Digital channels for communication are the need of the hour, as many businesses rely on them for the success of their projects. A 2020 study by Forbes suggests that 55% of people have access to the Internet. That’s about 4.2 billion users across the globe. Also, 51% of users shop on digital or e-commerce platforms through mobile devices.
Companies with a solid digital marketing plan can generate up to 67% more leads than those without one. So, you can see how crucial it is to develop a solid digital marketing plan. Remember that your digital marketing strategy is bound to fail without a plan.
So, what is a digital marketing strategy, and how do you develop one?
What is a Digital Marketing Strategy?
Marketing plans usually come with the following outline. Though some may beg to differ, most plans typically have this structure.
- Identify and set short-, medium-, and long-term business goals.
- Come up with strategies to achieve these goals.
- Use the proper digital channels.
- Put into action various development plans.
- Budget and investments.
- Create roadmaps and stick to the timelines.
So, this is what most traditional marketing plans have to offer. However, digital marketing roadmaps differ from these in many aspects. Digital strategies achieve specific goals and work in collaboration with those of other departments. While each plan may be unique to an organization, most digital marketing strategies do the following.
- They get you leads by attracting and convincing potential prospects.
- They put into action outreach strategies that help you connect with consumers.
- They offer immense value at each stage of your campaigns by targeting specific segments.
Traditional marketing strategies primarily focus on the plans and their execution and outcomes. However, digital marketing strategies are consumer-centric and work towards getting more customers for your business. So, it’s important, when designing and implementing a digital marketing strategy, to understand the processes thoroughly and, more importantly, your customers and their preferences.
How to Build a Digital Marketing Plan?
Building a digital marketing strategy isn’t as complicated as you think, especially if you are well aware of the basics. Remember that a digital marketing plan differs from a regular marketing plan in many ways – the most significant being that traditional marketing plans focus on design and implementation, as opposed to your customers in the case of digital marketing strategies.
So, here’s how to develop a solid digital marketing strategy for your organization.
1. Conduct a SWOT Analysis
It all starts with a situational or SWOT analysis. A SWOT analysis helps you become well-acquainted with your company’s digital marketing ecosystem. SWOT is a benchmark that is quite common across several companies. The benchmarking system helps companies identify the best practices to follow for their campaigns by studying success stories and examples.
For instance, your company may want to know how to become more customer-oriented or study the experiences consumers had with their website. So, these are some common aspects that a situational analysis addresses.
2. Set Goals
After conducting a situational analysis, you must set goals. These must be SMART goals, meaning they must be specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and timely. The plans you set must be detailed to your company and achievable. You should also be able to measure them and, more importantly, attain them within specified timeframes.
3. Define the Strategy
You should know where you stand in terms of your digital marketing presence. You must understand your current stance in the digital marketing landscape by identifying primary marketing channels and which are getting you the most leads.
4. Design and Execute the Plan
The last step towards developing a digital marketing strategy is designing and implementing the plan. Workflows may differ from one organization to the other. However, here’s a glimpse of a typical digital marketing workflow.
| Attract | Let your customers enroll to try out your brands. |
| Convert | Build trust in consumers. |
| Close | Urge customers to take action so that you can achieve your goals. |
| Delight | Give your customers what they want. |
Conclusion
Once you develop and implement the strategy, it is time to realize and measure the results and KPIs. The most crucial aspect of measuring KPIs is determining whether you have learned the expected ROI from your campaigns. So, measure the results of your digital marketing campaigns to see how well they have performed and what can and needs to be improved, and implement the changes in your upcoming strategies.
