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Strategy vs. Tactic
Your strategy is your goal -- the achievable and focused plan that will get you there. Your strategy will help you achieve your goal by using tactics.
Marketing or not, any strategy has three components:
- Your challenge is diagnosed.
- This is a guideline for how to deal with the challenge.
- A collection of actions targeted to achieve the policy.
Your marketing strategy could include many moving parts depending on your business size. Each piece may have different goals.
It can be overwhelming to work on your system.
These three steps will help you stay focused on your goals if you feel overwhelmed by your marketing strategy.
Let's now look at digital advertising strategy.
What is a Digital Marketing Strategy?
A digital marketing strategy is establishing an online presence via channels like organic search, paid ads, and other mediums like your website.
Digital marketing strategies are designed to raise awareness and bring new customers to your company.
A solid digital marketing strategy will help your company achieve specific digital goals using carefully chosen mediums.
The terms "digital campaign" and "marketing strategy" are often used interchangeably. How can they be different?
This is what we will be covering in the following sections.
What is Digital Marketing?
Your digital marketing campaign is the foundation and action of your digital marketing strategy. They help you get to a particular end goal.
You may run a Twitter campaign if your goal is to increase leads through social media. To generate more information, you might share your best-performing content on Twitter.
How to Create a Digital Marketing Strategy
- Develop your buyer personas.
- Identify your goals, and decide on the digital marketing tools you need.
- Assess your digital assets and channels.
- Plan and audit your media campaigns.
- Identify your goals, and decide on the digital marketing tools you need.
- Keep an eye on the situation and make a report.
1. Develop your Buyer Personas
Who you are marketing to is the first step to any digital marketing strategy. You can create buyer personas to help you build the best digital marketing strategies.
Buyer personas are your ideal customers. They can be created by conducting research, surveying, and interviewing your target audience.
Important to remember that this information should always be based on accurate data. Making assumptions about your audience's choices can result in a poor marketing plan.
Your research pool should include customers, prospects, and people from outside your contact database that align with your target audience to get a complete picture of you.
What kind of information do you need to gather about your buyer personas to help inform your digital marketing strategy?
It all depends on the business you run. Your chances of getting a higher or lower-margin product will also affect your bottom line.
These are just a few starting points you can tweak and tailor to fit your business.
Demographic and Quantitative Information
- Location: Use web analytics tools to quickly identify where your website traffic is coming from.
- Age: Depending on the business, this information may be irrelevant. If it is, you can gather it by looking at trends in your contact and prospect databases.
- Income: It is best to collect sensitive information, such as personal income, via personal research interviews. People might not be willing to share this information via online forms.
- Job Title: This is something you can get an idea of from existing customers and is most relevant to B2B businesses.
Qualitative and Psychographic Information
- Goals: Depending on the problem your product or service solves, you might already have an idea of the buyer persona's goals. Talk to customers, customer service representatives, and other employees to confirm your assumptions.
- Challenges: Talk to customers, customer service representatives, and other employees who deal with customers to understand your audience's everyday problems.
- Hobbies/Interests: Ask customers and others who are aligned with your target audience what their hobbies and interests are. For example, a fashion brand might find it helpful to discover if large sections of its audience are interested in health and fitness to help inform future content and partnerships.
- Priorities: Talk to customers and target audience members to discover what is most important to them regarding your business. Suppose you are a B2B software business. In that case, it is essential to know what your customers value more than a competitive price.
2. Identify your Goals, and Decide on the Digital Marketing Tools you Need.
Your business's fundamental goals should always guide your marketing goals.
If your goal is to increase your online revenue by 20%, then your marketing team might set a goal to generate 50% more leads through the website than last year.
No matter what your ultimate digital marketing goal is, you need to be able to measure its success with the right digital tools.
TheReporting Dashboard in Cyber Infrastructure Inc., for example, brings together all your sales and marketing data so that you can quickly identify what is working and what isn't and improve your strategy for the future.
