Here, we will answer what a digital marketing strategy is and how to create one for your service-based business in 4 days.
What Is a Digital Marketing Strategy?
A digital marketing strategy helps set the direction for your everyday marketing activities. By having a marketing strategy in place, you have clear objectives to ensure your actions lead to growth and peace of mind. A great strategy aligns your team and empowers you to launch campaigns and promotional activities that more effectively engage potential customers, drive revenue, build brand awareness, and strengthen relationships with existing customers.
A Digital Marketing Strategy Should:
- Compliment Your Brand Strategy
- State Your Business OKRs
- Have Clear Marketing Goals
- Show the Customer's Journey Map
- Include Market Research
- Have a Gap Analysis
- Act as a Service Blueprint
- Include a Marketing Roadmap Plan
- Have a Sales Operation System Plan
How To Plan a Digital Marketing Strategy?
Your customers' goals should always be at the forefront of your mind as you try to understand them better and identify what's holding them back. To do this, start with the company's current process, data, and message. Then, research your category and discover opportunity gaps. By taking these steps, you'll be well on your way to writing a unique and engaging paragraph that will resonate with your readers.
If you have a team, try to ensure stakeholders and decision-makers can contribute to the digital marketing strategy sessions and create space for four days.
DAY 1
On the first day, try to clarify your business goals and the brand’s core message. If you are a startup, you can use a value proposition canvas to create a unique value proposition or UVP. This could act as a baseline for creating your brand messaging.
Tools you could use:
- Brand Personality Quiz
- Brand Messaging
- Brand Words Table
DAY 2
On the next day, try to better understand your customers’ goals and what’s holding them back. Research your customer and discover what they want, why they want it, and how they are currently solving this problem. Doing this can give you a guideline to follow to improve your product and services. During this step, you want to set aside thoughts on what the customer generally wants and consider what they specifically want from you.
Once you truly understand your customer, you can create something they want and need. Once you understand your customer's problems clearly, give your brand personality, so they can connect with it.
Once you understand what your customers want, you can look inwards to find if the disconnect is the messaging. Find out what has worked in the past, what is working now, and what has failed in the past.
Tools you could use:
- Customer Profile or Persona
- Customer Journey Mapping
- Value Proposition Canvas
DAY 3
Following this day, research your category and discover opportunity gaps by conducting competitor and gap analysis. Your marketing strategy should be based on extensive research and analysis to identify what factors could positively or negatively impact your business success. This research will form the foundation of your marketing plan and set the direction for how you can achieve your company's vision, mission, and business goals.
Tools you could use:
- Competitive Analysis
- SWOT Analysis
- PESTLE Analysis
You could use a tool like Semrush for competitive analysis and keyword research.
DAY 4
Once you've clarified the company's goal and understood what your customers want and how to position yourself in your category, it's time to map out the plan to bridge the gap between your customer and your service.
Tools you could use:
- Marketing Roadmap (What & When)
- Marketing Funnel Blueprint (How)
- Marketing Channels (Where)
Adding or linking your brand guidelines is also a great idea.
Conclusion
A digital marketing strategy helps set the direction for your everyday marketing activities. By having a marketing strategy in place, you have clear objectives to ensure your actions lead to growth and peace of mind. A great strategy aligns your team and empowers you to launch campaigns and promotional activities that more effectively engage potential customers, drive revenue, build brand awareness, and strengthen relationships with existing customers.
