Introduction to Digital Marketing

UNIT 1

Overview of digital marketing, Evolution of digital marketing, Importance and benefits of digital marketing, Digital marketing channels and platforms. Digital Marketing Strategy and Planning: Developing a digital marketing strategy, Setting goals and objectives, Budgeting and resource allocation. Campaign planning and execution, Monitoring and adjusting digital marketing campaigns.

Digital

Digital describes electronic technology that generates, stores, and processes data in terms of two states: positive and non-positive. Positive is expressed or represented by the number 1 and non-positive by the number 0. Thus, data transmitted or stored with digital technology is expressed as a string of 0's and 1's. Each of these state digits is referred to as a bit (and a string of bits that a computer can address individually as a group is a byte).

Marketing

Marketing is not about promotion or advertising only. Marketing is a complex topic or a concept which is used to make a comprehensive plan of action or a strategy to increase sell, create awareness about brands and products etc.

Introduction to Digital Marketing or Online Marketing

Today’s time of Internet has opened the gateway of tremendous digital marketing opportunities for businesses. By utilizing different channels of digital marketing, businesses cannot just share their product and services online; additionally, they can gain clients for their business, entice (attract) them and can convert them to boost their business profits. The speed and straightforwardness with which the digital media transmits data and support a business is astonishing. The world is super-connected nowadays and all things considered, marketing and advertising are no more the same as they once were. This is particularly valid because of the ascent of online networking, which has changed how organizations speak with potential and existing customers. Essentially, it is an aggregate term, which is utilized where advertising and marketing meet web innovation and different types of online media platforms.

Two Types of marketing

Ø Traditional Marketing

Ø Digital marketing

Traditional Marketing

The traditional way of marketing lets businesses market their products or administrations on print media, radio and TV commercials, bill boards,( large outdoor advertising structure) business cards, and in numerous other comparable ways where Internet or web-based social networking sites were not utilized for promoting.

However, traditional promoting approaches had constrained client reachability and extent (area) of driving clients’ purchasing conduct. In addition, traditional marketing methods were not quantifiable too,

Ø There are many facets (smart filters) of traditional marketing and examples might include tangible items such as business cards, print ads in newspapers or magazines. It can also include posters, commercials on TV and radio, billboards and brochures.

Traditional marketing is anything except digital means to brand your product or logo.

Ø Another overlooked means of traditional marketing is when people find a particular business through a referral or a network and eventually you build a rapport (a good understanding and communication with someone) with them.

Ø Because of its longevity,( living for a long time) people are accustomed to traditional marketing. Finding ads in magazines and newspapers, or reading billboards are still familiar activities and people still do them all the time. Most of the time, traditional marketing is reaching only a local audience even though it is not limited to one.

Ø There are some aspects where traditional marketing wins over the online advertising battle, which include Target Local Audience, Materials are for keeps, more personal and Simpler process.

Ø One of the primary disadvantages of traditional marketing is that the results are not easily measured, and in many cases cannot be measured at all.

Ø In most cases, traditional marketing is also more costly than digital marketing. And perhaps the biggest disadvantage today is that traditional marketing is static (staying in one place without moving) which means there is no way to interact with the audience. It’s more like you are throwing information in front of people and hoping that they decide to take action.

Digital Marketing

Ø Digital marketing is the act of promoting and selling products and services by leveraging (already have to achieve something new or better.) online marketing tactics such as social media marketing, search marketing, and email marketing.

or

Ø The term digital marketing refers to the use of digital channels to market products and services to consumers. This type of marketing involves the use of websites, mobile devices, social media, search engines, and other similar channels. Digital marketing became popular with the advent of the internet in the 1990s.

Ø   Digital or online marketing is the marketing mode of the global village. It is only obvious that the era of the internet will have its influence in every realm (n area of interest) of life.

Ø   The world of digital marketing continues to evolve and as long as technology continues to advance, digital marketing will as well.

Ø   Examples of digital marketing include things like websites, social media mentions, (Social posts that include a reference to your brand, either by tagging your brand (often referred to as @mentions) or simply mentioning your brand name in the caption.

) YouTube videos, and - banner ads. Specifically, digital marketing is similar to traditional advertising, but using digital devices.