3. Assess your Digital Assets and Channels.
It's essential to look at the bigger picture when evaluating your digital marketing assets and channels to decide what you should include in your strategy.
This will help to make sure you feel safe and confident.
Take stock of what you own and create a spreadsheet to categorize each asset or vehicle. This will give you a clear picture of your owned, earned, and paid media.
Earned, Owned, Paid Media Framework
This can be done effectively using the owned, earned, and paid media framework. It enables you to categorize the digital resources and channels you now employ and decide which ones are most appropriate for your strategy.
Owned Media
These are the digital assets that your company or brand owns, whether they are your website, social media profiles, or blog content.
Your business is in complete control of the channels it owns.
You can also add off-site content that you don't have on your site (e.g., A Medium blog.
Earned Media
Earned media is the exposure you get through word-of-mouth marketing. It could be content you have shared on other websites (e.g., Guest posts, PR work, or customer service you've provided.
Earned media refers to the recognition you get for your efforts.
Earn media by getting positive reviews, press mentions, and people sharing your content through their networks (e.g., social media channels).
Paid Media
Paid media is any channel or vehicle you use to attract the attention of your buyers.
This includes Google AdWords and paid social media posts. Sponsored posts on other websites or any other medium through which you can pay for greater visibility.
Let's take a look at an example to help you get a better understanding of the structure.
Let's say you have owned content that you want to use to generate leads. You want to integrate other parts of the framework, not just acknowledged, earned, or paid media.
You can increase the leads generated by your content by making it shareable. This will allow your audience to spread it via their social media accounts.
This will result in increased traffic to your landing pages. This is the earned Media component.
You can post your content on Facebook to help it succeed. Pay for more people in your target market.
This is how the framework components can work together, although it's optional for success. If you're earned and owned, media are both already successful; you may not need to invest money in paid media.
Consider the best way to achieve your goals and integrate the most effective channels into your digital marketing strategy.
Once you have a clear picture of what is being used, it's time to start thinking about what you want to keep and what you should cut.
4. Plan and Audit your Media Campaigns.
Owned media is the core of digital marketing. It almost always comes as content. This is because nearly every message your brand broadcasts can easily be classified as content.
Content can convert website visitors into customers and leads while improving your brand's online visibility. This content can increase your organic and search engine traffic if it is SEO optimized.
Regardless of your digital marketing goal, you want to include owned content. Start by deciding what content will help you achieve your goals.
Your goal is to generate 50% more leads through the website than last year. If that happens, you're About Us webpage will likely not go into your strategy.
This is a quick guide to help you determine what -owned content is needed to achieve your digital marketing goals.
Check your Content.
You can list all your content and rank them according to how they have performed about your goals.
If your goal is to generate leads, rank your content based on which pieces (ebook, blog, site page) generated the most leaders in the past year.
This is where you will find out what's working and what's not so that your content planning can be successful.
Identify any Gaps in Your Content.
Find any content gaps based on your buyer personas.
If you are a math tutoring business and have found that it is a significant problem for your clients, create some.
By looking at your content audit, ebooks hosted on specific landing pages convert better than webinars.
This math tutoring organization might decide to include an ebook on "how to make learning more successful" in your content creation goals.
Create a Content Creation Plan.
Based on your findings and the gaps that you have identified, create a content creation strategy outlining the content you need to reach your goals.
These should be included:
- A title
- Format
- A goal
- Promotional channels
- Why are you creating content?
- The content's priority
You can create a simple spreadsheet. If you intend to outsource the creation of your material, it should contain details about your budget and a time estimate.
Read More: What Is Audio Branding And How To Leverage It For Your Brand
5. Plan and Audit your Earned Media Campaigns.
You can compare your earned media with your goals to better understand where you should focus your efforts. If that is your goal, look at where traffic and leads are coming in and rank each earned media source.
This information can be accessed using tools such as the Sources reports within Cyber Infrastructure Inc.'s Traffic Analytics Tool.
A piece you wrote for the business press serves as an illustration of this. This article may have driven more qualified traffic to your site, which could increase conversions.
