Creating a digital marketing strategy is an exciting journey filled with opportunities. It might seem challenging, but armed with the right knowledge, you can approach it with confidence.
Simply having an online presence isn’t enough. All your digital assets need to be aligned with your business objectives and strategy. They need to contribute to your goals.
You may have explored numerous online articles and e-books, which undoubtedly provided some insights. However, if you still have unanswered questions or your previous strategy didn’t yield the expected results, don’t worry – we’re here to guide you.
What is the best digital strategy?
The beauty of digital marketing is its flexibility. There’s no one-size-fits-all solution because every business is unique. While it might seem like a daunting prospect, fear not! We’re here to outline the must-have elements and considerations, providing you with clarity and a solid foundation for your strategy.
In this comprehensive guide, we’ll cover:
Where are you now? Discover your place in the market
How do I create a digital marketing strategy?
Where are you now? Discover your place in the market
A good place to start is assessing where you are in the market or industry. Comparing your business to competitors is an effective way to do this. SWOT analysis offers a go-to framework for businesses and marketing professionals. This stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. Each of these can be compared against your competitors.
This will help you establish your differences and how to stand apart from the competition. By researching competitors, you’ll also gain insights that pave the way for a successful digital strategy.
You can filter down into comparisons of the individual marketing channels. Which channels are your competitors investing in? Do these appear to be working well? Are there any gaps that you could take advantage of?
Where do you want to be?
Establish where you want to go. Having a clear trajectory in mind will help you anchor all your digital strategy efforts to an overarching business goal. Perhaps you would like to increase your year-on-year or month-on-month turnover by a specific percentage. Or, if you’re just starting out, making your business profitable could be your goal. Knowing where you want to be in the future will give you and your team something to work towards.
How to identify your unique value to shine brighter than the competition
To stand out in a competitive online landscape, you need to build a compelling case for your brand. Think of it as crafting a persuasive CV. and explain why you’re the best choice for your customers.
This principle applies if you’re introducing something new that makes existing products or services obsolete. Clearly articulate why your offering is superior.
This unique value is your ticket to success in a crowded online market. Your message should revolve around the ‘why’: Why choose us? Why our product or service? What’s our irresistible allure?
If your answers start to sound like a copy of another company’s, it’s time to rethink your approach. Discover what your competitors lack and seize the opportunity to provide it, whether it’s faster delivery or enhanced customer service.
Defining your unique selling points and effectively communicating them to your customers is crucial for conversions. It’s often overlooked but vital for setting yourself apart from the crowd.
Who do you want to target?
Being clear on who your target audience is can be paramount to your business success. Without it, your marketing initiatives could easily flounder. You could miss out on golden targeting opportunities or even alienate your audience.
However, by doing some digging and understanding who really wants or needs your product or service, you can tailor your entire strategy to them. This will help you put the customer first. By having a clear idea of who you’re targeting, it will be much easier to zero-in on where your audience is hanging out and how they like to shop. It will also help you create messaging that resonates – the bread and butter of any good marketing content.
What do your customers really want? Where are they in the customer journey?
Understanding your customers’ desires and where they are in the buyer’s journey is essential. It’s time to put your customers at the forefront of your strategy!
Get to know your audience: Who are they? Where do they search for products or services like yours? What stage of the buying process are they in?
Identify their pain points and problems, then tailor your marketing messaging to address their emotional needs. If your product or service fulfils a need or desire, make it the centrepiece of your marketing. This can lead to increased traffic and sales—a win-win situation!
How do you know what your customers want? Numerous methods can help you uncover your customers’ preferences. Here are a few to get you started:
- Competitor analysis
- Social listening
- Customer surveys
- Interviews
- Review mining
Conducting and customer research before launching your digital strategy is essential. It lays the groundwork for success by ensuring that your campaigns resonate with your customers, making them feel heard and seen.
