The Covid-19 pandemic saw the world change overnight. Businesses canceled their conferences, sporting events, and social gatherings. The tourism industry took a big hit, and education was disrupted for students, parents, and teachers.
Although the situation has improved, the world is still in a state of change. With the economic pain of the pandemic subsiding, businesses are now seeking to expand their operations and reestablish their offerings. One area that has been redefined is marketing. With the world shifting to digital, businesses must adapt their marketing approach to fit new consumer habits. As a marketing professional, you must ensure that your company’s digital marketing strategy is both sound and practical.
The Evolution Of Digital Marketing
The evolution of digital marketing is undeniable. From the humble beginnings of text messaging and website banner ads in the early 2000s to the immersive, complex user experiences of today, the industry has changed and evolved to meet the needs and expectations of consumers.
When most people think of digital marketing, they think about display ads, social media, and email marketing. While these are all important in developing a successful digital marketing strategy, they are only pieces of the puzzle. If you’re looking to create an online course to educate your customers or prospective customers on your products, services, and brands, you need to consider the full experience of a digital consumer in 2021.
The Three Pillars Of A Successful Digital Marketing Strategy
If you’re looking to create an online course, you have a lot to think about. From developing your learning objectives and course content to sourcing an instructor and delivery platform, there are plenty of factors that can impact the success of your program.
To ensure that your course is both useful and effective, you must consider the following three points:
1. Define your target audience.
Most marketers and business owners think about target audiences in terms of demographics, such as age, gender, and location. While these are important in defining your audience, you must also consider how individuals in your target audience discover, research, and purchase products and services online. Simply put, you must consider how people interact with businesses and your brands online before you begin your advertising and marketing efforts.
2. Measure and analyze your digital marketing results.
If you’re looking to create an online course to educate your customers or prospective customers on your products, services, and brands, you must consider how effective your course is in inspiring action. To do this, you must measure the results of your marketing efforts both internally and externally. You can use tools like Google Analytics to measure the success of your marketing efforts and plan your next move. With Google Analytics, you can segment your user base according to their lifetime value, purchase path, and demographic details. You can use this information to determine what content and marketing tactics are resonating with your audience.
3. Plan for the future.
To create lasting growth and maintain a high revenue stream, you must continually evolve and improve your marketing and sales efforts. To do this, you must plan for the future and consider the impact of emerging technologies and platforms on your existing marketing plan. When developing your digital marketing strategy, you need to ask yourself the following questions:
- What platforms do my target audiences favor?
- How do I intend to engage with my audience – both now and in the future?
- Which marketing measures will allow me to determine the effectiveness of my strategy?
- Where will I engage with my audience – both now and in the future?
- What’s the next biggest thing that will change the game?
- How do I intend to evolve with these changes?
- How do I intend to stay ahead of the curve?
- What’s my budget for digital marketing?
By answering these questions, you can establish a clear picture of how digital marketing will develop and change in the future. With this information, you can create a solid foundation for your online course and set the stage for its long-term success.
To create an online course that will appeal to your target audience and establish your expertise, consider the following:
The Learning Management System
To effectively educate your audience on your products, services, and brands, you must consider how you intend to deliver your content. The type of learning management system you use will depend on the platform you choose for the course. For example, if you develop your course for the Safari browser on macOS, you can use the excellent Safari Reader to create a seamless reading experience. If you use a different browser or operating system, you may need to look into alternative learning management systems.
Regardless, choosing a learning management system is only the first step. You also need to consider how you will engage your audience, what type of content you will include, and more importantly, how you will make the learning experience valuable. To do this, you must consider the following:
1. User-friendly design.
The interface of your learning management system and the quality of the videos and graphics you use to teach your audience must be of high quality. After all, you’re spending a lot of time and resources creating this course. Make sure that everyone who views your course has a good experience and that your investment is worth it.
2. Customizability.
Since your learning management system will be a big part of the course, you must ensure that the layout, fonts, colors, and more are customizable to fit your needs. Not only does this make the experience of your audience more personal, it also allows you to create a more professional-looking course.
3. Integrations.
Integrations are a great way to add value to your course and make it more convenient for your audience to learn. For example, if you’re using Google Sheets as part of your course, you can easily integrate YouTube, where you can add video tutorials, to create a more engaging experience.
The Instructor
You must decide which experts you will use to teach your course and consider their experience, knowledge, and qualifications. Since you’re paying for their services, make sure that you choose instructors that are a good fit for your course’s content and that can create a compelling and valuable learning experience. You should also hire an instructor who is a native English speaker and who has a lot of experience in teaching online courses.
The Course Content
The course content you include in your course will depend on multiple factors. First, you must consider what your audience wants and needs in terms of content. As a general rule of thumb, simpler is better. Include only the essentials and cut out the fluff. Second, you must develop content that is valuable and engaging. This might mean doing some research into what makes people interested in your subject matter or looking into the subject matter from a different perspective. For example, if you’re educating someone on mobile apps, you can either create an online course about mobile apps or you can create an online course about marketing on mobile apps. Which one do you think would be more interesting and valuable to your audience?
The Delivery Platform
Since you’re delivering your content online, you must choose a delivery platform that is both secure and comfortable for your audience. To provide a good experience for your audience, consider using a cloud-based learning management system. Since your audience will be accessing your course from any device, ensure that the layout and functionality of your learning management system work well on any type of device. Also, make sure that your chosen platform is flexible and easy to use so that you can create and manage your course content with little effort. If you’re looking for a secure and robust platform that offers a lot of customization, then you can’t go wrong with HubSpot.
To create an amazing online course that will appeal to your target audience and establish your expertise, consider the following:
The Course Design
Like any other piece of marketing or advertising content, the design of your course must reflect your target audience and compel them to learn more. To create a good first impression, make sure that the design of your course is easy on the eyes and contains all the necessary information. Since you’re educating your audience on a particular subject matter, ensure that the design of your course is both clean and informative. When choosing a designer, make sure that they are creative, have great design sense, and are able to implement your ideas. With a little bit of planning and research, you can hire an amazing designer who will complement your course’s content and make it more engaging.