The most well-liked platform for content sharing is LinkedIn. This increases traffic.
Based on historical data, the idea is to create a picture of which earned media will help you achieve your goals.
If you find something interesting, don't be afraid to try it.
6. Plan and Audit your Paid Media Campaigns
The process is similar: You must evaluate your paid media across all platforms (e.g., Google AdWords and Facebook, Twitter, etc.
To determine which is most likely to help meet your goals,
You might be disappointed if you have yet to receive the results you expected from AdWords.
You should identify which paid media platforms are best for you and which ones you would like to discontinue.
7. Your Digital Marketing Campaign can be Brought Together
Now that you've done all the research and planning, you can see the critical elements of your digital marketing strategy.
Here's a summary of what you should know so far.
- A clear profile of your buyer personas.
- A few goals related to digital marketing.
- A list of all your owned, earned, and paid media.
- An audit of all your owned, made, and paid media.
- A wish list or plan for content creation.
The following list contains basic strategies used by marketing teams in various industries to help you understand digital strategy.
Digital Marketing Strategies
1. Create a Blog
Blogs are one of the best ways to market your business online. Although some people think blogging is a waste of time, it is still an essential tool for companies looking to attract customers interested in their products or services.
Why? Why? Because blog posts that are well-written and well-researched often address an immediate need for potential customers.
Cyber Infrastructure Inc., for instance, sells marketing software. Our users are usually marketing professionals who create campaigns, plans, and editorial calendars on behalf of their employers.
These are the reasons why our blog topics address them directly:
A blog to solve customer problems. Getting to know your audience and understanding their needs is essential to do this effectively.
This will allow you to create highly targeted content that is truly helpful to readers.
2. Advertise on Certain Platforms
Organic blogging is just one part of the story. It would help if you also implemented other non-organic strategies, such as paid advertisements.
This will increase brand awareness and reach new audiences that can't be achieved organically.
This is a great strategy if you are still growing your blog but need more traffic. You should add a few forms of advertising to your digital system.
- Advertising on Social Media
- Pay-Per-Click (PPC)
- Google Ads
- Online advertising
Nearly all social platforms offer advertising options. You can advertise through a display network, such as Google, or the platform's built-in ads system (such as Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn's self-service advertising portal).
Advertising isn't dependent on content or SEO strategies. Write some copy and choose the imagery to launch your advertising campaigns.
You will need to prepare an advertising plan. This plan will outline who your campaign targets, the channels they'll use, and how much money you plan on spending.
3. Provide Educational Resources for Free
You can't stop digital marketing once people visit your site or click on your ads. In return for their email, you must also offer additional value.
The content is not paid for, but users must "pay" by providing their contact information. This is lead generation. It's vital if you want to turn potential customers into leads.
A landing page could offer one educational resource, such as an ebook, guide, template, or kit. Consider what your customers require to succeed at their jobs.
You can help them achieve this by creating a resource. Cyber Infrastructure Inc. has an example.
Follow landing page best practices to ensure the visitor downloads the resource free of charge. Avoid unnecessary information and navigation menus.
The only way they can access the educational content is to download it.
4. Search Engines Optimize your Digital Content.
SEO is an integral part of your digital strategy. SEO will allow you to rank for keywords related to your products and increase traffic to your blog content and educational offers.
SEO can be your best option to get your product pages found by people searching for your products or services. It's essential to invest in an SEO strategy on each page.
This will ensure that users engage with your content and convert them.
5. Make an Online Giveaway or Contest.
Giveaways and contests can help you increase brand awareness and improve your digital strategy. You can get thousands of leads and followers if you offer a free product in exchange.
This is especially useful if your product is a consumer product or offers a service that includes physical deliverables.
A beauty brand may choose to give away products, while a photographer might give away a portrait session for free. This strategy might not be beneficial for manufacturers or B2B companies. However, you can spin it to your advantage by including one free product for the first customer to sign up for your mailing list.
This is just one example.