However, digital marketing is considered a form of inbound marketing and its goal is for people to find you. Businesses put content (or ads) out for individuals to find.

Ø People may conduct an organic online search, a paid search, find your business on a social network or by reading content that has been published online such as a blog or an article. The more they see you or your content, the more familiar they will become with your brand and they will eventually develop a trust and a rapport with you through this online presence.

Ø One benefit of using digital marketing is that the results are much easier to measure; and another is that a digital campaign can reach an infinite audience. It is also possible to tailor a digital campaign to reach a local audience but it can also be used on the web and reach the entire globe when appropriate.

Ø Digital marketing is also a very interactive means of reaching an audience since it makes use of social outlets. There can be plenty of direct contact between the audience and the business which means that the business can get some very valuable consumer feedback.

Ø Benefits of Digital Marketing over Traditional Marketing include reduced cost, real time result, brand Development, non-intrusive, higher exposure, higher engagement,

Quicker publicity, non-interruptive, Good For All Stages Of Fields, Easy analytics and Strategy Refinement.

5 D’s of Digital Marketing

Digital Devices – laptops, desktops, smartphones, tablets, smart TVs, wearable devices, gaming devices.

Digital Platforms – social media, search engines, websites.

Digital Media – online ads, social media marketing, SMS, email marketing

Digital Data – apps, contact forms, surveys

Digital Technology – artificial intelligence, virtual reality (3D near-eye displays and pose tracking to give the user an immersive feel of a virtual world.), augmented reality (combines the real world and computer-generated 3D content)

Difference between Traditional and Digital Marketing

The following table highlights all the significant differences between traditional marketing and digital marketing:

Traditional Marketing	Digital Marketing
Traditional marketing is a marketing strategy that uses conventional (traditional)  channels of advertisement, such as TV, radio, newspapers, magazines, etc. to promote products and services of a business	Digital marketing is a modern marketing strategy that uses digital channels like search engines, social media platforms, etc. to promote products and services of a business
Traditional marketing is more expensive.	Digital marketing is very cost-effective method of promoting a product
Traditional marketing provides one-way communication between advertiser and audience. (information flows from a sender to a receiver in a single direction)	Digital marketing provides two-way communication between advertiser and audience
Traditional marketing is more trustworthy, as it is an old marketing strategy	In digital marketing, the degree of trustworthiness depends on the content and the reliability of the channel.
Traditional marketing can reach out to limited audience	Digital marketing can reach out to a large audience
Traditional marketing is limited to specific geographical regions.	Digital marketing can promote products internationally
Traditional marketing provides delayed communication.	Digital marketing provides immediate communication.
Traditional marketing offers low conversion rate	Digital marketing offers high conversion rate
Traditional marketing gives non measurable results.	Digital marketing gives measurable results
Traditional marketing cannot microsegment (strategy that divides a network into small, distinct segments) the audience depending on factors like interest, behaviour, age, etc.	Digital marketing can send personalized messages to audience depending on their age, interest, behaviour, etc
Traditional marketing is more effective in brand building	Digital marketing is less credible (believe) in terms of brand building
Traditional marketing is more time consuming.	Digital marketing is less time consuming
Traditional marketing is less flexible in terms of modification.	Digital marketing offers high-degree of flexibility in terms of modification.
Traditional marketing does not provide way of direct interaction between advertiser and audience	Digital marketing provides easy ways of direct interaction between advertiser and audience.
Traditional marketing has low ROI (Return on Investment)	Digital marketing has high ROI (Return on Investment).

Evolution of Digital Marketing

1990: The term ”Digital Marketing” was first used. In that particular year, ‘Archie” first search engine was launched. (Alan Emtage) 

1993: In this year first clickable web-ad banner was introduced.

1994: There was the launch of Yahoo (search engine/web browser) and the first e-commerce transaction, over Net Market.

1996: In this year small search engines were introduced i.e. Hotbot, Looksmart, and Alexa.

1997: There was the launch of the first social media site which is SixDegree.com. (Kevin Bacon) 

1998: This year was the changing year where there was the birth of Google, Microsoft launched MSN, (Microsoft Network) and Yahoo! Introduced Yahoo! Web search.

