Here’s the story… Profits are down. Customers and leads are hard to come by. You’ve been tasked by management to create a digital marketing strategy that will turn the business around. Sales wants more leads. The business wants customers who are ready to buy.
It’s all on your shoulders. So, what are you going to do?
While there is no SEO or Facebook “Easy” button (though that would be awesome), there are steps you can take. You can create a powerful digital marketing strategy that will turn your business around.
All you need is to find the Who, What, Why, When and How for your digital marketing.
5 Steps toward Digital Marketing Success
While some marketing experts will insist crafting a strategy is an art, there is a process that businesses can follow. Taking the time to craft a better strategy will deliver better results, a higher ROI, for your digital marketing strategy.
Here’s how it works:
1. The Why in Your Digital Marketing Strategy
Let’s be honest, only in the movies does a social media “like” translate into profit. Your business doesn’t run on retweets or even website visits.
Marketing success happens only with business success. If the business needs more leads, then that must be the goal of your marketing strategy. If sales needs more brand awareness to sell more widgets, then that is your goal. Link your marketing goals to the goals of the business.
A powerhouse digital marketing strategy starts with business goals.
2. The Who in Digital Marketing
The “who” in your digital marketing strategy is your core customer – the buyer persona you need to develop before starting any digital marketing campaign.
A buyer persona is a data-driven and research-based fictional representation of your ideal customer. The steps they take in making a purchase is known as the buyer’s journey. The more accurate your buyer persona, the more effective your digital marketing strategy will be. You can use that information – the buying behavior and research tendencies, for example – to shape your strategy.
Any digital strategy should be based on your buyer persona.
3. The What in Digital Marketing
Now that you have strong goals and a target for your digital marketing strategy, it’s time to craft a plan.
Digital marketing offers a wealth of tools, tactics and channels. Selecting the right tools and channels, the ones that will reach and influence your target persona, is the key to success. For example, if you know that your prospects spend time on Facebook, then you know Facebook is a tool for building brand awareness. If the prospect trusts case studies and customer reviews, then that content should be part of your digital strategy.
Select your channels, craft a content plan, and pick the tools that will deliver your goals.
4. The When in Digital Marketing
Now that you have a task list for your digital marketing, it’s time to map out the work.
Develop a schedule for the work and an editorial calendar for the content. Determine the time frame for each step, looking for synergy opportunities in the work. Can you reuse blog content for an email campaign?
Using a calendar will drive progress toward your goals.
5. The How in Digital Marketing
A Prussian military commander once wrote that, no plan survives first contact with the enemy. It’s an axiom that holds true for your digital marketing strategy. The best crafted strategy may never deliver the expected results. That’s when analytics can help – the “how” in your powerhouse digital marketing strategy.
Set goals for your campaign, develop analytics and measures to track progress toward your goals. If you see weakness in one area of your strategy, then brainstorm how to improve and optimize. If you aren’t seeing the conversions you need, maybe you need a new offer or a better landing page. If you don’t have enough web traffic, maybe a PPC campaign will drive more traffic.
Use the analytics to drive continual improvements and optimization. They provide the critical insight you need to reach your goals.
Putting it all Together – Your Digital Marketing Strategy
Digital marketing can feel overwhelming. With so many channels, so many tools, and so many moving parts, as a marketer you can feel more like a juggler than a business profile.
Quit juggling. Break the work into steps and focus on one step at a time. Work that first step and then move on to the next.
If you need help along the way, or need additional resources or expertise, then contact the digital marketing experts at GO2. We can provide not only digital marketing expertise, but also skills like development, content creation, and design work to fill in the gaps you may have in your internal resources.
We’re here to help. Contact us today.
