In the technological age we live in, it can be tempting to think that creating a digital marketing strategy is easy. In fact, you may even think about diving into this world without a strategy. After all, creating a social media presence, a website and videos is easy and not that expensive, to begin with. However, this could be a disastrous decision. Like any plan, it’s essential to approach this facet of your marketing efforts the way you would any major initiative. Including three elements in your program will help you be successful.
1. Start With the Right Tools and Goals
There are so many tools to use when it comes to digital marketing. These include websites, social media, blogs, content marketing, email campaigns and many more. To develop a solid online strategy, you must choose wisely. Make sure that whatever you use is necessary to accomplish your company’s objectives.
The goals set in the digital space should match the business’ established goals. For example, setting a benchmark to increase your firm’s website leads by 35 percent will work in harmony with the company goal of increasing sales by 15 percent. It’s essential to set reachable goals that can be easily measured.
2. Conduct a Digital Asset Analysis
Looking at the long term will help you evaluate your current digital channels and identify what you should add. How successful are your paid media efforts? How much of your company’s digital revenue is coming from earned media sources such as promotions, customer satisfaction and public relations? What about the digital assets you own, including your social media, website and other online tools?
Understanding how all these facets work together will help you get a good picture of how things are working. You can determine which of these areas is most successful, as well as what is not working. This will help you formulate your plan, as well as your budget.
3. Create a Cohesive Plan
Any meaningful digital marketing plan should consist of many elements that work closely together. You should not focus on individual elements without considering the others. For instance, deciding to set up a social media campaign without considering how it could impact your website, SEO, paid media and email marketing could be a costly mistake.
A digital strategy encompasses many different online elements. Creating a plan that will allow each of these assets to work harmoniously will lead to success.