2000: During this year Internet bubble burst, (a quick decrease in value, or a contraction, that is sometimes referred to as a "crash" or a "bubble burst.") SixDegree.com shut down, and also smaller search engines were wiped out.

2001: This year’s first mobile marketing campaign (a plan to do a number of things in order to achieve a special aim) was introduced i.e. Universal Music.

2002: This year is the birth year of LinkedIn. (Reid Hoffman) 

2003: In this year WordPress was introduced and launched myspace

2004: This year was changing year when Gmail was launched, (Paul Buchheit) Google (Sergey Brin and Larry Page) goes public and Facebook goes live.

2005: YouTube was introduced in this particular year. (Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim) 

2006: Microsft launches MS Live Search, In this year Twitter (Jack Patrick Dorsey)  was launched, moreover Amazon’s (Jeffrey Preston Bezos) e-commerce sales crossed $10 billion.

2007: Tumblr is a microblogging website that allows you to create and follow blogs. (David Karp), Web streaming service: Hulu,(Bruce Campbell, Peter Chernin, JB Perrette, Mike Lang) and iPhone were launched. (the activity of listening to or watching sound or video directly from the internet)

2008: This year China take over America in terms of the number of users and even Spotify (Daniel Ek) was introduced to listen to online songs

2009: Google (Larry Page and Sergey Brin) launches Instant for real-time search engine results

2010: In this year Whatsapp ( Brian Acton and Jan Koum) was introduced to make communication easier.

2011: In this year Google Buzz shut down and also web overtake the TV viewership among the youth generation.

2012: There was a progressive increment in Social Media Budget that is up to 64%.

2013: Yahoo acquired Tumblr in this particular year.

2014: In this year so many things happened like Mobile exceeds PC internet usage.

2015: In this era, Snapchat (Evan Thomas Spiegel) was launched and also there was the rise of predictive analytics.

2016 – 2017: The Rise of Social Media Influencers and Influencer Marketing

2018 – 2020: Where Content Becomes the Key of Brand Management

2021 And the Future of Digital Marketing

 Importance and Benefits of Digital Marketing

Digital marketing allows you to reach your target audience online, in a variety of ways, on a variety of platforms. Digital marketing includes methods like social media marketing, content marketing, SEO, PPC, web design, and more.

It includes strategies that allow you to target your exact audience online — allowing you to make more sales, drive more traffic to your website, and increase your revenue year over year. By using tactics like social media marketing, content marketing, SEO, and PPC, businesses can use digital marketing to engage, convert, and retain their target audience.

1. Better Growth Options for Small business

The importance of digital marketing for business lies in the option to select your method of marketing as per your budget and reach a wider audience at a lesser cost. Even a decade back getting your product marketed especially for a small business was a task in itself. They had to resort to small level methods where the guarantee of success was close to negligible.

2. Higher Conversion Rate

The businesses that are opting for digital marketing are able to measure the conversion rate through real-time using a simple method. (priority-based and include a sense of real physical time to pass information from one system to another) That is identifying the percentage of viewers who get converted into leads and then subscribers and in the end finally purchasing the service or product. SEO, Social media marketing and Email marketing are methods which have a high conversion rate as they are able to generate a quick and effective communication channel with the consumer

Surprisingly all the traffic that you may get on your website may not be fruitful hence digital marketing lets you reach out to only those who have the need for your kind of service hence offering better lead conversions.

3. Establishing Brand Reputation

For any business to survive the one thing that they really need to work upon is establishing a reputation that is impeccable. In the past few years, it has become evident that customers will always prefer a company that does not have any scandals associated with it. The importance of Digital marketing today lies in offering you multiple ways to establish a personal rapport with your customer base.

4. Solving Customers Problems

Be it email marketing or social media you can always offer the customer solutions to their problems and make them relate to your product by even providing live chat access. Your website and social media page can easily be converted into a place where the consumer can ask queries, give suggestions and hence take the association with you on a positive level.

An example of how customer grievance (complaint) was addressed using social media

5. Engagement With Mobile Customers

After Google mobile-first update nearly almost all the websites these days are made in a manner that they are easily viewable on the mobile as well. This is because almost all customers have access to a smartphone and most of them even look for products on the same.

