Making a good start is half of the work
When thinking about and developing your digital strategy it is easy to become overwhelmed with where you should start and how do you can develop a sustainable strategy that works for your business.
Some common questions we are often asked include:
- Who are your customers?
- What channels should you chose to reach them?
- What do they want to hear from you?
- How much time should I spend?
- How will you know what’s working?
We will talk through and answer these questions over the next few weeks…
Today we are going to discuss how to develop an effective strategy, how to set meaningful goals and measuring your success. As the saying goes, in all things a good start is half the work!
Read this post for an introduction to the basic concepts associated with developing digital marketing strategy.
You will need to consider and answer the 7 following questions:
- Why do you sell what you sell? Define your core brand messaging…
- Do you know who your audiences are? Define your targets markets…
- Do you know where they are? Prioritise your digital channels…
- Do you know what they want? What problem are you solving for your customers…
- Who are your competitors? Where are they and what are they up to…
- Do you have the resources to dedicate to digital activities? Budget, time and skills available…
- Do you actually need to digital marketing? What do you hope to achieve, and does it have real benefits for you?
When you these answers, you are ready to begin developing your digital strategy. This free planning tool is a useful resource you can use to help you as you gather this information and complete your research.
So what is Digital Strategy?
Simply put your digital strategy will be the steps you take to get from where you are now, to where you want to be in the future. Before we set out on any journey, we know both where we are starting from, and where we would like to get to. Your digital journey is no different.
Step 1: Your Starting Point – Where are you now?
As you plan any road trip you start with these two points of information: your starting point and your destination. How will you measure the success of your strategy? What are the indicators of this success? Defining your Starting Point will help you as you plan the journey and measure your progress.
Step 2: Destination – Where are you going?
Likewise, setting your destination – where you want to be in 12 months time – defining measurable goals and targets to track over time give you the ‘bookends’ of your digital strategy.
Step 3: Reviewing Resources
When you enter this information into any route planner, you will be presented with a number of journey options available to you. To determine the best route for you, you will consider your time line and available resources…
Things like your fuel levels (or budget) and whether you need a pit stop to take on additional resources or deal with deficiencies. In a nutshell, you will not start your journey without knowing that your car is fit to reach your destination.
A pit stop on your digital journey might include training, an event or product release, or hiring addition staff to add to your business resources & skill set. Planning these activities carefully will improve your efficiencies and speed your progress towards reaching your destination.
Step 4: Competitor Analysis: Congestion Ahead!
Another useful metric to check before setting out on any journey is the potential for traffic congestion on your planned route. Applying this concept to your digital strategy, you will review who your competitors are, where they are, what tactics they use and whether their digital strategy is successful.
Step 5: Tracking your Goals
When setting your target or destination, you might have a number of goals that you would like to achieve. The success of your strategy can be measured by your progress towards reaching these goals. So how will you know what’s working? You will track certain milestones to assess your progress…
Reviewing Success – Setting Milestones
In order to track your success, you will need to set goals that are measurable. You will review these goals and measure your progress towards reaching your destination. This might include increased following on social media, increased website traffic, audience engagement, CTRs, enquiries, leads and sales. These goals should follow the SMART model and be Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic & Time-bound.
Step 6: Paid Advertising
When you plan your journey you might see a paid toll option available on some of your routes. This usually means you have the option of taking a wider, faster more direct route for a small, additional cost. Paid advertising is the equivalent on your digital journey. You have the option to pay a little more in a number of ways (on social media or as part of your SEO campaigns) and this will help to speed your progress in reaching your destination.
This post gives you details on what you need to consider when planning a paid advertising campaign.
Following these steps will set you well on the way towards reaching your destination and achieving your goals. We are happy to talk through the process of developing your strategy and beginning your digital journey. To get in touch call us today, or request a free consultation call below.