It used to be said that if you didn’t have a website, you may as well not exist. While that has never been truer, just having a website is no longer cutting the mustard. Having an integrated digital marketing strategy is paramount for success.
Customer expectations have changed. Almost all Australians have regular access to the Internet. Most of us, when we hear of a business for the first time immediately look for a website or social media profile where we can learn more. We don’t stop in for a visit. We don’t look you up in a phone book. We don’t consult a Rolodex.
People expect you to have a website, and if you don’t, they may doubt your legitimacy or disregard you as a potential option altogether. There’s a “bare minimum” standard that consumers expect to see from businesses online, so it’s imperative for businesses to at least achieve that. This is where a well-thought-out digital marketing strategy comes in.
1 – Align your digital marketing strategy with your bigger business goals
What are your most critical business goals, and how can digital marketing help you reach them? Whether you’re focused on acquiring new customers, taking your products or services into new markets, or building brand awareness, a digital marketing strategy provides the roadmap you’ll need. Your goals determine which tactics, channels, messages, and partners you need to focus on to generate real and measurable results.
2 – Be fluid and able to adapt to what’s working
One of the great things about digital marketing is the real-time data it provides.
You can see what messages or ads people are responding to within days rather than waiting weeks or even months to get tangible results from more traditional forms of marketing. This means that, for example, if you’ve created 3-5 great ads on Facebook and you can clearly see that one is outperforming the others, then you can push your budget towards that one or create similar ones.
This is the beauty of working with a digital marketing strategy. You can adapt easily.
3 – Don’t fall into the trap of thinking that all your customers are offline
There are lots of businesses that find their customers through existing partnerships and networking. Whilst there is nothing wrong with this, and it is an effective way to do business, it’s a biased way of working. If you’re only marketing offline, you’ll only attract customers offline.
There are over 5 billion Google searches every day and over 1 billion active Facebook users; surely at least some of those users might be interested in your business. If so, how much business could you be missing? A cohesive digital marketing strategy will combine both forms of marketing, and problem sorted!
5 – Don’t give up if it doesn’t work the first time
If you’ve tried marketing before and have seen little to no success, that doesn’t mean the marketing is inherently flawed—it means there was a flaw in its design or execution. This happens, even to the industry’s best, but rather than throw in the towel, make improvements by finding new partners, pursuing new channels, and increasing the quality of the data you work with and most of all learning from your mistakes and what didn’t work.
At TheOnlineCo. we have an expert team who can help you tailor a digital marketing strategy suited to your needs and preferences. We can work with you to take your business to the next level.
6 – Focus on building a better customer experience
Because digital marketing efforts produce real time data and allow us to see what our customers are responding to (or not responding to) it allows us to develop more personalised strategies for a better customer experience. As Forrester Research notes, a digital marketing strategy lets companies take “a user-centred approach to understanding the needs and behaviours of their omni-channel customers and filling in the experience gaps in a disciplined manner.
This means you can take the data you have collected across multiple digital platforms to build a comprehensive picture of who your ideal customer is and what they want, and then use this information to make sure you have steps in place to catch them at every available opportunity.
7 – Experiment with new approaches
The digital marketing toolkit is constantly evolving and changing. New technologies and expanding social media platforms are constantly being introduced meaning that brands need to be aware of and stay on top of trends and proactively experiment with different formats, channels, and approaches to see what resonates with their audience.
An integrated digital marketing strategy helps brands effectively determine what’s working and what isn’t, and by knowing your online customer you can have a better idea of what new channels they may or may not respond to. Therefore, working with a knowledgeable team is crucial. At TheOnlineCo. we ensure our clients benefit from years of experience with the most up-to-date approaches.
Consistently Optimise
Be aware that what worked last year, or sometimes even last month or week may not work again this week. To stay in the game, and ideally stay ahead, you need to constantly improve your efforts. If you’ve created a great Facebook ad for example that is bringing in good leads, you can’t just set and forget. Eventually, the ad will run stagnant and start to underperform. If, however, you are consistently making little changes and tweaks or trialing new images, then you will be able to keep it purring along like a kitten. The same goes for landing pages, GDN ads, Google Ads, and so on.