6. Expansion of Faith in Your Brand

The presence of your brand and service on multiple platforms gives the option to customers to rate your services as per their level of experience. A positive and favourable review left by a satisfied customer causes the new ones to immediately convert. This, in turn, leads to the building up of the strong image of the brand in the minds of the new consumers hence leading to more conversions.

7. Better ROI for your Investment

While earlier budget allocations were done individually to handle each kind of marketing medium the situation becomes more progressive now. Even a small level of investment done in a mode of email marketing has the potential to deliver results in terms of customer engagement. Using web analytics (the systematic computational analysis of data or statistics) helps the business owners know whether your website is providing optimal ROI.

8. Digital marketing is Cost-Effective

A small business needs to save up on its resources before it finally goes into the green zone and starts making profits. Digital marketing gives you the scope to reach out to many customers at the same time and that too within your budget. You can plan your marketing strategy such that you only use modes that lie in your budget. If there is a budget constraint then you should always target your niche (comfortable) audiences.

9. Potential to Earn Higher Revenues (the capacity to develop into something)

Since the amount of money invested is less and the ROI is more the scope to make money is much higher. As per a study conducted by IPSOS (multinational market research and consulting firm) Hong Kong in accordance with Google has shown that compared to traditional methods, digital marketing is known to generate 2.8 times more revenue.

10. Computable Form of Marketing

It is very difficult to track record of success from traditional marketing but with the use of digital marketing tactics, every step of success is measurable. Digital Marketing works in real-time as it shows the success of each and every tactic that has been used. Through this, you may choose the best tactics that show the best results. After that, you can easily make changes in your campaigns to achieve greater success. (Real-time systems are designed to process data in real-time, as soon as it is generated. These systems typically have strict timing constraints and must be able to respond to events in a timely manner. Examples of real-time systems include control systems for manufacturing plants, traffic control systems, and flight control systems.)

11. Expanding Audience Reach

The most important benefits of digital marketing are reaching your audience to the fullest. Under traditional marketing, you are being bounded by the scope and size of your audience and print media limits you to certain places and markets.

Targeted Audience Approach:

Digital marketing benefits you to target your audience. There are higher chances that your audience is spending time on social media platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, etc. where you can publish an advertisement to gain more engagement with your audience.

12. Easy Adapting of Tactics and Strategies (an action)

Another major advantage of online marketing is that they are very easy to understand. You can easily understand through the result of tactics which one is giving you results and which one is not. Strategies that are implemented in online marketing gives you results on a real-time basis.

For example, if you want to promote your blog page then you can simply share your blogs on various social media platforms. With the help of content marketing, you can increase your engagement with your audience very soon and very accurate.

13. Can Start with A Small Budget as Well

Everyone has a budget problem in life therefore many businesses didn’t promote themselves. But Digital marketing gives you another advantage of promoting your business with a very small amount. Online marketing benefits small businesses on a large scale with a small investment amount.

Research Study by Marketing Profs: (Professional)

According to the Marketing profs the data has been shared below that how digital marketing platforms helps various small-scale business.

Marketing Profs

For instance, if you are the manufacture of handmade handicrafts but you don’t have money to promote your business then online marketing would play a significant role as with an amount of 10,000 (ten thousand) you can publish your content over social media with a budget of 300 per day. Through this, you can promote your business for a period of one month especially to your targeted audience.

14. Go Beyond your Boundaries:

Using digital marketing for the promotion of your business is very unique in nature. You need to come out of your comfort zone and have to put some effort into it. Digital Marketing benefits you only if you are taking an active part in it. The role of digital marketing is very fast as it includes SEO, SMO, SME, and various other processes.

Digital Marketing Channels and Platforms or Types of Digital Marketing

Digital marketing channels, also known as digital advertising channels, are various online platforms and methods businesses use to promote products, services, or brands to consumers. Digital marketing channel examples include websites, social media, email, SEO, PPC, and content marketing.

Communication is bidirectional in Digital Marketing as businesses can communicate with customers and customers can ask queries or make suggestions to businesses as well. Medium of communication is more powerful and involves social media websites, chats, apps and Email. Digital marketing campaigns can be developed quite rapidly and with digital tools, channelizing Digital Marketing campaigns is easier. It is very effective for reaching global audiences.

