today has become ever more complex and fractured. A brand strategy template for digital marketing is necessary to keep your efforts focused and fruitful.
Don’t be alarmed if you’re inclined to feel overwhelmed by digital marketing. A menu of digital marketing choices would look something like this:
| Digital Marketing Menu | |||
| Blog | Google Ads | ||
| SEO | Google My Business | Text messaging | |
| Search ads | YouTube | Geotargeting | |
| Display ads | Google Analytics | Podcasts | |
| Remarketing | Google Shopping | Microsoft Bing | |
| eCommerce | Tik Tok | Google Local Services | Vimeo |
| Landing pages | Spotify | Google AdSense | Amazon |
| CTAs | Yelp | Instacart | |
| Snapchat | Uber Eats, etc. | ||
| Influencers/ affiliates |
That’s an à la carte selection of media, services, channels and content that defy organization, let alone comprehension.
This brand strategy template will help your company take the mystery out of the digital space in five steps.
Brand Strategy Template Step 1: Understand Your Customer Segmentation
Customer segmentation strategy is foundational to a digital marketing brand strategy. It will inform:
- who your customers are
- what matters to them
- why/how they use your product
- how best to reach them (both digitally and IRL)
Check out our recent step-by-step Customer Segmentation Template to get started. For illustration, let’s take this sample segmentation for a spicy snack brand (think Takis or Flamin’ Hot Cheetos).
Sample Customer Segmentation for Pre-Packaged Spicy Snack Brand
| Kid-Pleasing Parent Purchaser | Pre-Teen to Teen Consumer | Snacking Gamer Purchaser/Consumer |
| Buys the snack for the Teen or Gamer consumer. Interested in having snack on hand and buying at a discount. | Asks parent to purchase. Spicy snack is part of “cool” lifestyle and an element of teen’s social life. | For this adult, snacking is an integral part of enjoying video game sessions. Gamer both purchases and consumes the snack. |
Brand Strategy Template Step 2: Match Customer Segments to Preferred Media and Messaging
Customer segments will have various preferences for different media types based on several characteristics including age, interests, socio-economic factors and more. Your digital marketing messages will only be welcomed if your brand honors those preferences. Research is required to determine which media will be best-suited for your brand.
Effective messaging with digital isn’t much different than for traditional marketing: understand your consumer, and create content they find compelling.
Continuing with our spicy snack brand example, here’s how the preferred media and messaging might look across the three segments:
Sample Media and Messaging for Pre-Packaged Spicy Snack Brand
| Kid-Pleasing Parent Purchaser | Pre-Teen to Teen Consumer | Snacking Gamer Purchaser/Consumer |
| Buys the snack for the Teen or Gamer consumer. Interested in having snack on hand and buying at a discount. | Asks parent to purchase. Spicy snack is part of “cool” lifestyle and an element of teen’s social life. | For this adult, snacking is an integral part of enjoying video game sessions. Gamer both purchases and consumes the snack. |
| Preferred Media Website |
Preferred Media Tik Tok YouTube Text Messages App |
Preferred Media YouTube Text Messages Website |
| Resonant Messaging Humor surrounding parent-of-teen lifestyle Product promotions |
Resonant Messaging “Challenges” related to product Influencer endorsements |
Resonant Messaging Video game tie-ins Product promotions |
Brand Strategy Template Step 3: Understand Your Culture
Even when the customer segmentation research is clear, some company cultures find it challenging to incorporate newer digital marketing elements as part of their “serious” brand strategy template. In the past, I’ve seen a marked reluctance to adopt text message marketing over email, despite proof that the target audience doesn’t use email.
The best digital marketing brand strategy combines customer segments’ preferred media and messaging with a company culture passionate about those same things. It’s unsurprising that outstanding digital content will be created by people interested in the topic and media.
If our spicy snack brand marketing team doesn’t have expertise in creating snappy video content for Tik Tok, they may need to work with outside resources.
Brand Strategy Template Step 4: Focus Your Resources
A company’s resources are finite. It’s not possible to present an effective presence across the entire digital landscape. You need to focus on what matters to your customer segments. If you’ve completed the previous three steps, this step should be easy.
- Even when the CEO read an article about the popularity of podcasts
- Even when you receive a new customer offer to advertise on Bing
- Even when your art director wants to switch to Vimeo instead of YouTube
When you receive questions and requests like this, turn the focus back onto your brand strategy template. Point to the evidence used to build the strategy. If the evidence hasn’t changed, then keep executing according to plan (see step five!).
Brand Strategy Template Step 5: Execute (and Improve) Every Day
Digital marketing is an ongoing, constant effort. “Going viral” once is wonderful, but it’s not the way to ensure prolonged growth. An Instagram account with only one post per week or a blog with only one article a quarter won’t help you achieve the results you seek.
Create a publishing calendar with the following information:
- All media and channels, i.e., Facebook and email
- Frequency of publication for each media type, i.e., 5x/week
- Content type, i.e., video, photo, meme
- Campaigns and promotions, i.e., Memorial Day Sale
- Assigned team members
The team executing on the brand strategy template needs to be empowered to learn and grow, as well. As content is published, incremental improvements can be made to increase performance. This team should be in contact with the strategy creators, so adjustments to the overall brand strategy template can be made as needed.
Find more tips and expert advice on our brand strategy resources page. Or connect with our team during one of our Open Office Hours virtual events.
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