Your customers are interacting with your brand whether you like it or not, so it’s important that you’re providing them with a good experience when they do. And one of the best ways to achieve this is through good online marketing.
Let’s explore how to create a successful online marketing strategy in detail.
Define a Niche
Niche is a word used to describe a small market or segment within the large market for a product or service. When you narrow your consumer base through targeted marketing, you are establishing a niche and differentiating yourself from the competition.
Defining your niche will help you determine your target audience and what types of content and marketing campaigns you should be focusing on to entice them to become a part of your brand. When picking your niche, make sure that there is enough demand for your product or service in your chosen niche. You can use social media platforms, such as Twitter, to find out what types of themes and hashtags are trending across multiple industries.
Determine Your Marketing Goals And Objectives
With your niche in mind, you can begin to formulate your marketing goals and objectives. These are the results you wish to see from your marketing efforts and they should be measurable. For example, if you are a salon and you wish to attract more women to your salon, your marketing objectives could be to increase web traffic to your website, boost social media engagement or get more customers to try out the luxury products you offer.
These goals should be measurable, so if you can’t track a significant increase in web traffic, you’ll have to reevaluate your strategy and maybe try a different tactic. It’s also important to set measurable goals and objectives. This will help you determine if the results you are seeing are due to sheer luck or it was a well-thought-out and well-executed plan. In the end, you can’t grow unless you measure your progress, so this is vital.
Determine Your Audience
If you can identify the people who are most likely to become your customers, you will be able to tailor your content and engagement strategy to appeal to them. The key is to find the right people and the right place. You don’t want to waste your time and effort marketing to people who are not likely to become your customers.
There are several ways to define your audience, but the most effective method is to analyze the people who are already engaging with your brand. For example, if you own a café and you want to attract more customers, you could look at the people who have already shown interest in your brand by visiting your website or social media accounts.
The more you know about your audience’s interests, behaviors, and expectations, the better able you will be to communicate with them and encourage them to become your customers. Additionally, you can use marketing analytics tools to identify demographic and engagement information about your website visitors.
Determine Your PR & Digital Marketing Campaigns
Once you have defined your audience, you can begin the process of determining your public relations and digital marketing campaigns. These are the channels through which you will disseminate positive information about your brand.
Your brand voice, messaging, and approach should be consistent across all your marketing channels, so you don’t have to repelice it and remind people you are a professional brand. Make sure that your PR and digital marketing campaigns mesh with each other and that all your materials reflect the same theme and tone. This will make your marketing more cohesive and help you achieve your goals more effectively.
Determine The Best Platform For Your Marketing
From a marketing perspective, the platform is everything. You need to pick a place where your consumers are congregating so you can engage with them. Once you have your platform, you can determine the type of content and the manner in which you want to engage with your audience.
You should have a clear idea of the demographics you are trying to attract and the type of content you wish to produce. Additionally, you want to pick a place where you can fully engage with your audience. Perhaps you are using social media to promote your blog posts, and you’d like to expand to Twitter or instagram. Or perhaps you are using online forums to engage with your customers and you’d like to migrate your efforts to reddit or hacker news.
The size and distribution of your target audience is also a key consideration. Are you trying to appeal to a specific demographic or are you trying to appeal to the masses? Regardless, you want to pick a place that you feel comfortable sharing your content and that has the needed amenities to give you a good experience.
There are various platforms designed for marketing and advertising, and you want to pick the one that gives you the best chance of success. For example, if you have a blog and you’re just starting out, you may wish to try and build your audience on WordPress.com. Not only is it the most popular content management system, but it also provides you with analytics tools to track the performance of your blog. If you’re looking for a more robust solution for creating and maintaining a blog, try WordPress.org.
If you’re trying to target a more specific audience, such as a specific demographic or those with a common interest or hobby, you may wish to use social media to find your audience.
Determine The Most Effective Way To Reach Your Audience
Once you have your platform and you know which demographics you are trying to attract, you can begin to determine the most effective way to get the word out there. Some ideas include investing in paid ads, creating blogs and articles, connecting with other brands and businesses in your niche, and sponsoring events or competitions for your followers and fans to enter.
You also need to think about incentives for potential customers. What will you offer them to get the word out about your brand? This could be anything from a discount on a product or service to an exclusive newsletter or coupon. However, make sure that these incentives don’t compromise your morals.
For example, if you are an ethical brand, you may wish to avoid rewarding customers with discounts as this could be construed as unethical. Instead, you could try offering them with a freebie or a unique badge to wear on their blog or social media accounts.
Determining Your Budget
Budget is probably the most important aspect of your marketing plan, because you have to determine how much you are able to spend on marketing campaigns and how much money you’re willing to spend. It is also a good idea to set a budget and adhere to it, so you don’t end up spending far more than you planned on.
There are several ways you can set a budget. The most effective method is to set a weekly or monthly budget and track your spending from there. If you are looking for even more detail, you can use a tool like Evernote to easily create and adhere to a budget template.
Plan Your Digital Marketing Strategy In Advance
Marketing plans are just that — plans. They are built on assumptions and are subject to change. However, if you want to create a successful marketing strategy, you should plan everything in advance so you can ensure everything is executed as you intended. This is where budget comes in — you have to balance cost versus expected results. If you want to create a digital marketing strategy, you should do the following:
- Set a monthly budget
- Determine your target audience
- Choose a platform
- Decide the type of content you’ll produce
- Determine your PR and digital marketing campaigns
- Determine the best way to reach your audience
- Determine your incentive strategy
- Choose a measurement plan
- Review your budget and choose a plan of action
You can also download our free marketing strategy template. It’s a great starting point for creating a brand voice, vision, and mission statement as well as a comprehensive roadmap for your future marketing efforts.