Website Marketing: A website is the centrepiece of all digital marketing activities. It is a very powerful channel on its own, but it’s also the medium needed to execute a variety of online marketing campaigns. A website should represent a brand, product, and service in a clear and memorable way. It should be fast, mobile friendly, and easy to use.

Search engine optimization (SEO)

When a customer makes a search engine inquiry online, the closer your company’s page or site is to the first page of search results, the more likely a customer can be to click on your page. You can boost your company's SEO rating and ranking through factors that influence the algorithms that generate search results. By researching keyword data, comparing A/B testing (A/B testing, also known as split testing, is a method used to compare multiple versions of a single variable to determine which one is more effective) and analyzing traffic reports, you can gain more website traffic and earn higher ranking results in online searches to help advertise to potential customers.

One way to general local SEO is to market your business to your community and surrounding areas by listing your company name, location and phone number across your website and other platforms. The contact information acts like keywords and can help consumers find your business or prompt your page to show in search engine results pages.

Pay-Per-Click (PPC): Advertising Pay-per-click (PPC) advertising enables marketers to reach Internet users on a number of digital platforms through paid ads. Marketers can set up PPC campaigns on Google, Bing, LinkedIn, Twitter, Pinterest, or Facebook and show their ads to people searching for terms related to the products or services.

PPC campaigns can segment users based on their demographic characteristics (such as by age or gender), or even target their particular interests or location. The most popular PPC platforms are Google Ads and Facebook Ads.

Content Marketing: The goal of content marketing is to reach potential customers (Potential customers are individuals who have the capability and willingness to purchase your product or service, but have not yet made a purchasing decision) through the use of content. Content is usually published on a website and then promoted through social media, email marketing, search engine optimization, or even PPC campaigns. The tools of content marketing include blogs, eBooks, online courses, info graphics, podcasts, and webinars.

Email Marketing: Email marketing is still one of the most effective digital marketing channels. Many people confuse email marketing with spam email messages, but that’s not what email marketing is all about. This type of marketing allows companies to get in touch with potential customers and anyone interested in their brands. Many digital marketers use all other digital marketing channels to add leads to their email lists and then, through email marketing, they create customer acquisition funnels to turn those leads into customers.

Social Media Marketing: The primary goal of a social media marketing campaign is brand awareness and establishing social trust. As you go deeper into social media marketing, you can use it to get leads or even as a direct sales channel. Promoted posts and tweets are two examples of social media marketing.

Affiliate Marketing: Affiliate marketing is one of the oldest forms of marketing, and the internet has brought new life to this old standby. With affiliate marketing, influencers promote other people’s products and get a commission every time a sale is made or a lead is introduced. Many well-known companies like Amazon have affiliate programs that pay out millions of dollars per month to websites that sell their products.

Video Marketing: YouTube is one of the most popular search engines in the world. A lot of users are turning to YouTube before making a buying decision. There are several video marketing platforms, including Facebook Videos, Instagram, and even TikTok to use to run a video marketing campaign. Companies find the most success with video by integrating it with SEO, content marketing, and broader social media marketing campaigns.

SMS Messaging: Companies and nonprofit organizations also use SMS or text messages to send information about their latest promotions or give opportunities to willing customers. Political candidates running for office also use SMS message campaigns to spread positive information about their own platforms. As technology has advanced, many text-to-give campaigns also allow customers to directly pay or give via a simple text message.

Influencer marketing: Influencer marketing is when a business collaborates (to work together) with influencers to promote their brand across social networks such as Instagram, TikTok, or YouTube. It's a form of social media marketing and may be a piece of a business's broad digital marketing plan.

Influencer marketing can be an effective way to reach your target audience. To their followers, influencers are generally seen as knowledgeable and trustworthy figures, so they are likely to trust their brand judgment and product recommendations. Working with influencers can enable you to benefit from the goodwill they've built with their followers.

Digital Marketing Strategy and Why It Is Needed?

