The internet is a huge place. There are many different channels. There is social media, Search Engine Optimisation, direct marketing, Pay-Per-Click and content marketing. Your digital marketing strategy encompasses all of these channels and makes it simple and straightforward, so you can quickly figure out what works and build on that. At the same time, you can also easily see areas for improvement and change your game plan accordingly. You also have to eventually work on maximizing your results in terms of efficiency.

By doing all of this, you position yourself to continually receive improved results from your digital marketing campaigns, optimising your advertising spend and reducing wasteful costs. A digital marketing strategy is vital to ensure you are advertising on the right platforms, to the right audience with the correct budget.

What you will need in order to create an effective Digital Marketing strategy

Step 1: Figure out what your main objective is for your online marketing campaigns

The first step in putting together a workable digital marketing strategy is to be clear about your objective. Are you looking for more sales? Are you looking to build a brand? Are you looking to increase awareness of new products that you're releasing? Are you looking for people to follow online and be up to date with developments in your company?

These are different objectives. They are separate from each other. They're definitely related to each other, but if you confuse them with each other, you're going to get substandard results. You have to clearly identify what your primary objective is for your online marketing campaigns. You have to sort them out in terms of importance and be clear on which objective is top priority. Objectives act as initial maps that not only spell out where you need to go but actually play a large role in selecting the options you should consider in getting to your final objectives.

Step 2: Identify who your audience is

You have to be clear as to who you are trying to reach. It's a good idea to draw up a list of demographics and psychographics of your audience. It's also a good use of your time to figure out their habits online. Once you get a clear idea of who your audience members are, you can then start planning a more effective online marketing campaign.

Step 3: Find your audience online

The good news is that regardless of how seemingly specific your audience is, they can be found online. Either they read particular blogs or they frequent certain websites, or they prefer a certain social media platform. These provide all the clues you need to identify where your target audience hang out online. Using competitor research as one of your foundation elements in your Digital Marketing Strategy can assist in making the process of finding your target audience less tedious. Find their social media accounts, find their blogs or allied blogs, look at their keywords and the keywords that they rank for at search engines. This information gives you a great head start. You're not starting out completely in the dark.

Step 4: Craft a messaging strategy

Now that you have a clear understanding of where your audience can be found and how they prefer to be addressed or communicated with online, put together a messaging strategy that fits their habits.

Step 5: Prioritise channels

At this stage, you can go with SEO- Search Engine Optimisation, begin blogging, use social media marketing methods (on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn or Pinterest) or use a combination of these techniques. There are many ways to attract your ideal client online. But given the fact that most businesses have budget limitations, you may have to prioritise.

Follow the 5 steps above. Customise them for your business model. Keep experimenting until you get the results you're looking for. The more you play around with different possibilities, the clearer patterns appear. This will increase the chances that you’ll be able to put together just the right plan to produce the results you’re looking for.

Feeling overwhelmed? Contact Loud Crowd Media to help you create a winning Digital Marketing Strategy!