A Digital Marketing Strategy is a plan or course of action towards achieving set marketing goals. Goals are determined by what your business objectives are and in order of priority. Once these goals are set, Digital Marketing campaigns will be developed and executed to achieve them.
It is important for any business but especially small businesses to have a digital marketing strategy in today’s ever changing world and the rise of the digital era through online sales, and the effect of covid etc. More and more of us are shopping online.It’s important to set out targets and achieve goals, seeing how well the business is performing and how one can improve or maintain. Knowing your consumer base and understanding why & where they spend their time
It’s a plan on how you are going to grow a product/ service/ business through the fundamental stages of business growth through its success and how to calculate and analyze that success across different variables. How you plan to get to market.
- What – is the product etc
- Who – are our consumer
- Where – targeting them
- Why – this product, USP
Measure your current success:
Current success for YDY, Product development, creating brand awareness through world of mouth and informing customers of the product. Building an online presence through social media outlets and creating content for these channels.
Instagram – Instagram business – allows you to track and record activity through KPI’s. Depending on what KPI you use. I.E – unique visitors, page per visit. It also allows you to share ads with facebook.
Facebook – is another platform that goes hand in hand with instagram. Allows you to track your audience, see engagement with your Facebook page and track your performance.
“YDY – will be using instagram business as its number one source in creating brand awareness and selling online. “
Goals:
Goals allow you to analyse performance and help achieve those set goals. Goals must be set to have data to compare a variable. They must be realistic and attainable. Having high goals can be a good thing as it means you believe in product/ service and want the best for it. Can also be a bad thing – setting goals to out of reach can make it hard for a business to achieve certain goals. So it’s advised to have short and long term goals. So you can work towards an overall goal.
They say “shoot for the moon even if you miss you’ll land among the stars” is figurative, meant to inspire people to pursue ambitious goals, reasoning that even if they fail to achieve them, they may still accomplish other great things while trying. Explainxkcd.com
*Tip: make sure that your goals areSMART(specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and timely).
Depending on your overall goal you can break it out to short term goals so you can analyze and improve performance if needed. Which will hopefully lead you to your main goal.
“For YDY my goals have slightly changed consistently throughout the year but always been focused on establishing a household name for the brand. As this product is targeting the hair & beauty industry and cosmetics. My goals for this product are different to the overall band. As this is the starting point for the brand and product – its about building that brand “
“For me currently starting an online business by selling YDY sea salts from my home and online.“
Short Term Goals:
- Within three months, I want to have 25 orders per month
- Within six months, I want to have at least 500 followers on Instagram
- Within 1 year, consistent sales.
Long Term Goals:
- Within 8 months, I want to have 100 orders per month.
- Within 12 months, I want to have at least 1000 followers on Instagram
- Within 12 months, I want to see profits for the business
- Within 12months + selling on amazon.
Long Long Terms Goal: 24 Months +
- Establish a sustainable clothing line, whereby t-shirts are made from recycled material / natural. Environmentally friendly.
Create a Digital Fingerprint:
The main objective of an online business is to generate sales and create awareness. Currently during the pandemic we have seen a rise in online business. More and more people are taking the leap into entrepreneurship and have their E-commerce. This means there is more competition, market saturation. It’s essential to have a digital fingerprint and is achieved through a webpage or web presence.
Why is having a webpage so important?
A website is also important because it helps to establish your business. In fact, customers today expect serious business owners to have an online presence. A well designed, informative and updated website will add credibility to your business and strengthen your brand. Blue16media
81% of retail shoppers conduct online research before buying. The overwhelming majority of retail consumers start their journey with online research. You need a place where they can easily find information about your business. Secondary research for the consumer, What you sell, why, who you are, your product, reviews from previous buyers to bring that extra credibility to your brand and could convert a visitor into a client.
Websites come in many forms in terms of look and cost. It is more common and with technology advances etc websites are not a luxury, they are essential in creating credibility and resonance.
Number of ways to create a website:
- Google MyBusiness
- Wix
- WordPress
- Socal
Google My Business is one of the best and easiest ways to provide visibility, so it can be found online. With a few clicks, you can set it up totally free, list your business location on Google Maps and local search results and gain reviews from customers that already got your product / service.
Wix / WordPress – Are platforms where you can design and create a website.
