A Complete Guide to Setting Up a Digital Marketing Strategy For Your Business

We all know what digital marketing entails. It aims to promote a product or service. According to the intention of the seller, marketing can be about familiarizing people with your product, letting them know of a new feature, or simply persuading them to make a purchase. 

With people hooked to their smartphones, digital marketing has become more important than ever. It is your one chance to reach out to your customer base and grab their attention. But the digital platform is not without challenges. There still looms a fatality – of getting lost among the many voices that clamor for the attention of the customers. 

If you are a business owner looking to leverage the benefits of digital marketing, this blog is for you. Keep reading to get a detailed framework of digital marketing. This can help you implement digital marketing strategies and reap its benefits. 

What is Digital Marketing?

We are all familiar with what constitutes ‘digital marketing’ and yet we are unfamiliar with the exact meaning of the term. So let’s get that straight. 

Marketing strategies were once confined to the print medium. Eventually, it adapted to the changing world and embraced the digital world. Remember those emails that keep finding you, urging you to invest or take out a loan? Better still, remember those tempting offers on clothing that pop up in your Instagram feed? Those are all examples of digital marketing. 

The Present Digital Marketing Scene

As they say, the internet has become one of our basic needs with many swearing that they won’t last without it. The new generation of smartphone users are constantly online and in the eyes of a talented marketer, they are all prospective leads. A marketer hence promotes his products and offers special deals to the leads through multiple platforms. From emails to Instagram and YouTube, ads can pop up just about anywhere on the Internet. Digital marketing hence takes many forms, all intending to attract new customers and build a brand identity.

However, many businesses often make a fatal mistake. They hire digital marketing services without a proper strategy in place. Consequently, they get overwhelmed by the sheer variety of platforms that need to be leveraged. But what if we told you, you don’t need to venture into all of these platforms? Yes, you heard that right. Not all the platforms have to be used. You only need those platforms that can best target your ideal customer. 

There is no need to get all confused. We can get to that in due time. First, let’s gain clarity on some concepts related to digital marketing. 

How Will This Benefit Your Business?

Your business will benefit greatly from having a proper digital marketing strategy. Here are a few of the direct benefits of digital marketing and how it can be used to its full potential:

• Better Visibility

Digital marketing makes sure that your business is no longer geographically bound. According to the needs of your business, you could target audiences who are in different cities or even countries. A great part of the global audience is hooked to their phones and they cannot survive without the Internet. Hence digital marketing can spread brand awareness without being limited by physical borders. This will effectively widen your customer base.

• Cost Efficiency

 Traditional marketing can be costly depending on the medium you are using. Be it print or television, traditional marketing costs more than digital marketing. If your business is small and you have a shortage of funds, digital marketing is the way to go as it is cost-effective. 

• Trackable Result

Do your digital marketing strategies have a positive impact on your business? You don’t have to guess, it is all trackable through marketing tools. You can calculate metrics like how many people clicked your ad or how many people bought your product after visiting your landing page. This information helps in understanding which of your marketing campaigns are working and which of them are not. 

• Audience Engagement

Digital marketing gives companies the chance to better engage with their customers. This is one of the most enticing benefits of digital marketing that people are going crazy about. It offers the chance to collect instant feedback.

For example, the customers who have bought your product can give instant feedback through your social media handles. They can do this by commenting on your posts or writing reviews on shopping sites. If the feedback is positive it can further aid your business as it acts as social proof. Digital marketing for businesses thus becomes a bridge that will connect them to their customers. 

• Better Conversion Rates

Digital marketing has high conversion rates as compared to traditional marketing methods. This is because digital marketing can target the right people and also provide personalized content. Digital marketing also allows you to engage better with leads making it significantly more effective in converting prospects into customers.

• Better ROI

Traditional marketing costs are high, putting small businesses at a disadvantage. However, with digital marketing, quality content in itself can help you get high returns. This makes digital marketing especially attractive for small businesses.

