You’ve probably been there. You’ve logged on to a blog or website, perhaps even written one yourself, and you see a picture of a smiling cat or dog and the words “click here to learn more about XYZ” in an eye-catching font. You know what? You’re stuck! You want to learn more about that subject matter but you can’t figure out which one to start with. Maybe you’re considering going back and learning how to code, but you wonder if that’s really going to help you navigate the world of online marketing.

Before you know it, you’ve spent half an hour or more just trying to find out what that cute animal is called in real life. Maybe you learned something useful in the process, but now you’re really frustrated. You wonder, is there an easy way to learn about marketing online without wasting hours Googling random factoids?

If so, you’re in luck because you’ve landed on the right page. We’re going to teach you how to build an online marketing campaign in three simple steps so you can get back to focusing on growing your business.

Step one: Set a goal.

The first thing you need to do is set a goal. What do you hope to see from your marketing efforts? Are you looking to grow your email list to 10,000 subscribers? Do you want to increase your social media presence by 1,000 followers? Or, are you simply looking to grow your website’s traffic by 10 percent this year?

These are all great goals. Just make sure you define them clearly so you can set a solid foundation for the rest of your campaign. Make sure you measure your progress along the way. Without a goal, you’ve got no roadmap and no idea what to do next. Setting a goal will also keep you motivated when things get tough.

Step two: Create a buyer persona.

Now that you’ve got a goal in mind, you can brainstorm tasks you’ll need to complete to achieve it. What will you need to do to grow your email list? Will you need to become a social media influencer and gain 1,000 new followers? Will you have to write a book and become a best-selling author?

The key to driving sales is by understanding your customers’ needs and desires. If you can pinpoint a problem that your product or service can solve, you’re well on your way to becoming a successful online marketer. Use your buyer persona to define your ideal customer and create content based on their needs and motivations. You can find plenty of free tools that can help you map out a buyer persona. For example, you can use SurveyMonkey Customer and User Research to do this.

Step three: Craft compelling messaging

Once you’ve got a clear picture of what you’re trying to achieve and you’ve defined your buyer persona, you can craft compelling messaging. What will your marketing campaign be called? Perhaps you’ll want to use the hashtag #myfirstblog or #iambeadlady on social media to indicate your blog’s or website’s content.

The perfect headline for your blog post should grab your reader and compel them to want more. Take a few minutes to craft compelling messages for your blog posts and ads so when a reader encounters them in their inboxes or on social media, they’ll want to know more. Remember: too many words can turn your readers away. So, avoid lengthy sentences and lots of unnecessary words in your copy. Instead, use short phrases, specific words, and lots of action verbs.

Step four: Distribute your content

Once you’ve got your content ready, it’s time to spread the word. You’re going to distribute your content through various platforms like social media, email, and your website. The distribution platforms are where your target audience (your ideal buyer) is usually found. Keep in mind that not all your target audience will be found on social media, so you may need to reach out to bloggers and journalists to get coverage in top tier publications.

If you’re using blogging platforms like WordPress, you can simply use the built-in platforms to distribute your content. However, if you’re using a different website builder or CMS, you may need to look into third-party tools to do this. One of the best free tools for content distribution is Hootsuite. What is Hootsuite? It’s a content management system that can help you distribute your content to different platforms like Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn. You can even set up automated campaigns so when you publish a blog post, it will automatically be pushed out to the different platforms you’ve configured.

Automation is key. You don’t need to be hands-on with every aspect of your campaign, especially if it’s something you’re not used to. You can use tools to help you automate certain processes so you can focus on other aspects of your business.

Step five: Measure the results of your campaign

Finally, it’s time to measure the results of your campaign. How did your email marketing campaign go? Did you send out 20,000 emails and see a 5 percent click-through rate? Did you post on social media and see an increase in web traffic by 15 percent? Are you seeing an increase in leads right now as a result of your latest blog post?

Whatever your marketing goals are, it’s essential to track your progress. If you can measure it, you can improve it. Use tools like Google Analytics to track the results of your campaign and analyze the data. Look at the percentage of clicks compared to the number of impressions (websites that show up when someone searches for your product or service). Use this data to benchmark your progress and identify areas for improvement.

You can use Google Analytics to track the results of your campaign and analyze the data. (Google Analytics)

There, now you can build an online marketing campaign the easy way. Just follow these steps and before you know it, you’ll have a plan for driving sales on your terms.