1. Making Plans and Setting Goals
Knowing where you want to go and how you want to get there will be essential in making a roadmap to guide your digital marketing strategy. Setting short-term and long-term goals for your digital strategy will give you benchmarks to measure your progress.
Figure out which KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) you will use throughout the duration of the project so that you can demonstrate improvement at each step of the way. Then, establish milestones to ensure that project deadlines are met.
2. Bringing in the Right Personnel
Having people with the experience needed to bring your plans to fruition is essential. If you’re unable to hire on additional employees to launch your marketing plans, consult professional digital marketing resources regularly to get the assistance you need.
As you go, you will likely find that there are gaps in your knowledge about certain marketing topics. When these times present themselves, don’t be afraid to consult with digital marketing experts to get the advice you need.
3. Executing an Integrated Digital Marketing Strategy
Integrating sound SEO strategy, data driven PPC efforts, interactive social media, engaging blog content and effective on-page website content will give you a well-rounded digital marketing strategy. It will allow your company to attract customers, encourage brand loyalty and create brand advocacy.
Being Recognized as a Success
1. Outlining the Approach
Explaining exactly what digital marketing is will be important in gaining recognition from your superiors. People are far more likely to give their praise for something if understand it. Take the time to explain what exactly went into your digital marketing strategy – who did the work, how much time it will took, what the timeframe looked like for each activity and which benchmarks and KPIs were used. Make sure to allow time for questions and answer any that arise. Don’t be afraid to re-explain, as there’s often a steep learning curve.
2. Explaining the results
Digital marketing can be quite lucrative from a customer acquisition and retention perspective, but the benefits of digital marketing are not simply financial. Make sure to review the hard numbers for your more financially inclined bosses, but also discuss the softer benefits of customer experience, brand recognition, employee satisfaction and whatever other benefits your digital marketing strategy achieved. Remember, including things like voluntary customer communication and satisfaction surveys can help give a face to your success.
If you need help with your digital marketing efforts, contact us to learn more about what we can do to help you succeed online!
Kate Pierce is the owner of LionShark Digital Marketing LLC, a West Michigan internet marketing company. Her areas of expertise include Paid Search, Search Engine Optimization, Social Media, Web Consulting for small businesses, Copywriting and Local Online Marketing. She lives in the Grand Rapids area with her husband and enjoys cooking, watching sports and spending time outdoors. Like a true digital marketing expert (i.e. geek), she loves talking about marketing theory and SEM trends… so don’t say you weren’t warned