Every business needs to do some form of Marketing, but for a lot of new entrepreneurs starting out, the subject of marketing can be a struggle for them. 

They are not quite sure what it actually means to do marketing or they are not sure how to go about it for their own business online.

What is Digital Marketing?

In order to understand  Digital marketing, let’s first examine what marketing is. Put simply, marketing means to bring awareness to something that exists, in order to achieve a particular goal.

Digital marketing, also referred to as online marketing, is the promotion of businesses or brands to help attract customers via the internet and other digital platforms. Digital marketing can be done via various marketing channels, including websites, social media, email, search engines, as well as multimedia messages.

Why You Need a Marketing Strategy

A marketing strategy is needed by every business if they are going to stand a chance of doing effective marketing. The strategy involves selecting one or more target markets (the audience or ideal customers), and then working out what the best way is to reach them or connect with them. 

Your target market will have specific things about them that you need to pay attention to in order for your marketing campaigns to be effective. The more you know about them the more effective your strategy can be?

• What are their goals and objectives?
• What problems are they facing?
• Where do they hang out online, i.e. social media, Youtube, Forums, websites etc.?
• What do they like?
• What language do they use and how do they communicate?

Understanding this information will help you to put together marketing objectives within the context of your target audience.

How Does a Marketing Strategy Work

A marketing strategy will inform the decisions you make around what marketing activities (campaigns) to run, what objectives to put in place and how you run your campaigns.

Putting together a good strategy at the start, will help you focus on what’s most important and therefore lead to better results when you do your marketing

How to Implement Your Digital Marketing Strategy

At a basic level, here are some key components that needs to me implemented in your digital marketing strategy:

• Create a good offer – the offer needs to be compelling enough for cold leads (people that have never come across your brand before) to see the value in taking action.
  Take the time to write good marketing copy that speaks to your target audience’s situation directly. Hire a copywriter to do this where possible, as if you get this wrong it will be difficult to make your strategy work.

• Set up your marketing channels – pick 1 to 2 main marketing channels that will be most effective based on your target market, e.g. your blog and Instagram. You can have many different channels, but it can be difficult to gain traction if you are spreading yourself thin.
  Go with what is a good fit for your business and your target market.

• Put together a content plan – whether you do everything organically or you plan to do paid ads, it all requires good quality content to make it work.Map out the type of content that you can create and focus on the most effective pieces for your target market.
  You can do this by doing some research into existing online content to identify gaps that you can fill and understand what angle you can approach things from.

• Set up an email list – starting your own email list is one of the most valuable things you can do to give your marketing a solid base. This is because you own it and have full control over communications. And, if all else fails on third party platforms, you can rely on the fact that you have access to your leads via email. Email marketing also converts much better than social media and other marketing channels.
  Regardless of whatever else you do, you want to drive traffic back to your website and grow your email list and you can rely on this to be there when you need it.

Conclusion

Not having a good marketing strategy is like having a ship without a sail — you just end up riding the waves or drift to wherever it takes you.

Your marketing strategy is that master plan that informs every decision you’ll make with your campaigns, as you have already mapped things out and you have an objective for each activity.