How to Start a Digital Marketing Strategy to Guide Online Marketing
Do you have a digital marketing strategy to guide your online marketing? If not, you are likely not clear what you are doing or if it is having the right impact. It’s never too late to develop a strategy to set yourself up for success.
The digital strategy process begins with a discovery phase. During this initial phase of the process, the goal is to gather the information needed to develop the right strategy for the needs of your business.
Collect Marketing Information
Review materials you already have on hand, such as your business and/or marketing plan.
You may also need to conduct some research:
- Interviews with key stakeholders, including internal staff, partners, and or customers
- Review of available research related to your industry
- Focus groups
- Competitor research
Ask the Right Questions
Goals
- What are my marketing goals? Leads, sales, exposure, etc. Be as specific as possible.
- Do my online goals differ in any way?
- What are the valuable target keywords for my business?
General Marketing
- How do I market my business? Review any related documents such as marketing plans, market data, etc.
- What makes my business unique? What makes people become customers? Repeat customers?
- What are my current sources of new clients?
- What is my desired style, tone, voice, messaging, brand positioning?
Audience
- Who is my target client/audience? Be as specific as possible.
- Ideally, what should my target client say about me?
- What do I provide that is of the greatest interest/need to my audience?
Competitors
- Who are my top competitors?
- What are the components to their digital strategy?
- Is there anything that my competitors do online that I know or think helps them? Hurts them?
- What makes me different from my competitors?
Website
- Do I need to change my website, including adding or deleting any current content or features?
- What tools are used to provide content and functionality for my website?
- What does Google Analytics tell me about how my website is currently used?
Social Media
- Which social media do I currently use? Document how often and what you post at each.
- What does my following look like on each social media channel? (Include follower numbers, types of people, and anything else that defines who you are engaging with.)
- What types of posts result in engagement (comments, likes, shares, emails, etc) from my followers?
- Which social media do I want to consider?
Online Marketing
- Where else am I online? (Google it!)
- What opportunities are available at each location?
- Considering everywhere I am online, what is working and what is not? How do I know?
Resources
- What financial resources do I have to apply to my digital marketing? Human resources? Other?
- How much time can I reliably invest in digital marketing activities?
- What content sources can I draw from for my digital marketing – That I create? That others create?
Online Marketing Success Starts Here
If this seems like a lot, it is. The more insightful information you collect, the better the digital marketing strategy to guide your online marketing will be.
Of course, I am here to help!
