Why a Digital Marketing Strategy Matters, and Mistakes to Avoid

The way companies reach their markets has shifted from one-way messages toward a digital handshake: a first exchange that often happens in a search result, a social feed or on a phone screen. Businesses of every size, including Atlanta-area companies, want to get the most from their marketing and to see accurately what is working. A focus on digital channels makes that possible, especially when the plan spans computers, tablets and phones.

That plan is a strategy, not a list of accounts to maintain. Below are five reasons it matters, followed by four mistakes a strategy helps you avoid.

1. You capture more of the right leads

When digital platforms are part of a deliberate plan, your business can reach a wider audience, which can mean more visits to your website and more sales as a result. A strategy built around a defined audience reaches those people through the platforms they actually prefer. To learn which channel works hardest for your business, you need a plan that uses several platforms, each with a specific goal. The piece on choosing an audience is a good place to start.

Without that structure, you cannot tell whether leads are arriving in the volume and quality you need. If you cannot describe your audience or measure how it responds, you lose leads you never knew you had.

2. Everyone moves in the same direction

A strategy keeps everyone in your company, and your agency if you use one, working toward the same goals. When the goals are specific, you can decide what each piece of marketing is for and track progress as you go. Without a shared plan, people optimize for different things and their efforts quietly cancel one another out.

3. You can adapt to a changing market

The digital landscape keeps changing. A plain example is how much browsing now happens on phones rather than computers, which affects how a website should look, load and ask for action. A business with a strategy already has a habit of noticing changes and responding to them, whether it works alone or with an agency that helps it adjust without missing a step.

4. You keep pace with competitors

An integrated strategy that includes analytics lets you watch how customer behavior changes and put what you learn to work over time. You can go back, review what worked and what did not, and refine both the plan and the way you carry it out. The condition is that you and your team keep reading the data, because numbers nobody checks improve nothing.

5. You can judge whether the spending is worthwhile

A thorough digital plan takes thought and often real investment, which is why some businesses put it off. What many overlook is that a digital strategy reaches well beyond the website. It is a set of online methods planned together, and each can be measured against the goals you set. Done that way, you can see what every piece contributes and decide where to invest more or less.

Plans vary with the audience and the goals, but most draw on a combination of these:

• Email marketing, aimed at subscribers who opted in.
• Social media management on the platforms your customers use.
• Search engine optimization, so the right people can find you.
• Blogging that answers the questions customers really ask.
• Analytics that show what each piece contributes.
• Landing pages built around a single action.
• Website development that supports everything else.

For the full range of online services, see the digital marketing page. A digital strategy also pays off more when it connects with radio, television, outdoor and the rest of the marketing a business does, so that each channel hands people on to the next.

A first strategy does not have to be long. Write down the one or two goals that matter most right now, such as more inquiries or more repeat orders, and describe the people you most hope to attract. Choose a small number of channels that suit those people and that you can keep active, and decide what each one is for. Set up measurement before you start, so you can see visits, inquiries and the sources behind them from the first week.

Then schedule a regular review. Look at what the numbers say, compare them with your goals, retire whatever is not paying off and give more effort to what is. A strategy is a living document, and the habit of reviewing it matters more than getting every choice right at the start.

People now research products, read reviews, make purchase decisions and share their experiences on their own terms, which puts the customer more firmly in control than ever. A strategy helps a business keep up, and it makes these four mistakes easier to catch.

Not knowing your target audience

A company cannot appeal to everyone at once. Marketers who narrow the audience make the brand’s appeal more intense for the people who matter most to the business, and they spend less effort on people unlikely ever to respond.

Not listening to your target audience

Guessing what customers want, instead of finding out, is a costly habit. Reviews, comments, survey answers, the questions people ask your staff and the searches that bring visitors to your site all tell you what people need. Read them, and let them change your plan.

Forgetting the call to action

Once you have presented your brand or service, point people to a next step. A request for a quote, an invitation to join an email list or a prompt to contact the office at the end of every landing page and blog post gives interested readers somewhere to go. Kirk Donovan’s approach to advertising treats a response as the point of any message, and a page that never asks for one has not finished its job. To see how to build a page around one action, read about effective landing pages.

Treating cheap as the goal

Every company needs to get its message out, and a small budget can save money in the short run. Saving money should not be the main goal, though. Some do-it-yourself marketers would be better served by professional help, and unless you are sure of your own marketing ability, it is wise to get help finding the strategy that fits your company. Spend where it counts: tracking, a sound website and a clear message.

Individual channels, from search and mobile to email and social media, get fuller treatment in the digital marketing articles here.