• Better Targeting

We have an audience who are constantly online, so how do we catch their attention? Through creative marketing? Yes, but an important aspect here is that you should target those people who are more likely to be interested in your product. Sophisticated digital marketing tools have made it possible to target audiences. Similar products are shown according to the ads or websites your customers have previously clicked. This allows you to reach the right audience.

A Few Terms to Know

1. Target Audience 

These are the people who will ultimately use your product or service. You are going to ‘target’ them with your digital marketing campaigns. Your target audience may be from a specific country or they may belong to a specific age group. 

2. Buyer Persona  

This is a fictional profile that you create. Think of it like a character in a book. This is your ideal customer. A buyer persona will include a lot of information. It can have info like demographics, interests, pain points, etc.

3. KPI

These are metrics that you choose to measure the success of a campaign. It could be conversion rates, social media likes, views, or even bounce rates.

4. PPC

Pay-per-click (PPC) is a marketing model whereby advertisers pay a fee for each click on their advertisement. 

5. Digital Marketing Tools

Today, there are many apps and software that make the lives of digital marketers easy. These tools automate repetitive tasks, track key metrics, and improve targeting. Examples of digital marketing tools include Google Search Console, Google Analytics, Google Ads, SEMrush, Sprout Social, Mailchimp, HubSpot, and Meta Ads Manager.

6. Campaign

It is an organized course of action to achieve a goal. For example, a company in its infancy might initiate a marketing campaign to gain visibility. A campaign includes marketing strategies that envelop multiple marketing channels. 

Types of Digital Marketing

We mentioned earlier that digital marketing takes many forms. You might be familiar with some of these. On the other hand, some of these might not be familiar to you. 

1. Email Marketing

This marketing strategy has been around for a long time. Being independent of changing algorithms, this one is a sure-shot way to build brand loyalty. As the name suggests you use emails to stay connected to your customers. You can inform them of events, offers, and product releases.

2. Content Marketing

This blog post you are reading is a part of our content marketing strategy. Content doesn’t have to be just blogs. Videos, audio, text, and images can all be content. Content marketing aims to provide valuable content to the customer. You can thus build your brand identity, generate leads, and even close sales through content marketing.

3. SEO (Search Engine Optimization)

When you google something, you get a lot of results, right? That results page is called the SERP (Search Engine Results Page). SEO is a strategy that helps your page show up higher in the search results. Think about it. Do you ever go to the 12th or 13th result? No, we only click through to the first few results. A reputed SEO company in India can help your website feature among those first results.

4. PPC

In the SERP, the first couple of results might be marked ‘Ad’. This is a PPC ad. PPC marketing can help your page reach more people. And the best thing is, you don’t have to pay for every view. You only have to pay for the clicks. For example, Google Ads is a popular PPC platform and by paying for each click on your ad, you can create more traffic to your site. A good PPC agency in India can help you implement a high-return PPC strategy.

5. Social Media Marketing

In this digital marketing strategy, different social media platforms are used for marketing. Audio, video, image, and text content can be posted and ads can be created. Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, LinkedIn, etc are the different channels you could use. You don’t have to spread yourself too thin. Choose only those platforms where your target audience is most likely to be found. Especially, if you are hiring a social media marketing agency in India, this will help reduce the costs. 

6. Instant Message Marketing

This digital marketing strategy uses texts/messages to get to customers. For instance, you might get a message in WhatsApp from brands informing you of price drops or offers. You might even get SMS texts offering you special coupons or deals. 

Note – We would also like to mention push notification marketing here. Swiggy and Zomato have a strong push notification marketing strategy going on. Their push notifications are quirky and tempting. If you are looking into mobile app marketing, this is one strategy you absolutely have to implement.

7. Video Marketing

Platforms like YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram call for engaging video content. Video marketing involves creating and sharing video content on such platforms. 

Don’t confine yourself to just one of these digital marketing methods. The best strategy is to use a combination of everything from content marketing to PPC to ensure maximum benefits with minimum investment. 

