Any business operating in the digital age must now develop a digital marketing strategy. Whether big, small or somewhere in-between, your customers are likely to turn to online channels to research, connect with or talk about your business. If you’re not making the most of the digital opportunity and your online touchpoints, you could be failing to effectively create awareness of and promote your business with an increasingly ‘online’ audience.
A digital marketing strategy is vital for creating a clear, defined plan of action. This will help you focus your online activity, target and engage your audience effectively, integrate all your channels and stand out against competitors.
An effective strategy, regularly reviewed and updated, will enable you to attract new customers, increase profits and accelerate growth
Identify your customer persona
Your customers should be at the forefront of your mind when you begin developing your digital marketing strategy. You can’t successfully target your digital marketing activities and curate your content without knowing the key demographics of your customers. Once you have a good understanding of your customers you can use this information to shape the type of content you produce, the platforms you use and how you prioritise your activities based on what’s most likely to engage and influence your customers.
Choose your platforms wisely
You don’t need to be present on every platform – only those that will benefit your business. Research the platforms that your audience are using and make sure you’re active by sharing content and engaging with customers regularly. Whether you decide to use Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn, Instagram, Snapchat, Google+ or any number of the growing social media platforms available, make sure you’re making the most of that platform. You should have a fully branded business profile, a consistent tone and a focus on sharing interesting, relevant content.
Set goals
If you’re not setting goals, how can you measure how successful your digital marketing activity has been in relation to your business aims? Your goal could be to grow e-newsletter subscriptions, boost your Twitter following or increase sales. Whatever your aims may be, ensure they are specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and timely – or SMART!
Create content
It’s important that your digital outputs aren’t just focused on sales. Consumers are using the internet to access information, be entertained and connect with people – not just to buy. It’s important to offer something of worth to consumers so that they have a reason to engage with your business. This could be advice blogs, educational or entertaining videos or interesting visual material such as infographics. Don’t forget that all your content should include calls to action to encourage conversions. Read our blog on developing effective call to actions!
Evaluate
You’ve set your goals, planned out your digital marketing activity and it’s all underway – what do you do now? Evaluate! It’s important that you review how well your digital marketing activities and platforms are performing in relation to your specific goals. By considering the individual improvements you could make to your digital marketing activity, you can ensure you’re up-to-date with any developments in the digital marketing sphere and making best use of your time, effort and money to grow your business.