Now that we all know how crucial developing the online side of your business has become (and will continue to be), it’s also become more critical than ever to get your online marketing strategy down.
As 2021 draws to an end, there are a few goals your business really should give some attention to, and understanding this should form part of your goal sheet.
This means that what once might have seemed like an incidental element of your marketing strategy has effectively become a top priority for businesses all over the world. The online eCommerce trade has risen to an eye-watering $7.6 trillion, and it’s not showing signs of slowing down.
As with any good element of your overall business plan, there are a few basics that you have to ensure are in place before you can develop your comprehensive marketing strategy.
So we’ve looked at various online models and identified five fundamentals that have to be in place for you to grow your online marketing plan.
“In the time it took you to read this sentence, 20m emails have been sent.” – John Watten.
The quote above is by award-winning, UK-based online marketing influencer John Watten. He couldn’t be more correct either because the global rise in online communications has reached a near fever pitch.
Simply put, if you’re not taking part in this race, you’re not even competing, and that could spell problems for your business if you want to grow and expand into new markets.
As with any good plan, you must consider several moveable parts and keep them as tight as possible. Here we go.
- Your business goal.
- Your digital marketing reach. (Current and target)
- Content creation.
- Your buyers’ journey.
- Customer acquisition and retention.
Each of these elements exists within their own sphere, and they interact with each other, but having a good understanding of what they mean and how to integrate them into your overall plan is what will create a successful campaign.
First up – your business goal. Simple, right? Understanding this is more crucial than anything else because you’re not ever going to know how to get there without knowing where you want to go.
We all know that that is anything but simple. Questions you might want to ask to include things like; what is the purpose of this campaign? Are you seeking new business, or do you want to mine more business by upselling or cross-selling to an existing base – or a combination of all?
Your digital marketing reach, both current, and target (i.e., what do you want it to look like), will inform many of your decisions when you get to creating your overall plan. Suppose you’re using social media (that if should be a “when”), you might give some thought to a Facebook Ad agency or similar marketing agent that can guide you on this path if you don’t have the skills in-house.
To secure that all-important online presence, you have to create content. Content that is engaging, informative, and goal-driven. You cannot just post content for the sake of it. Whatever you’re publishing online has to be consistent with your online campaign goals and serve as a call to action in its own right too.
As you move through your online campaign, you have to understand the journey that your clients will be making themselves. At this point, you’ll learn about how efficient your sales processes work and how your logistics interact with your overall platform.
And finally, your marketing campaign plan is not complete without a solid understanding of how you plan to acquire new business (obviously) but then, retaining that business.
