Most of us know, intuitively, that planning makes a difference. But when you look in detail at how you organize your marketing efforts, you can see that even a moderate amount of planning goes a long way. So, what should be in your digital marketing plan, and how will it improve your business?
Here are five elements of business that can improve when you take the time to put together a comprehensive strategy for online and digital marketing channels.
Driving Efficiencies
One of the top things you want in your online business strategy plan is to match people with processes.
Think of it this way – your business has many moving parts. If they’re not identified and analyzed, they may not work up to their potential!
People are one component of your business. Online channels are another. Then, you have data assets and different kinds of processes or pipelines that serve a purpose for your company. All of these should be, in a sense, diagrammed, and named and located, within your plan.
One good example of this kind of planning is identity and access management. IAM is something often talked about in the cybersecurity world. It means that each person has their own online account tailored to their role in the company and what they need to do their jobs well.
You can apply this to digital marketing strategies, too. Know what you have in your arsenal and how it will be deployed at a granular level, and you’ll see efficiencies blossom.
Getting Key Business Insights
We are in the age of big data and artificial intelligence. That means there are new ways to collect the business intelligence valuable for charting a path forward.
Your business intelligence is generally coming out of your data assets. But that takes work – it doesn’t just happen by magic. Aggregate the correct data and use available AI tools to get what you need for decision support.
Promoting Productivity
Here’s another way your digital marketing plan works – essentially, it ‘cuts through the confusion’ and offers a clear path for marketers. Let’s take the example of a go-to-market process – are people clear on how to move through that? And what about the sales process itself?
You often see that when you put a comprehensive plan in place, productivity follows! Everyone knows what they’re doing to a greater degree, which has many downstream effects that are generally positive as the business runs.
Know Your Audience
Here’s another component of your plan that will be important – there’s such a thing as a target audience, and knowing your audience and your customers will be in your best interests as a company.
So do the analysis – segment your audience by demographics and by their history of interactions with your business. Create a multistage funnel that conforms to everything else in your digital marketing plan. All of this will be instructive in both building your plan, and following it later.
Consider Return on Investment
You can also optimize return on investment by planning your digital marketing in better ways. Some people refer to this as “keeping what’s working” and discarding the rest. Make sure that you’re focusing on the things that matter – on the channels where you get the most bang for your buck. Don’t focus on empty metrics – use targeted KPIs and other tools to your advantage.
That’s a little bit about how to thrive in the digital marketing world of today. WebSubstance can help you to craft your website for the best results. Let us provide the way forward for using your web presence in a whole new way – to strategically position your firm for success.