From there, you can map out the channels you want to use and set goals around each stage of the buyer’s journey. Responding to and fulfilling your customer’s pain points should be the focus of your marketing. By understanding who is searching for your products or services and why, you will have unlocked a major step in your digital strategy. Customer needs will shift depending on the various stages of the customer journey. Are they ready to purchase or sign up for your services? Or, do they not even know about your solution and need to be made aware of how awesome it is? It’s worth creating a robust customer journey and mapping the most relevant channels, pain points, and intents behind each step.
Golden Rule: Link everything to a goal
Absolutely everything in your digital strategy should tie back to a goal. Whether it’s a landing page, a blog article, a social media post, or a Google Ad, clarity is key.
Goals should be ambitious yet realistic, and you’ll need to establish priorities over the different channels with a clear sense of direction. If you’re a smaller business with a limited budget, prioritising goals based on their value is beneficial. If your budget is small or experimental, you will want to focus on faster returns.
With the right resources, you can manage multiple ambitious goals simultaneously.
What results should you monitor?
Amidst the abundance of data, it’s essential to focus on metrics that truly matter. These indicators reveal how your digital content is performing and whether it’s achieving meaningful results. Monitoring Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and working with your agency or marketing professional to establish them is crucial.
Metrics that can signify that your digital strategy is producing results include the following:
- Conversions
- Sales and revenue
- Sign-ups, phone calls, contact form completions and more
- Search engine ranking positions
- Traffic from paid or organic search
- On-page engagement
Your goals can vary, encompassing overall business objectives, channel-specific goals, KPIs, and SMART targets. The key is to align your data monitoring with your goals. Not all digital marketing goals are about immediate sales; sometimes the focus will be on building brand awareness or engagement.
Now that you know what to track, consider how to track it. Create a plan to bring clarity to your goals and share them with your team effectively. Not sure how to plan? No worries. A professional digital marketing agency will have robust planning documents and procedures to help get you started.
How quickly should you see results?
The pace of results can vary based on competition, budgets, and chosen marketing channels.
Regular monthly reviews against your KPIs and well-defined timeframes for achieving your goals are essential. Be prepared to adjust your strategy if your business objectives evolve. It’s crucial to review and refine your strategy as you go. No campaign is perfect, but the most successful marketing campaigns continuously adapt their strategy.
How to assign a sensible budget
Cost-benefit analysis – A good place to start
Before going into the more granular detail of cost-per-acquisition, it’s best to start with a comprehensive cost-benefit analysis. This involves adding up the benefits of a course of action or project and comparing them with the associated costs. By identifying which actions could produce the maximum revenue potential, you can lead your business with informed decisions rather than taking a leap into the dark and hoping for the best.
How much is a single lead or customer worth?
Determining your digital marketing budget hinges on understanding the value of each lead or customer. If one lead brings in substantial revenue for your business, it may be worth allocating a slightly higher cost per lead.
Conversely, if you sell lower-value products, every pound counts. Let’s say your product is worth £25 – spending £5 on a lead will be a large chunk of money. Spending wisely on lead generation is crucial.
It’s important to set aside an amount of budget towards testing new channels and campaigns as well. Otherwise, you could miss out on revenue-boosting opportunities.
Remember, it’s not about how much money you have; it’s about objectively evaluating the value of every lead or customer and assessing the potential return on investment.
As well as the cost of your digital tools, you’ll need to factor in the cost of hiring employees to manage the digital marketing. Bringing in the expertise of agencies means you won’t have to worry about the time and expense of hiring in-house.
Get your digital marketing strategy moving in the right direction
At Echo, our digital marketing experts have crafted numerous successful strategies for clients across diverse industries. We continually monitor and review performance data and goals to ensure relevance and progress. Whether you’re in business technology, mortgages, or ecommerce, we take the time to understand your market and maximise your value.
Need guidance to steer your strategy in the right direction? The specialists at Echo are here to help. Head over to our page to find out how we can help your business reach its full potential.
The post Digital Marketing Strategy Must-haves: What You Should Never Miss appeared first on Echo Web Solutions.
Leave a Reply