The industry for digital marketing continues to grow each day as many business owners continue to rely on the internet to grow their business. Many people leverage the internet to do their activities like online learning, work, and shopping, which allows companies and business owners to grow their brands online.
While businesses of many sizes now shift to this modern trend, competition has gone stiff. One of the most crucial things to have in the contemporary battle of companies and brands is having an effective digital marketing plan. As a business owner, a comprehensive digital marketing plan will be vital in helping you do your daily business activities, guide your marketing approach, and allows you to make necessary adjustments as it measures your successes and failures.
So, how do your structure an effective digital marketing plan? Here are some ways to create compelling digital marketing for your business.
Create an Effective Digital Marketing Plan
To cut a solid figure in the digital marketing arena, you need to set an effective digital marketing plan. Here is how you can make it happen in the best possible way:
1. Know Your Place in The Market
Before you start anything else in your digital marketing plan, you should have a deep understanding of your product and how it would fare in the market.
Ask questions to help you know more about the scenario you are in these days. Is the product or service you will offer to address a current need in the market? If not, will it create the mindset that your customers need when they realize it? It is critical to know what your unique selling proposition will be as this will set you apart and help you create a robust digital marketing plan.
If you have done any marketing or promotional activities before, even with traditional methods, check on how it affected the market you are in and the results obtained from those tactics. Did your brand create a buzz with your desired audience? Did it becomes the talk of the town after you launch a marketing campaign?
These questions will help you see the scenario you are in and will help you determine your strong points. It can become a tool in your next step, which is to create your digital marketing objectives.
2. Set SMART Objectives
As you try to answer the questions, it will become an essential help as you navigate your digital marketing plan’s goals and objectives. Focus on using the SMART acronym framework, which stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Timely.
- Specific – Be specific on what you want to achieve with your digital marketing efforts. Do you want to reach a wider audience and improve your brand awareness? Do you want to augment your sales? Do you want to build an online presence and establish online authority? Whatever your goals and objective are, being specific is one of the essential things you need to deliver an effective digital marketing plan.
- Measurable – Make sure your digital marketing objectives are measurable. Identify your Key Performance Indicators (KPI), apply it in your digital marketing plan, and leverage it to help determine your success.
- Achievable – It is essential to set realistic goals. Your budget, time, and resources should be sufficient to achieve your goals, or else it will be a determinant of your failure.
- Relevant – Does your digital marketing goals mirror your overall business objectives? While it is tempting to increase your followers, drive more traffic to your channels and websites, or have people talk about you, check if it affects your bottom line. Your digital marketing efforts should have a direct correlation with your business’ end goals.
- Timely– To check your digital marketing efforts, you need to add a time-frame into it. This method will allow you to compare your campaigns side by side, which is vital in determining the campaign that works for your business the most.
- Timely– To check your digital marketing efforts, you need to add a time-frame into it. This method will allow you to compare your campaigns side by side, which is vital in determining the campaign that works for your business the most.
3. Target Your Market and Speak Their Language
It is essential to know whom your target market is as it will help you make your plan more précised — knowing your audience and building a buyer’s persona can help you focus on your product offerings and how to segment your brand.
When you generalize your audience and do not define who your audience is, you blur the lines of your digital marketing strategy. While this is easy for those who offer a specific and unique product, but for those who have a mass market, you can do this by doing proper segmentation.
You segment your audience based on demographics like age, gender, occupation, geographical location, interest, and income level. You can also do segmentation based on your customer’s online behavior, the type of products they use, and their perception towards your brand, product, or services. Doing segmentation also allows you to speak directly to your target audience, which resonates to a personal level.
4. Focus On A Digital Marketing Strategy
As you were able to determine your goals and your target market, it is essential to define the digital marketing strategy you want to bank on. Setting your strategy will help you work on your plan better and achieve your desired results.
While you may get too excited at the start and try to do all of the possible digital marketing strategies available, this will only exhaust your efforts and resources. Find where your audience is present and look for ways to communicate with them effectively. If your viewers are those working professionals who spend at the office for eight hours a day, try doing an email marketing campaign. If your audience is the younger generation who are into the latest fashion, scoop their interest through your social media pages like Instagram in particular.
5. Choose The Right Platform
While it is essential to have an online presence, it is vital to remember that not all digital marketing platforms are equal. Depending on your brand, product, or services, and your target market, some platforms may perform better than the others.
If you are starting in digital marketing, focus on one or two platforms where you can find your target audience the most. Trying all the digital marketing platforms available can exhaust all of your resources. Having too many accounts to manage can be detrimental to your efforts, which may end up poor results.
6. Get To Know The Latest Trends
You have to always keep in mind that you are not alone doing digital marketing. Most of your competitors are doing the same, which is more challenging to make your brand stand out.
One takeaway to making sure you are not getting left behind in the competitive pit is to look out for the latest trends in digital marketing continuously. The newest keyword research can help your SEO positioning improve, the latest trend in social media promotion will allow you to stay relevant to your audience. It will keep their interest in your brand.
7. Measure.
Your digital marketing plan does not stop after you launch your campaign. Your work goes beyond that. After determining your goals, target market, strategies, and platform to use, you come to the most crucial step in your plan – measuring and analyzing your result. It is considered the most important as it evaluates if your strategies meet the objectives you have set at the start.
Measuring your overall digital marketing campaign can also determine if you can improve your business’s bottom line or if you could earn an ROI. Analyzing your digital marketing efforts will also allow you to check if your strategy is valid or not.
Analytics are readily available these days, making it easier to know the effectiveness of your campaign. Another essential thing you can do is to create a competitive analysis with your competitors. Checking on your competitor will help you find the edge that you want for your business. Coupled with your digital marketing campaign result analysis, the information you can get from doing competitors check will help you stand out in the competitive pit.
Bonus Tip: Learn To Be Tech-Savvy
Digital marketing is technology-driven. Getting familiar with the ins and outs of technology is a must to make sure you get the most out of it for your digital marketing campaigns. While this is not a problem for many younger generations, the older ones who did not grow up with technology can have a hard time.
Remember to start at the basics. Explore different social media channels, enroll in webinars that tackle digital marketing, listen to digital marketing experts podcasts, and read different blogs from experts. The key is to take it to step by step to avoid getting overwhelmed with all the information you will get.
Final Thoughts
You cannot go into battle without any proper plan. To make sure to have a positive result with your digital marketing efforts, you need to know what you want. First, you have to define your goals and objective, where you will anchor all of your strategies. Setting your business’s mission will make it easier for you to build a digital marketing plan.
Know your end target and keep it always in your mind as you make your plan. Do not make a vague plan. As much as possible, be specific to what you want to do to achieve your digital marketing strategies.
Author Byline:
Maricar Morga worked as a marketing professional for almost a decade. She became part of the biggest real estate company/mall operator in the Philippines and handled concerts, events, and community service-related activities. One of her activities became a nominee in the ICSC Asia-Pacific Shopping Center Awards 2018. Leaving her corporate job for good to pursue her dreams, she has now ventured in the path of content writing and currently writes for Softvire Australia and Softvire New Zealand. A Harry Potter fan, she loves to watch animated series and movies during her spare time.