When it comes to creating an effective digital marketing strategy, it helps to have some guidelines to follow. Here are five steps you can follow to ensure you are making a strategy geared toward success.
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Create a faux buyer persona
In the digital age, it is crucial to have a buyer persona. This persona represents your ideal customer and helps you determine how to approach them and what content to use to connect with them.
Your buyer persona should be based on data. For example, your business’s demographics, challenges, and goals will influence the creation of a buyer persona. Creating a buyer persona is a targeted marketing strategy that attracts the best customers and leads.
To create a buyer persona, you will need to take the time to conduct extensive research. You can do this in two ways. One way is by talking to people directly. Another is by using research reports.
These reports will inform your customer’s demographics, behaviors, and preferences. It is important to remember that these reports should be updated regularly. Depending on your industry, you may need to do a buyer persona refresh every six months to two years.
Using Google Analytics is a great way to gather data on buyer behavior. Detailed reports help you identify the most valuable visitors and leads.
Conduct an audit of your past efforts
To ensure your digital marketing strategy achieves the best results possible, it’s a good idea to audit your past efforts. By analyzing your data, you can determine if your efforts yield the expected results and what changes you can make to improve your results.
A marketing audit should cover everything from the company website to the social media presence. Using a digital checklist to ensure the audit is thorough and includes all the crucial details is also a good idea.
For instance, you should test the ad formats you use and measure the effectiveness of your social media campaign. You should monitor your site traffic and search engine optimization (SEO) keywords. Lastly, list the metrics that matter most to your business, including your conversion rates.
The key to a successful audit is getting everyone involved and communicating clearly and concisely. It will reduce confusion and increase the quality of your final report.
Identify the best tools and methods to collect, analyze and visualize your data. Using best practice tools is a smart way to save time and minimize errors. Some examples include Google Drive, Dropbox, and Box.
Create a timed plan
A digital marketing strategy should not be left to chance. Considering the many channels available for web and mobile advertising, a well-conceived design is the best way to amplify brand awareness, improve customer service and drive sales. In addition to the usual suspects, the likes of Facebook, Google, and LinkedIn, some of the lesser-known social media sites, can be tapped for the same. Creating a timed plan to ensure the right people get the right message at the right time is a good idea.
While a hulking employee can’t replicate the best digital marketing strategy, several things must be remembered when drafting one of these plans. The most crucial and enjoyable step is determining who the target market is and how they interact with the business. Data gathering is one of the finest ways to accomplish this. Based on the special interests of the target audience, this information can subsequently be used to create tailored messaging. Depending on your target segment’s sophistication, the best approach may be to employ a combination of direct and indirect communication.
Set measurable objectives
Setting measurable objectives is one of the critical elements of creating a digital marketing strategy. It is because it helps to measure the success of a campaign. It also gives the marketing department a better idea of how well the drive performs.
Measurable goals should be specific, realistic, and attainable. You must decide how to quantify your aim, for instance, if it is to boost traffic. You can do this using metrics like Google Analytics or web analytics.
Another way to measure the success of your digital marketing strategy is by measuring engagement. Engaged customers are more likely to recommend your brand. They are also more likely to purchase from you in the future. If your business offers upsell, you must determine how to encourage them to add a higher tier of the same service.
Whether you have a goal to grow your e-commerce sales or drive more leads, it is important to set measurable objectives that can be monitored. An excellent way to do this is to use an email analytics tool. These tools allow you to measure your audience’s engagement without having to do extensive market research.
Monitor your progress
You must keep track of your progress to get the most out of your digital marketing efforts. One way to do this is to create a calendar of activities over a specific time. The key to a successful calendar is establishing a standard of accountability among your team members, ensuring that the various activities are accomplished on time and within budget. Keeping track of your progress allows you to adjust your priorities and schedule accordingly.
For example, when it comes to building an email list, you’re going to want to include incentives. Blogging is a great way to expand your reach. Other strategies to keep your readers engaged involve utilizing social media and promoting your content via email.
While you’re at it, consider investing in a real-time tool to monitor your progress. Some of these tools allow you to share a dashboard with your team or stakeholders, sending out updates when necessary. It helps you to gauge which initiatives are yielding the best returns.