A Few Things to Do First

This is a list of things to do before you move on to making your digital marketing strategy.

• Set specific goals that you aim to achieve through your digital marketing campaigns.
• Create buyer personas to better understand your target audience.
• Do a thorough competitor analysis and identify any gaps in their marketing.
• Choose the platforms you want to target.
• Set up KPIs so that you can measure the success of each campaign.
• Make a comprehensive digital marketing strategy.

How To Make A Digital Marketing Strategy?

This is your blueprint for digital marketing success. It helps structure the marketing campaigns and tactics that will help your company achieve its core objectives. Keeping this in mind, your digital marketing strategy should outline your core objectives as well as ways to achieve them. 

If you are new to digital marketing, you can follow these steps to create a digital marketing plan that best suits your company: 

1. A Thorough Analysis

Firstly, you need to conduct an internal and external analysis of your company and the industry it belongs to. Identify your strengths and weaknesses, and draw out the opportunities and threats in the industry. This will help you understand where your company stands.

While you are going through this step, you can ask yourself these questions:

• Is your website user-friendly?
• Is the content original and updated?
• Does your brand have a social media presence?
  

2. Outline Your Goals

In the previous step, you might have encountered your company’s shortcomings. So you need to establish digital marketing goals that can compensate for your weaknesses. Make a list of these goals. Just make sure you are setting measurable goals which are also time-bound.

3. Define the Customer Persona

Understand the people who buy your product or service. Create a customer persona that reflects your customer. This will help you make your marketing plan more nuanced. 

For instance, your customer persona could be a young woman between the ages of 20 and 30. Now that you have a person to market to, it will be easier to formulate strategies. You can target them through the social media platforms they are most likely to use. Similarly, you can analyze the pain points of this category and improve upon your product.  

4. Choose the Platforms

Different marketing platforms attract different audiences. The youth may be found on Instagram or YouTube, whereas the elderly might be found on Facebook. As you begin your digital marketing efforts you don’t need to splurge on all these platforms. Choose those platforms where your target audience is most likely to spend their time. Invest in a digital marketing campaign only for these platforms.

5. Regular Performance Checks

Marketing is not a one-time thing that you can set up and forget about. The market is constantly changing. What worked today might not work tomorrow. Monitor the success of your marketing campaigns and make changes accordingly. Create a schedule for this. Also, make it a point to record the data-driven insights you gain. Over time this can become a treasure trove of data. This will aid you in discerning trends and other shifts that take place over a significant amount of time. 

Implementing Your Digital Marketing Strategy

You would need a team to implement your digital marketing strategy. You could choose to outsource it or you could put together a team. 

Outsourcing can be a smart move. All you have to do is find a digital marketing company in India with ample experience in your industry. Look for case studies of their previous works and compare costs. Most importantly, make sure that the digital marketing company you choose has specialized teams that handle different types of marketing like SEO, PPC, social media, and content marketing. 

Alternatively, if you want to build an in-house team, you can do that. However, this could be time-consuming and expensive. You will have to handle recruitment costs, training, and resource costs. If you plan to follow this route make sure to hire competent personnel for all the major roles like SEO Specialist, Content Writer, Copywriter, Social Media Manager, PPC Specialist, and Email Marketing Specialist. Also, hire a Digital Marketing Manager with industry experience.

Conclusion

Digital marketing is an ever-evolving field. With each algorithm update and technological advancements (like the rise of AI), the field changes further. From traditional email marketing to push notification marketing, digital marketing can take on different forms according to your needs. All you need to do is leverage the right platforms to reach your customers. 

Develop your digital marketing plan by following the steps we have outlined. Make sure not to rush anything. After all, this is a core element of your business plan. Once you have a detailed plan, set up digital marketing campaigns that extend your reach and enhance your ROI.

With that, we hope this blog clears up any doubts you may have had about digital marketing. Hopefully, it has given you a blueprint to follow to take your business to the heights of success.