Why and how to implement a Digital Marketing Strategy ?
Because all companies are taking the turn towards digital transformation and must rethink their internet strategy both in form and substance, and make changes in their marketing communication and in the choice of tools they use.
However, contrary to what one might think, having a website and several accounts on social networks is not enough to define a digital strategy .
Beyond your simple presence on the web , take advantage of the digital trend to attract, interest and convince your future customers .
What is a digital marketing strategy?
Definition of digital marketing
As a reminder, digital marketing , also called e-marketing , web marketing or digital marketing , consists of promoting a product or service on the internet, to a targeted audience , based on:
- numerous media (computer, tablet, mobile, etc.),
- a set of marketing tools ,
- methods and strategies (inbound, outbound , etc.).
What is a Digital Marketing campaign?
A digital marketing campaign corresponds to the coordination of all these elements to serve the actions that make up this strategy.
For example, you might choose to launch a campaign by sharing some of your most interesting or popular content on a particular social media outlet, like Twitter or LinkedIn, to generate more leads .
The objectives of a digital Marketing strategy
The digital strategy is nothing other than a series of actions intended to achieve one or more objective(s) defined in an action plan , such as:
- increase the visibility of your brand on the internet;
- generate traffic to your website;
- improve user experience ;
- reduce your bounce rate ;
- generate quality leads ;
- acquire leads ;
- improve customer relations ;
- develop your content marketing to attract and interest your targets ;
- convert your visitors.
You will have understood: to build a successful digital strategy , you must take care of your online marketing, but that’s not all. A complete digital strategy also includes a digital communications strategy .
How to develop a digital marketing strategy?
What are the steps to define for a web marketing strategy?
Analyze your market situation
This step occurs before implementing a digital strategy , prior to any decision-making. Knowing the current state of the market allows you to understand your target and better understand their expectations, while evaluating the competition .
Thanks to market research , you can analyze:
- competitors and their practices,
- consumer behavior,
- market trends,
- the geographic areas where your brand is present.
💡 Evaluating the competitive context allows you to know how to position yourself against your competitors and to refine the marketing targeting of your audience, in order to see your digital project from both a marketing and communication point of view .
But to be relevant in your strategies, you need to have a precise and exhaustive analysis. This is why many companies choose to rely on competitive intelligence tools . PriceComparat or , for example, automatically and daily extracts a whole set of strategic data from the marketing mix (prices, stocks, advertising banners, promotional operations, newsletters, etc.). You thus benefit from a global, real-time vision of the marketing campaigns deployed by your competitors to make the right decisions.
Define your goals
To prepare your strategy, bring together the company’s teams and leaders to set a course in unison. This involves discussing objectives over a given period.
Depending on the needs formulated at the analysis stage, various objectives are possible, including:
- Visibility : development of your notoriety through brand image and your online presence,
- Traffic : traffic generation,
- Lead : generation of leads (prospects), conversion,
- Customer experience : improving the experience for consumers.
define your key performance indicators
KPIs ( Key Performance Indicators ) will help you measure performance effectively. These are for example:
- SEO ranking,
- the rate of traffic generated on your website,
- conversion rate,
- time spent on your site,
- ROI (return on investment).
define your budget
As for the budget , this will determine the means that you will use to achieve your objectives.
There are a wide variety of possibilities on the web, all with their advantages and disadvantages, as well as their own cost.
It’s up to you to evaluate which financial investment will best suit your needs.
Identify your buyer personas
By “ buyer personas ” we mean the target group to which your offer is aimed. This involves clearly understanding the detailed profiles of your ideal customers in order to direct your communication according to them and, ultimately , to understand their purchasing decision by knowing their expectations, their habits and their characteristics.
Think about your website
Your website is the showcase of your brand . It must be taken care of, because it is the first point of contact with your future customers, but also partners, suppliers and collaborators.
The domain name must also be taken into consideration, because it acts as a gateway to the world of your brand.
Finally, depending on your objectives, it is important to think about the format of your online presence: showcase site, merchant site, marketplace, blog, etc.
💡 Get free, personalized support with the Solocal Digital Audit , to:
- analyze your entire digital presence, whether your websites, blogs, or business pages (Yellow Pages, Facebook, etc.);
- identify your strengths and weaknesses online;
- benefit from advice via an action plan.
Design your action plan
The action plan must be in line with the customer’s journey, according to their progress in the conversion funnel , also called conversion tunnel. This involves defining which levers to activate for each of these phases (acquisition > conversion > retention).
- Acquisition phase
- Is your target on Google ? Focus on SEO/SEA if it is profitable in your business model.
- Is your target present on social networks ? Focus on developing content on these platforms.
- Does your target have questions and need information ? Focus on inbound marketing actions.
- Conversion phase
- To encourage a purchase ? Focus on UX , affiliation, a comparator, a marketplace, etc.
- To gain leads ? Focus on a form to fill out following inbound gains, or a white paper to distribute as advertising on social networks for example.
- Retention and loyalty phase
- Through newsletters ? Focus on email capture.
- By a service rendered? Focus on application development.
- By the feeling of belonging to the brand ? Focus on social networks.
Which media?
Furthermore, the action plan can be designed taking into account 3 bases and evaluating those which best suit your strategy built so far:
- Paid media : paid marketing levers such as targeted Google Adwords advertising, paid influencers, pay-per-click, advertising on social networks such as Facebook ads, affiliation, etc. ;
- Owned media : your property on the web, such as your website or blog, your content offering, your accounts on social networks, etc. ;
- Earned media : what is shared and allows you to reach your target organically, without any costs: social networks, mentions of your content or your offer on external sites, etc.
Your strategy will revolve around these different media, according to your needs and your budget defined in advance.
choose the levers to activate
A word from the expert
To build lasting growth, we must play on flow and stock. At the start, SEA, Social Ads or Affiliation type levers constitute formidable sales drivers by being immediately visible to an intentional public. Over time, it is appropriate to shift them towards a more profitability-oriented approach.
At the same time, we must lay the foundations for an organic flow, through strong SEO positioning and an outbound marketing strategy in order to capitalize on natural inbound traffic.
It is the intersection of these two approaches that allows for peaceful growth.
sepending on your action plan and the specific needs of your business, choose the actions to implement to achieve the objectives you have set for yourself.
▷ Opt for an SEO strategy (SEO and SEA)
Who says digital marketing strategy, necessarily says SEO! SEO, SEA, or both?
🛠️ Search Engine Optimization , or SEO
SEO, or natural referencing, aims to optimize the pages of your website to be read by Internet users and seen by Google, which will choose to position them on the first page of the results… or not.
The end goal is to increase traffic to your website.
▷ Adopt a social media presence strategy
Social networks and media offer a multitude of options to promote your content and your brand image and thus boost your e-reputation .
True amplifiers of the messages conveyed by your brand, they promise great benefits for your business. They will help you achieve various objectives: develop your reputation , offer after-sales service, retain your customers or even stand out from the competition .
They also allow you to:
- find new customers;
- establish new partnerships;
- better know your prospects and their habits.
