If you can believe it, the number of internet users is still growing and with how easy it’s become for consumers to browse the internet on the go on their mobile phones, it’s no surprise that if you want to reach new as well as retain existing customers, digital marketing is essential. Some are even saying that we’re in an age where digital marketing equals marketing.
Now that we know digital marketing is vital for today’s businesses, big and small, the next question you’re likely to have is ‘Do I need a digital marketing strategy?’. Before we explore this, lets firstly get an understanding of what a digital marketing strategy is. A digital marketing strategy is a plan that outlines how your business will achieve its marketing goals via online channels such as organic search, paid search, social media, email, affiliate marketing, and many more!
Let’s now return to the question of whether a digital marketing strategy is needed. There are so many reasons why your business should have a digital marketing strategy. A key reason is that a digital marketing strategy provides direction and focus towards achieving your goals or objectives and key results. Far too many times businesses launch a digital marketing campaign that fails because they knew what outcome they wanted but they didn’t have a strategy on how to get there. A digital marketing strategy also:
- gives you an idea of your online market share
- gives you an understanding of who your online audience is
- allows you to get to know your customers better, personalise experiences and be more interactive
- allows you to easily track, monitor and constantly optimise
What should a digital marketing strategy include?
A digital marketing strategy has many of the same elements as any marketing strategy. Following is an approach that you can take in creating your digital marketing strategy:
Define your brand: When defining your brand, think about what your brand’s unique selling proints are (USPs), what is your brand voice, colour, value proposition and so on.
Build your buyer personas: This is where you determine who your ideal customers are. Who would be interested in what your business has to offer? Buyer personas should consider things such as the person’s age, location, job title, aspirations, challenges and motivation for your products or services.
Conduct a situational analysis: Carry out an internal and external SWOT analysis. This will allow you to see strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats for your business and the market in which you operate.
Determine your goals: Put in place specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and timely goals (also known as S.M.A.R.T. goals) that will help you achieve your strategy.
Determine your digital marketing strategies, tactics and channels: This step may be be overwhelming if you’re not aware of the different digital marketing strategies that exist or if you don’t fully understand them. The key however is to choose the strategies that are best for your business, that provide the best value and that will allow you to achieve your desired outcomes. Our team are here to help you if you need guidance with choosing the right strategies for your digital marketing strategy and implementing them.
Set your budget: Set a realistic budget for the digital marketing strategies that you would like to carry out.
Create an action plan: Create a calendar of events or timeline of when tasks need to be completed in order to stay on track to achieve your goals.
This will get you underway, but keep in mind it’s important to have a dedicated digital marketing strategy that is integrated and aligned with the overall marketing and business strategy.
Do you need help with our social media strategy? Read more here and then contact us to book in a call or coffee.