6. Organize a Webinar.
Webinars, especially for B2B companies, are better if a contest seems wrong for you. These webinars are essential for educating the public and allowing potential leads to learn more about your products.
In real-time, they can also ask questions and get responses.
Are you selling a complex product? Consider creating a page dedicated to webinars on your website. This page will list past and upcoming webinars.
Customers will have access to educational content that is beneficial to them. Prospects will also be able to learn more about your products through interactive formats than a blog post or case study.
7. Produce a Podcast.
Audio marketing is on the rise—all you need to do is see how Twitter Spaces and Clubhouse have competed to gain market share.
Although platforms like Clubhouse may be different from podcasting, the concept is the same: you can educate and engage your audience while they are moving. They only need a device that can play audio.
Podcasts can be an integral part of your digital strategy. They allow you to reach people across social media platforms other than search engine optimization or social media channels.
It's also a more natural and spontaneous medium. However, you must plan each episode well and ensure you deliver relevant content to your audience.
8. Make an Email Marketing Campaign.
Email marketing is one of the most powerful digital strategies you can use today. You have many opportunities to nurture customers who are interested in your products.
You wouldn't sign up for a newsletter from a brand you don't like, and businesses are not supposed to email customers who haven't signed up for their mailing list. It will only be if it is willing to reduce email deliverability.
Your blog, contests, and webinars are all ways to gain subscribers. You have permission to email marketing campaigns to anyone who gives you their email address.
It's time to combine all this into a cohesive marketing strategy. Based on the research you have done up until this point, your strategy document should outline the sequence of actions you will take to reach your goals.
Digital Marketing Strategy Template
A spreadsheet is a great way to map your digital marketing strategy. However, it can quickly become overwhelming and messy.
A reliable digital marketing strategy document is essential to plan your long-term strategy. This usually takes six to twelve months.
Where do you start? Use our digital marketing plan template as a guide.
This template will help you to write your business summary and your initiatives. It will also help you to build your market and competitor information.
And it will flesh out your marketing strategy, including your budget, specific channels, and metrics.
This digital strategy template will help you create your annual digital marketing strategy. These yearly plans can be used to overlay as your team executes each action.
Take this example:
- You'll begin a blog in January that will be updated weekly for the year.
- You'll be launching a new ebook in March with paid promotion.
- You'll be preparing for July's biggest business month. What do you want to learn to influence the high-quality content you create to support it?
- September will focus on earned media, such as PR, to drive additional traffic in the run-up.
This will allow you to create an organized timeline for your activity. It will also help you communicate with colleagues.
Here are some examples and strategies of digital marketing campaigns to inspire you.
Digital Marketing Campaign Examples
- Beis
- Omsom
- The General
1. Beis: Paid Ad
Beis, a travel accessory brand, recently launched a social-media campaign to announce product feature updates.
They did it the best way possible: they showed instead of telling.
The brand demonstrated how its product performs after some modifications to the material in a 34-second clip.
This fantastic campaign highlights a product's improvement and shows customers that the brand is constantly improving.
They also ensured the video had captions to make it accessible without sound.
2. Omsom: Social Media
Omsom, an Asian food brand, uses its TikTok profile for behind-the-scenes content, recipes, and culturally relevant content.
The brand's cofounder spoke about how it sources vital ingredients and why it took the more challenging route to ensure the integrity of the food.
Omsom was able to do this: They highlighted the brand's values and created excitement about their product.
It's an excellent way to communicate with your audience by sharing behind-the-scenes content strategy.
3. The General: Paid Advertising
The General overhauled its marketing strategy after consumers complained that the brand's ads needed a higher budget.
The brand introduced a new look and addressed the elephant in a commercial featuring Shaq, a basketball star.
They also highlight their credibility by mentioning their experience and the number of people they have helped. Brands can change the perceptions of their consumers by addressing them head-on.
Conclusion
Your business goals will have a unique strategy document. There isn't a framework for a digital marketing plan that works for everyone.
Your strategy document should outline your actions to reach your goal over time. As long as it communicates this, you have the basics of creating digital strategies.
