As a digital marketer, we all know how difficult it can be to craft the right strategy.
Coming up with ideas is the easy part. Coming up with the RIGHT ideas – the ones that will have a positive impact on the business – is much more difficult. On top of that, sales wants to know how you’re going to help them meet their goals, and management wants to know the ROI.
Crafting a digital marketing strategy can drive a typically mild-mannered marketing maven insane…
How to Craft a Digital Marketing Strategy
Let’s break down a simple strategy you can use for not only crafting that high-impact strategy, but also how you can calculate your ROI.
Lucky for you, the solution is easier than you might think…
1. Start with your business goals
Marketing works best as a tool for reaching the business goals. So, start crafting your strategy by adopting the business goals.
If the business wants to increase business and profit by $100,000 in the next quarter, then that is your marketing goal. It provides alignment and becomes the basis of your ROI.
2. Calculate the numbers
It’s time to figure out how to get there. It’s time to look at the numbers.
A great method for setting the numbers is to work backwards from your sales teams goals. If your sales team needs to increase sales by $100,000 and your average new customer sale is $10,000, then they need to acquire 10 new customers. How can marketing help find those 10 new customers?
3. Set the objectives
Now that you have a goal, it’s time to figure out how to get there. You need objectives.
Look at your marketing tools, like the website. Using a conservative conversion estimate of 1%, you will need to increase your current site traffic by 1,000 new visitors in the next quarter to meet the goal of $100,000 in new sales. Let’s assume your site traffic last quarter was 6,700 unique visitors, then your site visitor goal would be to increase 15% - from 6,700 and to 7,705 visitors.
Use the SMART criteria for goal-setting as you determine objectives. If a goal or objective doesn’t fit the criteria, then rework it.
4. Craft the strategy
As a digital marketer, you have plenty of tools to help you reach your goal. A pay-per-click or adwords campaign might be an approach to increase web visits.
You could also look at other strategies for meeting your goal. For example, how would the numbers change if you increased the conversion rate on the website? If you doubled the conversion rate, to 2%, then how many new visitors would you need?
A few adjustments to the landing page could be the solution that increases conversions.
You will often need a mix of strategies to reach your goals.
5. Set deadlines and launch!
It’s not enough to have a strategy, you also need to set deadlines. What tasks need to come first? Is your timeline and schedule realistic with the available resources?
Having a timeline will track progress toward the goal, and provide an early warning when a strategy isn’t working. You may need to adjust priorities to reach the goal. Assign individual team members to parts of the campaign. Make them responsible for progress, and let them ask for help when they need it.
Getting Started with Digital Marketing and SMART Goals
There is no such thing as a foolproof plan to digital marketing success. There are methods and tactics that increase success.
If you need additional help setting your goals, be sure to download our SMART Marketing Goals template and calculator (compliments of our friends at HubSpot). The formulas are already in place, just put in your benchmark data and get your goals!
If you still have questions, then contact the digital marketing experts at GO2 Partners. They have the experience to help you craft a strategy that puts your goals in reach.
