What to include in your digital marketing strategy
Developing an effective digital marketing strategy starts with understanding what truly matters for your business. Many companies initially want to expand their reach as much as possible. However, too many channels/tactics/efforts can dilute your actual message. Instead, begin by focusing on these essential components:
- Business objectives: what outcomes do you want your marketing to drive? More leads? Higher retention? Increased brand awareness?
- Target audience insights: who are you trying to reach, what challenges do they face and where do they spend their digital time?
- Competitive analysis: what digital channels and tactics are your competitors using effectively (or ineffectively)?
- Budget: Identify how much you have to executive your strategy. This involves collaborative efforts as well as financial resources.
By addressing the above points you’ll be able to avoid the common pitfall of jumping straight into tactics before determining a clear direction.
Evaluating digital channels for your business
Every business has unique needs and audiences, so your digital strategy should be tailored accordingly. Here’s how to evaluate which channels might align best with your specific business goals and resources:
SEO
- Best for nearly all businesses. This should serve as your digital foundation.
- Consider including SEO in your strategy if you need to establish credibility, provide information or enable conversions.
Content
- Best for establishing authority, educating users and supporting SEO efforts.
- If your sales cycles require building trust over time, a content strategy can show users that your business is active in the industry.
Paid search
- Best for businesses with solutions to specific problems that people actively search for.
- Consider PPC if you need immediate visibility. Or, if you operate in a competitive market.
Social media marketing
- Best for businesses with visually-appealing elements, community-engagement potential or education content.
- A strong social media strategy will be effective if you know your users are using specific platforms and if your posts bring traffic to your website.
Email marketing
- Best for customer retention and direct sales opportunities.
- If you have valuable content, exclusive offers, and want to communicate with your users in a more personal way – email marketing is for you!
Determining your strategy based on your type of business
Different types of businesses, and business models, require different digital marketing approaches:
E-commerce
- Primary focus: direct conversion tactics, shopping ads, email marketing for abandoned carts.
- Secondary channels: socials, retargeting, SEO and for product/category searches.
Service-based
- Primary focus: content that builds trust, testimonials, SEO that targets geographic keywords
- Secondary channels: email marketing and thought-leadership content
Local businesses
- Primary focus: Google business profile, SEO that targets geographic keywords, location-based paid search
- Secondary channels: community-focused social media, email marketing
B2B companies
- Primary focus: LinkedIn presence, education content, case studies, webinars
- Secondary channels: email marketing, SEO for industry-specific keywords
Another important element to consider is reporting. Analyzing website and paid campaign data helps you determine how your digital marketing strategy is performing. As a baseline, we review our clients’ custom reporting dashboards at least once a month. As time passes, you can get an idea of how you may need to pivot.
When to adjust your strategy
Digital marketing requires ongoing refinement in order to get the most out of your time and money! Consider adjusting your strategy if:
- KPIs continue to underperform your set target
- Significant market changes occur in your industry
- New audience behaviors emerge
- Platform algorithms or policies change substantially
- Your business objectives switch
- New opportunities or channels become relevant to your audience.
By thoughtfully evaluating what to include in your digital marketing strategy (and what to exclude) you’ll create a focused approach that maximizes results while making efficient use of your resources.
Want to discuss any of the channels mentioned above? We can help craft the most ideal digital marketing strategy for your business goals.
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