A business needs to be present where its customers are. And today, the customers are online.

As a business owner, you simply can’t just set up shop and cross your fingers with the hope that people find you. Instead, being a successful business owner means constantly marketing and promoting your business to get more eyes on your product or people walk through the door.

But, the words “Digital marketing strategy” is enough to intimidate new business owners.

Because creating a digital marketing strategy sounds an overly technical task. But, I assure you, it isn’t as intimidating as you might think it is—and you definitely don’t have to be a digital marketing expert to figure it out.

Today I will share with you how you can create a perfect digital marketing strategy to set up your business for success.

Let’s start with the first one-

STEP 1 – Know Your Business and Define Your Brand 

This is an easy one; you have to define what your business is about.

This same step you needed to do when you were starting your business and working on your business plan so this one shouldn’t be a difficult one.

Because nobody knows your business better than you do. Am I right?

After defining your business do a quick SWOT analysis—

Which details your strengths and weaknesses as an organization, as well as any growth opportunities, and threats that could affect that progress. 

Next, define your brand; Branding is more important to your business than ever. A strong brand identity increases the value of your company, motivates and provides direction to employees, and creates a strong follower base.

So have a clear picture of how you want to be seen by your audience. This will help you figure out the important question — why customers should choose you above others. 

STEP 2 – Understand Who Your Ideal Customer Is.

All marketing activities must be intensely concentrated on his or her prospective customers.

The identification of ideal customers and satisfying their needs by selling products or services that are right for those customers should be the primary goal of all business activities.

The greater clarity you have concerning your ideal customer, the more focused and productive your marketing efforts will be.

Suppose your business is to sell golf equipment. So, you would identify your target market as adults.

However, the idea here is to be more specific —

So you would not only know who will buy your product but also a little something about them.

So for this particular example, the customer should be:

1. between age 25 and 75 years

2. Must be living in large cities where golf course exists (the location where the product is marketed)

3. High monthly income

4. High net-worth

5. Mostly male

So, by doing this exercise you’ll create a buyer’s persona of people who are most likely to be interested in your product or services.

You’ll use this information to determine your key digital channels, selecting those favoured by your buyer’s persona.

The most common mistake business make is that – They think they have to be present everywhere on digital media—If your customers are not on let’s say Twitter or Instagram, then leave those channels and just focus on those where your ideal customer is.

STEP 3 – Define your Goals and Objectives

To properly define your goals and objectives ask yourself these questions

1. Why are you creating a digital marketing plan?
2. What is the end result you wish to achieve?
3.  Are there any specific targets you want to hit?

Like a journey without a destination, a strategy without specific goals won’t get you anywhere

Your goal could be anything, like

1. You want 100 new leads every month
2. Or you want to double Social media followers in 4 months
3. Increase email subscribers
4. Or more website visitors

But, remember you want your goals to be motivating and far-reaching, but not so difficult that they’re just discouraging.

And make sure you define them in such a way that they are measurable.

STEP 4 – Is to realistically assess your budget

Another very important step that is often overlooked by businesses while creating a digital marketing strategy is defining your overall digital marketing budget.

Your budget will serve as the primary restriction on what you can do with your marketing campaigns.

But, the good news is that digital marketing is relatively much cheaper than traditional marketing or offline marketing, meaning that the same budget will go further when you are using them in the digital space.

To figure out the right budget you need to set aside for digital marketing of your business ask yourself

1. What platforms you will focus on?
2. Will you use paid promotion (for example Google Ads or paid ads on social media)?
3. Do you have to hire a professional digital marketing company to carry out your marketing activities?
4. If yes! How much do they charge for their services?

When you’re setting up your digital marketing budget, the 70-20-10 rule is extremely helpful to allocate funds effectively. 

Spend 70 percent money on strategies you know work well for your business.

Spend 20 percent money on strategies that are moderately risky but appeal to newer audiences.

And final 10 percent money should go towards new innovative strategies of the digital marketing world, like emerging technology or experimental strategies.

STEP 5 – Track and measure progress

It is imperative to track your digital marketing efforts to make sure they are effective or they need any tweaks or changes.

The best thing about digital marketing campaigns is the ability to see what’s working, what’s converting, what is the return on ad spend and

How to optimize the campaign or change your approach for future marketing efforts?

Identify the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and measure the progress with Analytics and tracking resources.

Make sure you check the success of the individual elements of your digital marketing strategy at continuous intervals.

If something is not working and you’re not achieving the KPIs you’ve set out then revisit your previous analysis, personas and budget allocation and try something new.

But one thing to keep in mind is that…. when it comes to digital marketing most strategies take time to show results. Be it SEO, content marketing and social media… they all take a while to gain momentum.

Paid advertising does allow you to see results quicker, but the investment is typically higher.

In the end, just want to say Digital marketing is a long-term game, even if some of your goals are more short-term. Just know that the results you expect will come, your traffic will improve, and eventually, your business will grow.

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