It can be tempting to jump right into promoting your business online without a digital marketing strategy, but having one is crucial for generating the kind of results you want. Review the five key elements of a digital marketing strategy below, then check out the effective tactics to include in your strategy, to set it up for success.
5 Elements of a Digital Marketing Strategy
Digital marketing strategies look different for every company because no two companies are exactly alike. However, there are key elements that all successful digital marketing strategies share.
1. Gather Data
Research is critical for digital marketing because it helps you to make better decisions because you’re using real data. Take a closer look at your past and current results to see what has and hasn’t worked for your business. Also, conduct different analyses such as keyword, competitor, and market research to get a comprehensive picture.
2. Set Goals
Outline goals in your digital marketing strategy so everyone on your team is on the same page and knows what to work towards. Make sure you set ‘SMART’ (specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and time-based) goals, instead of vague, general goals, in order to clarify ideas and improve productivity.
3. Create a Budget
As much as we all wish for unlimited resources, that’s not the case for most of us. That’s why creating a budget is essential for digital marketing strategies because it keeps your business from mismanaging funds and cutting into the bottom line.
4. Select Tactics
Depending on your research, goals, and budget, you’ll next need to select the right digital marketing tactics. Some companies are able to include a wide variety of tactics in their strategy while other businesses will focus on fewer tactics because those are the only ones they need or fit their resources.
5. Measure Performance
If you don’t measure performance and review the results of your digital marketing strategy, then it’ll be harder for you to refine tactics and improve the strategy. Analytics is crucial for digital marketing as it provides real data for research/planning as well as post-implementation analysis.
Effective Digital Marketing Tactics
Your strategy defines your long-term goals and the plan to achieve them whereas tactics are the concrete actions you’ll take to actually achieve those goals. There are dozens of digital marketing tactics, however, here are seven of the most effective.
Branding
An essential component of digital marketing is branding because it’s what sets your business apart from others. Branding and storytelling influences every other tactic from design, messaging, audience, tone, media, channel, etc.
Website
An attractive, user-friendly website that works well across devices (desktop, mobile, tablet) is crucial for a successful strategy. If your audience doesn’t like your website, you’ll be fighting an uphill battle to convert them into customers or leads.
Content Marketing
Quality content is critical for attracting and engaging your audience. It’s also particularly important for search engine optimization (SEO) because the content is what search engines use to crawl, index, and rank pages in search results.
Search Engine Optimization
SEO is the process of optimizing online content (e.g. a web page, blog article, video) so search engines display it as a top result for keywords related to your product, service, or brand. Achieving top rankings brings free, passive traffic to your content which can drive more business.
Pay-Per-Click Advertising
Reach prospects where they are online with pay-per-click (PPC) ads. PPC allows you to introduce your product, service, or brand to consumers and push traffic to your website, app, or content, thereby increasing ‘conversions’ (e.g. purchase, sign up, download).
Social Media Marketing
Build relationships with your audience and enhance your brand with social media marketing. Having a presence on social media also builds your credibility which makes consumers more likely to do business with you.
Email Marketing
Send targeted, personalized, and automated emails to attract prospects and retain customers. Email marketing is also cost-effective: according to HubSpot’s email marketing stats, it generates $38 for every $1 spent.
Get Strategic with Your Strategy
A lot of advice surrounding digital marketing strategies tends to focus more on tactics, but tactics and strategy aren’t the same. A digital marketing strategy should provide you with clear goals and a framework so you’re able to achieve a greater ROI. It doesn’t need a slick design or be a huge document, but it should have everything you’ll need to accomplish your mission.
Set up a call with Mavericks Marketing to see how we can help you get more strategic with your digital marketing strategy!
