Digital marketing is here to stay. While there isn’t a clear-cut set of guidelines for creating a flawless digital strategy, at Neolane we believe there are certain steps marketers can take to execute effective campaigns and position themselves for success in our ever-evolving digital world.
Step 1: Become a Student
The first thing a marketer should do, similar to a student preparing for a test or writing a paper, is study the material that’s available. Study up on your competitors to see what kinds of content they’ve published, steps they have taken to circulate this material, and any other tactics they have used to establish a digital footprint. Use this information to formulate your own ideas as well as determine what you could do better.
Step 2: Target an Audience
As shown in the Back to the Basics post, identify your customer as individuals by crafting messages that fit their needs. Always ask yourself who you are trying to reach and why, and make sure to use any available data about your customers or prospects to create a personalized experience.
Step 3: Ask for Opinions
Before executing your strategy, when all your research has been done and the audience has been determined, ask others who were involved in the process for their opinions. Pitch them your strategy and see if they have any additional thoughts; it’s possible they could bring something to your attention that you’d never thought of!
Step 4: Versatility Is Key
Make sure your strategy appeals to your entire audience no matter what customers’ preferred channels may be. With the marketing industry being infiltrated by mobile devices and other new channels, it’s important for marketers to establish a presence in as many areas as possible. Cross-channel efforts, whether via mobile or email, are vital to a successful strategy.
Step 5: Patience Is a Virtue
Although measurable results are the most important factor in executing a strategy, don’t expect to achieve the greatest results right from the start. Relationships with customers take time to develop; strategies will integrate and mature, enabling stronger efforts in the future. The key is to wait patiently for all the parts to come together. While this may take time, forcing unwanted or unprepared messages could easily backfire.
Step 6: Learn From Your Experiences
Once your strategy has matured and become fully established, take a step back and evaluate your successes and failures. The only way to create a flawless digital strategy is to admit to your mistakes and do things different in the future. In other words, make sure history doesn’t repeat itself.
Step 7: Keep Records
Make sure you are documenting everything from meeting notes to sign-offs from your boss. You may need these at any point throughout the strategy as back-up. Having some written proof to fall back on is always a good security blanket to have, if need be.
Creating a flawless digital marketing strategy could prove challenging, but following these 7 steps could ensure you are on the right track as a marketer. Just remember to know your audience, learn from your own work as well as competitors’, and execute the strategy across as many channels as possible.
©iStockphoto.com/sweetym; Atanas Bezov