Increased internet use has forced established businesses to shift their focus from traditional marketing to digital marketing. Additionally, companies are adopting digital marketing strategies to withstand the complexity and uncertainties of the market, use advanced and modern CRM tools to build brand reputation, and exploit dynamic online mediums to reach their target audience, among others. (CRM stands for customer relationship management, which is a system for managing all of your company's interactions with current and potential customers. The goal is simple: improve relationships to grow your business.)

Digital Marketing Strategy

Experts define digital marketing strategy as using online resources to reach the target customer. Identifying where, why, and how a company makes a profit is one of the building blocks of a digital marketing strategy. It helps formulate a marketing plan that aligns with the business goals and customer requirements.

A brand has to evaluate owned, paid, and earned media while formulating a digital marketing strategy. While owned media consists of the organization’s communication channels, earned media and paid media are external communication channels.

What is the digital marketing strategy?

A digital marketing strategy is a plan for using online channels to establish an internet presence and achieve specific marketing objectives. These channels can include organic search, social media, paid ads, and other web-based mediums such as your website.

Why Digital Marketing Strategy is needed?

A digital marketing strategy is important for businesses because it helps them:

Attract customers

A digital marketing strategy helps potential customers find a business online by using search terms or location. 

Drive sales

Digital marketing can help businesses increase revenue and drive sales by reaching their target audience. 

Build brand awareness

Brand awareness is a key component of a successful digital marketing campaign. Happy customers are likely to tell others about their good experiences, which can help a business, grow. 

Improve customer engagement

Customer engagement is important for building strong relationships with customers. Engaging with customers helps businesses understand their needs and preferences. 

Make data-driven decisions

Digital marketing can help businesses understand if their strategies are working, if they are targeting the right audience, and more. 

Increase conversion rates

Higher engagement can lead to higher conversion rates, which can increase revenue per visitor. 

Provide direction

A digital marketing strategy can help a business avoid missing out on business opportunities and provide direction for success.

Digital Marketing Strategy Vs Digital Marketing Tactics and campaign

Digital marketing strategy is the process of identifying a company’s goals, and a digital marketing campaign is the process of actualizing (make a reality of) these goals. The success of a company’s marketing plan relies heavily on the proper implementation and completion of digital marketing tactics.

Tactics are not the same as a campaign, but they are both part of a marketing plan and are connected to a larger strategy:

Tactics

The actions taken to achieve a goal, often centered on a single platform. Tactics are the "bringing to life" of a strategy and vision. For example, a marketing tactic could be using Google Display Ads.

Campaign

A collection of tactics that are used to achieve a goal over time. A campaign can include many different types of actions, such as rallies, door-to-door campaigning, or sign waving. A traditional media campaign might include television, radio, print, and out-of-home ads

Importance of Digital Marketing Strategy

1. Competitive advantage over peers

Digital marketing strategy helps businesses take over their business peers. It suggests ways to evoke creativity and innovation in product design, development, and promotion, eliminating competition. (peers are customers who recommend a business or brand to their friends, family, or work associates. This is known as peer-to-peer (P2P) marketing)

2. Staying relevant

In the current business milieu, (the social environment that you live or work in) staying relevant (connected) is the number one priority of business organizations as it helps them (the company) to keep on top of new competition.

Digital marketing strategy helps companies achieve that will the help of modern tools and techniques.

3. Reaching a global audience

Digital marketing channels connect brands to a global audience by giving them the medium and exposure required to expand their business. (exposure-making something public)

Developing a Digital Marketing Strategy?

Step 1: Identify Target Audience and Build Personas (character)

A digital marketing strategy will only be as good as the target audience behind it. (Your target audience refers to the specific group of consumers most likely to want your product or service, and therefore, the group of people who should see your ad campaigns. Target audience may be dictated by age, gender, income, location, interests or a myriad of other factors) After all, they’re the ones who purchase your brand’s products and services. When identifying a target persona, consider the following items:

• Demographics: After identifying where to sell your products/services, determine if any key geographic areas may outperform others. Other demographic categories are age, parental status, household income, and more.

• Interests: What kinds of hobbies does your ideal persona have? This information can help shape content for the customer.

• Behaviours: How (and where) do these users consume content on the internet? Are they impulse shoppers? (making an unplanned purchase) What social platforms do they frequent?

