Digital marketing is increasingly taking into account who an organization is, what it is doing and how it is growing. As a result, a digital marketing strategy is increasingly integrated into the overall marketing strategy of a company. But even in these digital times, it would be a mistake not to plan digital marketing as an independent unit.
While all marketing has a digital layer, all digital marketing encompasses more than just what is evident in traditional marketing. That’s why we’ve put together a complete guide to building a powerful digital marketing strategy. We’ll cover what digital marketing is, what key elements it includes, and how to get started.
WHAT IS A DIGITAL MARKETING STRATEGY?
A digital marketing strategy defines how a company can achieve its business goals through digital channels, platforms and mindsets. It sets clear goals, prioritizes target groups, recognizes customer needs and behavior, and goes into detail on channel usage and platform requirements. In simple terms, it shows how you plan and work digitally in order to remain relevant over the long term.
Intersections of digital marketing exist not only in branding and CRM, but also in user experience (UX), customer experience (CX) and customer care:
Artificial intelligence (AI) and the Internet of Things (IoT) embed a brand in the product experience.
The content strategy includes not only traditional marketing assets, but all content that can be a lever for growth.
Digital innovation creates new services, products and experiences – things that are actually worth marketing.
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HOW YOU CAN DEVELOP AN EFFECTIVE DIGITAL MARKETING STRATEGY
In our work with clients from various industries and markets, we have identified the seven steps required to develop a modern digital marketing strategy.
1. Determine the potential
The status quo has changed, and a digital customer approach is crucial to present yourself in the market in a contemporary, competitive and attractive way. Which channels do your customers come into contact with you? What are your competitors doing to drive change through digitization? How relevant is your brand and how many inbound leads have been converted into sales? If you don’t know, you are probably already behind.
2. Define the role of digital marketing
How does digital marketing contribute to business? This should not be a mere enumeration of marketing goals, but rather a thoughtful vision and a series of conscious decisions that show what digital marketing can and should do for the company.
Make sure you understand the relationship digital marketing has with related elements in your ecosystem, which often include: brand, data, marketing, content, CX, UX, CRM, support / customer care, product innovation, and media. By simply writing down what is at stake and what options are available, you can quickly set your focus. Based on this assessment, you can then develop key performance indicators (KPIs) that will clearly communicate to your executive team how digital technology is affecting the business.
3. Understand your target groups and buying personas.
Create meaningful digital profiles (what they want, how they behave, how to deal with them and who else they interact with), map the customer journey in detail and identify the touchpoints and interactions along the entire customer journey. These profiles often start with traditional segmentation, but there are additional steps you need to take to identify behavior, interactions and content, functionality, and experience needs.
For many customers, especially in the B2B sector, digital profiles are not necessarily about who the customers are, but rather about which goals the target audience is trying to solve. Goals versus roles. If you do this early on, you will know the customer’s needs and will be able to adjust your goals accordingly to meet them.
Take an omni-channel approach
Create a modern omni-channel strategy by using and activating important channels such as search platforms, the web, social media and email. See social media as a sales driver, not just a media or customer care channel. How can social media be used to achieve your business goals
Be clear about the search. Can the inclusion of organic or paid search engine optimization (SEO / SEA) help build brand credibility, drive web traffic, or stave off competitors?
Rethink the Internet. Is your website positioned to attract, receive, and convert leads? Are you effectively nurturing past, existing, or potential customers with email or marketing automation platforms?
5. Identify the resources you need
Use all of the information above to determine what you need to implement for this digital marketing strategy – including headcount, budget, and your marketing technology system (platforms, APIs, services, and data integration points).
Create guidelines and playbooks for people (roles, responsibilities and skills), processes and tools. Many companies do not pay enough attention to this governance, but it is necessary so that people understand their role and how they are contributing to the success of the program. Also, if you are a global or complex company, you need to set up “market segments” so local executives can see where they are and understand what it takes to grow in a new direction.
6. Create a roadmap for implementing the digital marketing strategy
Organize and prioritize initiatives in a roadmap that accompanies you from strategy to execution, even if it is staggered over six, twelve and 24 months. Don’t be too slow or too careful, don’t wait for annual planning cycles; be ready and agile when alternative scenarios become available. Organizational digital transformation can take time, but marketing should be the driving force and ready to take advantage of the opportunities that arise.
7. Support the digital transformation of your company
Find out how digital marketing can go beyond just getting the job done efficiently and act as a powerful lever and accelerator in this new era. Be it through the use of creativity in story telling, through innovative digital services or through the possibility of influencing the customer’s voice on media spending, uncovering engagement opportunities and discovering new target groups.
IMPLEMENTATION OF A DIGITAL MARKETING STRATEGY
Building a digital marketing strategy that includes all seven of the above Provides your digital team – and senior management – with a clear understanding of how digitalization can affect your business, plans for how best to achieve this, and appropriate actions to measure and measure the effectiveness of your efforts judge.
If digital transformation is a priority in your company, you will surely need some strategy and execution experts to help you create your digital strategy, identify opportunities for digital disruption, or drive digital transformation in your company.
