How to Plan the Perfect Digital Marketing Strategy For 2016

 "Social & digital media is a bullet train, and that bullet train is not coming home." ~ Chairman, CEO, Starbucks

 

So, you have built a robust product, have been able to generate substantial amount of leads thanks to referrals and word-of-mouth marketing and you have a loyal customer base! What next? Let's tell you one thing; if you are not employing digital marketing, you are missing out on a huge chunk of the market. Here's proof:

• 84% of B2B marketers use social media in some form. – Aberdeen

• 38% marketers plan to shift spend from traditional advertising to digital advertising. – SalesForce

• You lose 97% of leads on leaky landing pages. - WordStream 

• 46% of online users count on social media when making a purchase decision. - Marissapick

So, why is Digital Marketing so vital?

• Reach out to a larger audience with personalized messages.

• Attain more customer engagement through various social media & digital channels.

• Along with gaining additional credibility & trust through loyal fan followers on social sites, you also get organic footfall on websites, blogs etc.

• Digital media is economical and has a wider reach when compared to traditional B2B marketing. An e-mail transmits the same message as a TV or newspaper ad that has a shorter shelf life.

• Easily track ROI with wide range of analytics and data.

 

Here are 5 Digital Marketing Management fundamentals that small businesses should keep in mind:

1. Understanding your target market

To begin with, knowing your audience is the key to your success. Here's how to go about it:

• What's your USP? Roll out all benefits 1st & then list out the problems your product/service solves.

• Try to figure out who are the people who'll face those problems, thus may need your product.

• Invest in a CRM software to identify customer demographics and patters.

• Identify your competition and observe their successes/failures. Why are you different?

 

1. Picking the right digital marketing channel

• Email marketing

• Pay-per-click ads (PPC)

• Content Marketing

• Affiliate Marketing

• Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

• Social Media Marketing – Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+, Pinterest

• Display ads

• Online Public relations

 

1. Developing an effective marketing plan

 

• Point out specific activities you plan to assume and targets you want to achieve

• Identify which activity is targeted to which audience – motivations & pain points

• How will you measure your conversions

 

1. Delivering the right message to your audience

For a concrete content marketing plan…

• Comprehend why are you creating the particular content piece?

• Develop customer personas to map the content to the buyer

• Conduct hands on industry research to get insights

• Flesh out SEO friendly content for various digital channels

 

1. Advertising on Social Media…WHY?

 

• Highly advanced targeting, brand recognition & loyalty

• Extremely efficient conversion tracking with higher inbound traffic

• Mobile marketing dominant

 

To have a winning digital marketing strategy all you need to do is shape the right message at the right time and make sure it's directed to the right person through the right channel. 

Source : articlesbase.com