Pain points: What problems are users trying to solve? This is the key area to focus on. By providing your target audience with a solution to their pain points and speaking to them in a way they understand, you’ll likely win a customer for life.

Step 2: Conduct Competitor Landscape Analysis

It’s important to understand the digital landscape before diving into digital channels. A competitive landscape analysis is a structured way to identify and evaluate competitors to gain a competitive edge. It can help businesses make informed decisions and develop strategies to grow their bottom line. (example-Google's main competitors are Yahoo!, Microsoft, Swiftype, and Inflow)

Some of the key components of conducting a competitor analysis include:

• Which competitors are bidding on relevant keywords you’d like to target?

• How are competitors messaging their target audience?

• Which channels are competitors advertising on?

• How do competitors rank organically compared to you?

• How much are competitors’ monthly digital ad budgets?

Third-party tools like SEMrush, SpyFu, Google Keyword Planner, and Google Trends can help answer many of these questions.

Step 3: Determine Necessary Digital Marketing Channels

Once you’ve figured out who your target audience is and where they hang out online, it’s time to determine the key digital marketing channels.

Ideally, a mix of channels will be chosen as it’s not best practice to choose one or two and put all your eggs in one basket.

The key is to diversify the digital channels and meet your customers where they’re online at any given point in time.

These channels will likely include any of the above in the digital strategy examples section.

Each channel identified should include its own set of KPIs. These are set by the marketers and greater business teams. (KPIs, or Key Performance Indicators, are quantifiable metrics that help businesses measure their performance against goals and objectives)

Be sure not to set the same KPIs and measurement goals for each channel, as they all serve different purposes.

Creating realistic measurement goals ensures that awareness channels are measured against awareness KPIs, such as brand lift instead of direct conversions. (free tool for measuring the effectiveness of your video ads, which you can use to adjust and improve your Video)

As with any digital channel, it’s important to understand how they can be measured. This step should include identifying a proper measurement platform, such as Google Analytics or another tool, to ensure that marketing dollars and channels can be measured. (understand the customer journey and improve marketing ROI)

Step 4: Create Content and Unique Value Proposition Plan

Once the digital channels have been identified, it’s time to plan your content for each channel.

The key is creating a consistent (standarad) messaging framework that can be reused and reworked in each channel. That way, you’re not starting from scratch each time.

For example, if you want to introduce your brand on YouTube or the Google Display Network, the content should not be focused on a direct conversion or a “Buy Now” CTA. That’s simply asking for too much on an initial brand awareness touchpoint. (A call to action (CTA) is a prompt on a website that asks users to perform a specific action like signing up for a newsletter, downloading a demo, or buying a product. A CTA can appear as a clickable button or as hyperlinked text, and is often seen directly on the page, in pop-up form, or in a digital marketing ad.)

On the other hand, for someone well on their search journey and looking for specific products and services, that could be a time to introduce discounts and special offers.

Lastly, make sure that what you’re providing your customers is unique and differentiated in the market. Conducting a competitor analysis first will help identify what’s currently being offered in the market.

Even if your product or service is similar to your competitors, it’s important to find a way to differentiate your brand.

Step 5: Execute and Optimize Digital Marketing Strategy

Once you’ve defined steps 1-4, it’s time to launch your digital marketing strategy. However, the work is not done yet. Your digital marketing strategy should be ongoing and fluid based on performance and the changing market landscape.

Digital marketing channels and campaigns should be continuously monitored and analyzed to ensure that marketing budgets and resources are utilized most effectively.

This should include daily, weekly, and monthly checkpoints in each channel. Monthly reports and quarterly business reviews (QBRs) should be conducted to provide opportunities to shift and pivot strategy based on findings. (A pivot strategy is a new approach a business uses when making a major change to its operations, such as a new product or service, or entering a new market.)

Summary

Digital marketing strategies are not a “one size fits all.” They also should not be the only strategy a brand has.

While it’s important to think about “digital-first” when it comes to strategies, it needs to align with the overarching business goals. (very important)

Don’t confuse strategy and tactics and end up rushing into a tactics-first approach.

By taking the time to create a solid digital marketing strategy, you’re setting the brand up for long-term success and the ability to pivot based on performance.