Are you thinking of diving into the world of digital marketing? Whether you’re an established company looking to make a shift from traditional marketing, or a newer organization looking to build its brand, digital marketing is of the utmost importance to reach your customers where they are.
Digital marketing can be overwhelming if you’re unfamiliar — from understanding all the lingo and strategies to how it impacts your business. The Padula Media team is ready to help you navigate the complexities of digital marketing. Based in Chester County, PA, our team of digital marketing experts is able to develop a customized plan and strategy for you to meet your goals.
But where to even start? Let’s look at some key things to consider if you want to build a digital marketing plan.
Research and Analyze
Before you get started on a digital marketing plan, you need to understand where your business currently is, and where you want it to go. Are you looking to garner more leads? Or increase awareness? Take the time to understand what your goals are so that you can determine which digital marketing strategies to enact. The best objectives are set around actionable and measurable results — not vague ideas or general directions. Try and be as specific as possible when writing these objectives and key results out. The Padula Media team is always willing to consult with a client on how to set attainable and realistic goals.
Part of setting your goals should be to examine what has worked over the past year or so. Did you generate great results from one of your campaigns? What didn’t work? This is also a great time to do a competitive analysis to determine who your competitors are, and what types of digital marketing they are utilizing. You should know how your competitors are marketing themselves and how you can capitalize on their gaps in strategy. For example, if a top competitor is strong in SEO but weak in social media, you might be able to benefit from their lapses.
Budget and Strategize
The next step in creating a digital marketing plan is to determine your budget. Your budget will not only determine how much you spend but also which categories or channels are best suited for you. You should consider things like company revenue, position within the industry, your previous results, and forecasted goals. If your biggest objective is to drive leads, you might have to spend a bit more than a goal to simply increase brand awareness.
The good news is that digital marketing can be affordable and attainable no matter what your budget or goals are. If you are currently heavily investing in traditional marketing, you might be shocked at the cost-effectiveness of digital marketing!
Once you’ve set your budget, you should be able to start strategizing the content you want to create and which channels are right for the content. If you have a goal to increase website traffic, a quick (but sometimes expensive) option could be to run a Google Ad campaign. This will boost traffic fast and can give you an immediate boost, but might not be within your budget.
If you’re looking for no-cost or low-cost effective ways to start your digital marketing strategy, look into SEO and content marketing. These strategies can help you organically grow your online presence and are more affordable than running digital advertising campaigns to reach your goals. The key is to understand your audience, and the best places to reach them at all stages of the marketing funnel.
Whether you have a large budget or are just starting out, you should consider how these strategies will play out both short-term and longer-term. One way to visualize this is to create a content calendar that clearly outlines both your paid and organic marketing activations and how they will contribute to your overall strategy.
Execute and adjust
Once you’ve done the research required to set your digital marketing up for success, now it’s time to execute. The biggest key to success in digital marketing is keeping things consistent, so make sure you’re taking the necessary steps to follow your plan. There are tools and platforms that make executing your plan simpler. Consider investing in a marketing automation platform like Hubspot or Mailchimp to take some of the work off of yourself. It’s always better to work smarter, not harder!
As your campaigns are up and running, make sure you’re tracking the results so you can see how you’re progressing to your initial targets. One of the biggest benefits of digital marketing is that you can adjust as needed to make sure you’re getting the results you want. If you start your marketing campaigns and find you’re missing the mark, you can go back to the drawing board or implement an A/B test to see what consumers are resonating with.
The key to success in digital marketing is to have a plan. By taking the necessary time and effort to develop your plan, you can see great results.
If you’re feeling overwhelmed and unsure where to start when it comes to digital marketing, Padula Media can help. As a leading digital marketing team in Chester County, PA, we have specialists on hand to help you grow your business and improve your online presence. Drop us a note and let’s get started!