To say that 2020 has been a torrid year would be an understatement, but despite the uncertainty and downturn in many areas of business, there have been some positives, not least of all a shift away from a reliance on in-office working, innovations in digital communication and connectivity, and for businesses with an online presence the opportunity to drive new leads, sales and relationships through their now-critical digital platforms.
In mitigation, we believe there are some key – and often really simple – strategies you can review and implement to really maximise your digital presence and pivot your business in ways that may well replace your existing routes to customers, markets and audiences.
In our next series of articles we’ll delve deeper into each of these in more detail, giving you practical guidance on the strategy, how to implement it, how to ensure it works for you and how to measure that success.
To begin with, though, we’ll give you a brief overview of these strategies, so that you’ve got time to reflect on these over the festive season break and think how you could implement them next year.
#1 You have to set goals before you do anything else
There is little or no point in developing a digital marketing strategy if you don’t actually know what your goals are… do you want to drive more sales? Are you building your brand? Or do you want to generate more leads?
Based on your goal or goals (you can have more than one!) and how you attach these to your measure of success whether that be revenue and income, new lead forms submitted, or a growth in your database, you’ll have a great foundation upon which to build your strategy.
#2 Identify who your target customer is, where they are, and how best to communicate with them
You’ll in all likelihood have a really good idea who your customers are – both potential and existing. You may well also be looking to attract customers from a different group, which is great for expansion and growth.
Ask yourself, do you know where they are (both geographically and digitally)? And how do they like to receive communications? Some may be highly active on social media, whilst others may prefer email communication. Create a matrix that begins to document this information and ensure you track your assumptions against actual data and insights so that you can refine over time.
You’ll then need to consider – within each of the channels you’ve identified – what communication you’ll use to entice the lead or sale.
And here there are numerous options – content marketing, video advertising, Google Ads, digital banners, cold-calling, email and newsletter – the list is endless. Which will work for you, and what will these pieces of marketing collateral look like?
#3 Where will you lead your target customer and what will you offer to entice them?
What is your ‘digital home’? Your website? Your social media page? Your call-centre? Be clear on where you want to lead your target customer, but also be very sure that when they find this goal destination that they’re served with enticing, well-presented and highly efficient platforms that encourage a sale or a communication.
#4 Visibility of your total sales funnel is key
As a business owner or manager, you need to understand the full extent of your sales or lead funnel. Where are new leads or sales coming from? Where do they land? How many are converting to your desired goal (actually, their desired goal!) and how are you tracking and attributing this movement through your funnel?
A key point to note here is that your ‘full funnel’ means everything from digital marketing leads to email and newsletters, phone calls to in-store conversions (where possible). You need to know where every single customer is coming from and how that customer fits into the revenue chain.
#5 Budget, implement, measure, refine, re-budget, re-implement, measure, refine…
You’ll need to commit some budget to your digital marketing, not only to be competitive in-market, but also so that you can get a baseline of spend vs ROI against which to re-invest as your campaign develops.
To understand how well your campaign is performing, you’ll need to measure all aspects using the various tools and metrics (most of which are free). Analysing the data will help you refine the strategy, push more budget to areas of success and reduce or remove budget where performance is poor.
And that’s a cycle that doesn’t end – there are many tools to help you, and of course many digital marketing professionals who can guide you and refine your strategy with you to ensure you get best bang for buck.
Some other considerations, although ones that work well once the above has been implemented, include implementing Artificial Intelligence across your website and marketing campaigns.
But more on all the above in early 2021!
In the meantime, if you’re thinking about your approach and would like to chat to a digital marketing expert to get guidance and advice, please contact us today on 01223 550800 or info@realnet.co.uk. We look forward to helping you achieve your digital marketing, revenue and lead goals next year!