Social – With the like of instagram now letting you sell on its platform, it makes it easier for the consumer. To View, Click and order with the help of shopify.
USP – Unique Selling Point:
Having a USP or a niche is very important for a business, it’s what separates you from our competitors and can align you with your customers.
It’s the one feature or the perceived benefit of a good which makes it unique from the rest of the competing brands in the market. It is that very reason which motivates a buyer to purchase that product even though it might be costlier than other products.USP
Ways to narrow down your USP:
- Who are your target audience
- Explain what problem you solve
- Something unique that you offer that no one does
- Branding
YDY – Uses all natural ingredients – all in one – as well as this the product is perceived to have NO RULES. Trial and error. Everyone is different and so is our hair. Different ways to use, achieve different looks.”
“Research has shown many products offer one main specific ingredient. Ie argan oil whereas YDY offers multiple ingredients combined. Also the size of the product is one of the biggest on the market offering 250ml. At a low cost “
Researching your competitors:
is important to see how you differentiate yourself from them and to see what they’re doing and how well they’re doing it. Depending on how long the online business is running and its success will determine the steps they took to secure. SEO, website, ads, social, pricing etc.
Target audience refers to the specific group of consumers most likely to want your product or service, and therefore, the group of people who should see your ad campaigns. Target audience may be dictated by age, gender, income, location, interests or a myriad of other factors.
“YDY – Target audience is social media users – specific group of people you want to reach with your social channels. They are the people who are most likely to be interested in your content, products, or services. They are likely united by some common characteristics, like demographics and behaviours.“
Content is king:
Content is highly important, for an online business. When you start your online business you rely on online traffic to bring sales to your business if you want it to be profitable, and social networks have the potential to bring millions of views to your product and to your webpage where they could eventually be sales.
Achieving and building an audience:
- Bring value – What makes the consumer want to follow you – Like / share
- Schedule content – Be consistent – Repetition
- Be creative – Adds value
Social strategy:
- Creative content
- Use trending hashtags
- Add emotion
Content marketing is a strategic marketing approach focused on creating and distributing valuable, relevant, and consistent content to attract and retain a clearly defined audience — and, ultimately, to drive profitable customer action.
As a business owner it is one of the only ways to engage and express who you are and your brand is to your consumers and potential consumers. Having a duty to create appealing, interesting, outside the box content that gets noticed. Appeal to the emotions, they’re ideal and actual self – shock factor etc, Make them want to engage or feel.
Influencer marketing is a strategy that identifies people who have a strong influence on a brand’s industry or target audience. In an influencer marketing strategy, a brand forms a partnership with the influencer wherein the influencer agrees to expose their audience to the brand’s messaging or content.
SEO:
SEO – Search engine optimization increases your sites visibility organically. The Better your pages visibility in search results, the more likely you are to gain attention and attraction from prospective and existing customers.
Gives smaller companies the opportunity to compete with larger companies online by being more visible and appearing at the top of search engine results. Majority of consumers these days use (google) search engines to find what they are looking for online. It’s important to place on the first page of the search results, keywords related to your product and to the consumer searching.
As a consumer myself I know how important it is to be on the first page – how do we improve our seo and get onto the first page. 5 ways
- Publish Relevant Content.
- Update Your Content Regularly.
- Metadata.
- Have a link-worthy site.
- Use alt tags.
- Mobile enabled
More tips to improve your Seo, HERE
Email marketing:
Email marketing is the highly effective digital marketing strategy of sending emails to prospects and customers. Effective marketing emails convert prospects into customers, and turn one-time buyers into loyal, raving fans.
- Consumer to send to
- Add an Email Service Provider
- Grow consumer base – Lead Magnet
Lead magnet – is something you give away in return for an email address. Ie discount , invaluable information on upcoming products etc.
Conclusion:
The important of a Digital Marketing Strategy for small businesses to establish where they want to be in the market, setting objectives and achieving results. It’s a guide for a business to keep on track and performing. It creates an opportunity to grow and establish connections with your consumer. Together these Digital marketing strategies can be combined and used to create a competitive advantage over your competitors, bringing in more for you. If you want to see how I’m doing follow me on Instagram and see my progress and support:
Please visit International Institute Of Digital Marketing™
The step by step progress I’m following, which can be rearranged.
- Establish the brand
- Create content
- Create a webpage
- Google my business
- Social presence
- Competitor research
- SEO
- Influencer