How to create a successful digital strategy?
There is no doubt that, today in the digital era, a big part of your marketing strategy is digital. To succeed in a fast-paced digital world, it is important to follow trends and create an effective digital marketing strategy. Without any plan, your efforts will not make any significant impact.
What is a digital marketing strategy?
A digital marketing strategy is a carefully planned process that is going to help you reach your consumers and achieve your goals using online marketing. In short, for example, taking efficient actions to generate 20% more subscribers on YouTube. This strategy is so much more complex than what it seems and it can be difficult creating one.
It is easy to confuse a digital strategy with digital campaign, but they are not synonyms. Digital marketing campaigns are building blocks within a digital marketing strategy that move you towards your business goal. For example, you can run a Facebook campaign to generate more leads through that channel. That campaign is just a part of your strategy. However, you can have several online campaigns within one digital strategy.
Your digital marketing strategy will be very specific to your business, but here is a guide that can help you create one.
Define the core of your business
Why does your company/brand exist? Consider why your company/brand began in the first place, what was the vision. By addressing this point you will be able to tell your brand story. And two other questions: what am I offering to my target audience; how will my brand help my consumers?
Once you have answered these three questions, you will be able to form your brand message and share your values with your target audience.
Creating your buyer personas
„Get closer than ever to your customers. So close that you tell them what they need well before they realize it themselves.“ — Steve Jobs
For any marketing strategy, it is essential to know for who you are doing the marketing. If you don’t know, you can not grow and expand your business.
Buyer personas represent your ideal customers. By creating them, you will be able to engage with your target group, understand your consumers and meet their needs. Therefore, buyer personas must be based upon real data. The first step is a market research, gathered by surveying and interviewing the general target group. Using collected information, build your buyer personas according to the demographic and psychographic factors:
· Name
· Gender
· Age
· Income (sensitive subject; might not be relevant but depends on your business and your goals)
· Goals
· Challenges
· Hobbies and interests
· Priorities
· etc. (whatever helps you to better understand your customer’s personality and needs)
Map out a customer journey
„You’ve got to start with the customer experience and work your way towards the technology, not the other way around“ — Steve Jobs
Now you need to plan a journey map to better understand how customers interact with your brand. Help yourself with research data, web analytics and other sources and tools. There is no right or wrong way to create a customer journey map. This map should highlight the users needs, questions and feelings throughout their interaction with the brand. You should be able to see the key touchpoints that a customer passes through. Work with a designer and be creative. The important thing is: don’t make it too complex and put the customers needs in the first place.
Create a content strategy
As you have taken the time to understand your target audience, you will be able to give them relevant and fulfilling content that they will be happy to consume and share. By creating content that your customers engage with and pull it through the most effective digital channels, you will get the results you want. You can brainstorm a list of content ideas with your colleagues for your blog, campaigns, social media, emails and other. You can help yourself by creating a content calendar.
Create a media plan
There are three types of media: owned, earned and paid.
Owned media refers to the digital assets that your brand or company owns; for example: your website, social media profiles or blog.
Earned media is what you have earned through word-of-mouth; for example: PR work, reviews, etc.
Paid media refers to any channel that you have paid to catch the attention of your target audience; for example: paid facebook posts, native advertising or ads on Google.
These three can work together to help you achieve your goal. But if your owned and earned media are both successful, it is not necessary to invest in paid media.
Consider your digital marketing channels and assets, and evaluate the best solution to achieve your goal. Then, include the channels that work best for your business into your digital marketing strategy.
Measure your results
The last step, but nothing less important than the other steps: you should track the data from resources like Google Analytics and you will be able to see what is working and what is not. Also, you can learn a lot from your mistakes and that way, you can make your digital marketing strategy more successful in the future.
Conclusion
The ability to plan and deliver a successful digital strategy can hugely improve your business and your personal career, so keep in mind all of the aforementioned steps when creating a digital strategy that you want to succeed.
