Ready to embark on a digital marketing campaign? Start with a cohesive and organized plan to ensure that you don’t waste time and money.
Your digital marketing plan should clearly define what your campaign wants to achieve within a set time frame and how you will achieve that goal. Having a solid plan gives your campaign direction; it lets you put your brand in front of your target audience efficiently while ensuring the cohesiveness of your marketing messages. Here are 10 important things to think about when planning your digital marketing strategy:
Your Goals
Digital marketing can be used for so many purposes—not just to drum up online sales. Identify the outcome you want from your strategy. For example, do you want to educate consumers online with the goal of driving them to your physical store? Do you want to use online marketing to generate leads for your in-house team of salespeople? Setting goals is key to establishing the overall direction of your campaign.
Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
KPIs refer to measurable elements that let you gauge the performance of your strategy and make adjustments as needed. Be sure to set specific KPIs, such as “increase online sales by 30% in the next 3 months OR improve the orgaic traffic on the website by 65% in 6 months etc.” Having clear goals ensures that everyone involved in your campaign understands what their job is and stays accountable.
Your Previous Campaigns
Ask yourself: What can you learn from your previous digital marketing efforts? Review your past campaigns to see what worked and what didn’t—and why. Were bounce rates too high? Conversion rates too low? Evaluate objectively to see where you can improve.
What The Competition Is Doing
This is not about copying your competitor’s digital marketing plan. Instead, it’s about monitoring their online strategies and learning from their successes and mistakes so that you can build a better campaign. It’s amazing how much insight you can get from studying how your competitors place ads or leverage social media or apply SEO strategies.
Who Your Real Customers Are
If your conversion rates are too low, you should spend more time understanding your target demographics. Knowing their values and purchasing patterns can help you plan a strategy that better aligns with their buying behavior.
Exactly who are the buyers of your products or services? It’s not enough to have a vague idea of your so-called target audience. Find out who actually pays money to your business—where most of them live, how much they earn, their level of education, how much time they spend online, etc. See if you can turn some of them into brand advocates.
Optimum Channels
There are so many choices in digital marketing, from organic SEO to paid search to social media. You don’t want to waste time and money using the wrong platform. So once you have identified your real customers, find out what channels they tend to make purchases from. Do they find things to buy on Facebook? Instagram or look for on Google? Do they spend a lot of time on Twitter or LinkedIn, perhaps?
Optimum Delivery
Aside from finding out what apps and platforms your buyers use, you also need to know what devices they use to find information and buy things online. Smartphone/mobile accounts for more than 50% of online traffic these days, and it’s quickly overtaking desktop. Your digital strategy should be optimized for the devices your buyers are using.
Your Competitive Advantage
Think about the key differentiators that will make your business stand out from the competition online. What makes you different? Why should people choose your products or services instead of someone else’s?SEOValley can provide you with in-depth insights into your competitor’s search engine optimization and online marketing strategy.
Your Brand’s Voice And Personality
When you’ve figured out your competitive advantage, make sure to communicate it clearly. Your digital marketing messages and overall story should be easy to understand and told in a consistent voice that matches your brand’s personality—whether that’s friendly, authoritative, or both.
Your Team’s Bandwidth And Expertise
What aspects of your digital marketing map can your team handle internally? Planning and implementing a successful campaign is not a small task. It usually involves redesigning an old website or developing a new one from scratch to meet ever-changing standards. It also involves creating fresh content, designing and monitoring paid search campaigns, and even managing engagements and interactions with customers on social media.
It’s important to be realistic and understand the scope of work involved so that you don’t bite off more than your team can chew. Do you have the bandwidth and expertise to handle this internally, or is it more practical—and prudent—to leave it in the hands of experts?
If you need direction, start with a no-obligation consultation with SEOValley. We can evaluate your needs and create a digital marketing plan that will put you on the right track.
