5 Tips to Help Develop Your Digital Marketing Strategy
You heard it here first—building a sustainable digital marketing strategy doesn’t have to be stressful! Small business owners often get overwhelmed when it comes time to present their products or services to the world. These 5 tips from our CEO, Madeline Reeves, can help you take some of the stress out of developing a marketing strategy.
#1: Start with Research & Reflection
Strategy starts with research and reflection! The best brands are always evolving in order to keep up with changes in their industry and company. Before you look forward, take a moment to look back and assess.
Here are some questions to reflect on:
Which marketing channels generated the most traffic to your website?
What types of posts performed best on each platform?
What core topics were most engaging to your audience?
Which emails/newsletters got the most engagement?
What content led to sales or leads?
Which social media platform had the best performance?
How has your brand evolved in the past year?
What changes or shifts have you seen in your industry?
How does your marketing need to shift in response to these evolutions in your business and the wider landscape of your industry and the world at large?
#2: Stay Up-to-Date On Marketing Trends and Changes
A sustainable marketing strategy allows businesses to reach a broader scope of customers in a more targeted way. Keeping an eye on what’s working will help you market like a pro. Here are shifts in digital marketing that have changed the way businesses are communicating with their customers:
Human Centric Marketing
People want to buy from people, not brands! Bring your heart and empathy into your marketing strategy.
Video Marketing
Videos are becoming more relevant in social media. The ability to livestream, combined with the popularity of videos, means more businesses are marketing with videos instead of still photos.
Email Marketing
Emails are an effective and reliable way to connect with customers.
Micro Influencers
The influencer market is the fastest growing digital marketing channel. Companies are discovering that their customers' purchases align much more with the recommendations of micro influencers compared to macro influencers. People want to buy from people like them!
Increase In-Person Events & Activities
In a post COVID era, Zoom fatigue is real. Many companies are moving their workshops offline in an effort to gain back good old fashioned human to human interactions.
User Generated Content (UGC)
Lean into customer reviews, photos, and videos to build trust and brand recognition.
Scale Your Audience Through Partnerships
One of the quickest ways to expand your audience is to leverage the community of another brand. Creating partnerships with individuals or companies allows both parties to cross promote one another and reach new customers. Forming more formal affiliate partnerships is another way to boost your income!
#3: Align With Your Ideal Audience
Your ideal audience represents all of the people you want to reach and connect with. Having a clear picture of who you want your audience to be will help you market to the right customers. Chances are, your ideal customers will share your brand values, your communication style, and understand the value and benefit that your company offers.
To figure out who your ideal audience is, answer these questions:
What is their background?
What kind of content do they like to consume?
What social media platforms do they use?
What problems do they have that your business can solve?
#4: Explore Marketing Channels
Exploring fresh ways to market can be a great way to bring in new customers and grow your business. Consider trying out one of these 9 ways to promote your company—you never know what kind of results you’ll get until you try!
Online advertising
Referral programs
Offline advertising
Events and conferences
Content marketing
#5: Shape Your Marketing Strategy
When building out a marketing strategy, consider the 4 C’s:
Curation
Create content with the right people that has the right information, and release it at the right time.
Consistency
Speak regularly to your audience, but only when you have something valuable to say.
Content
The content you create should be appropriate to share with your audience given their interests and values.
CTA
Every blog post, email, or piece of content you create should have a call to action. What action do you want your audience to take after they read, watch, or listen to what you’ve created?
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Shaping digital marketing strategies and creating a strategic plan is all about reflecting on your business’ products or services and the customers you market to. Great marketing is about telling a story and showing people how your business can add value to their lives.
If you want to dive deeper into how to build a marketing strategy, check out our webinar replay: 5 Steps to Set Up Your 2023 Marketing Strategy!