Create an effective digital strategy in 8 steps
The art of digital strategy is the set of digital methods and techniques that allow a company to build a competitive advantage.
This definition is based on five key elements: “strategy”, “digital”, “methods and techniques”, “competitive advantage” and “art”. Learn more about it here.
Today 4.54 billion people in the world are connected ( phones, computers) and on average we spend 6 hours and 43 minutes online (2020). It’s impressive, isn’t it? You tell yourself that the internet is huge customer potential for your business. But how do you set up a digital marketing strategy? What are the essential steps to make the internet your business generator and help increase the visibility of your brand?
Asking the right questions is already the first step! It allows you to set the right objectives. An Internet marketing strategy cannot be launched without a precise knowledge of the objectives to be achieved. And objectives are not definable without knowing where we start.
Now let’s take a look at the key steps you need to take to make your digital strategy a success.
1. Make an analysis of your market situation
Even before you build your digital strategy, start with a little introspection about your company and think about the state of the current market.
Define your strengths and weaknesses, but also the market opportunities and external threats that need to be taken into account.
Ask yourself the following questions:
– How is your company doing in terms of sales?
– How does it stand in relation to competitors (market share, positioning, etc.)?
– What is your brand image with the public? Good, bad, non-existent?
– Does your offer meet a public need? Does it meet the public’s expectations?
The better you understand the situation as a whole, the easier it will be for you to establish a relevant and effective digital strategy.
2. Define the objectives of your digital strategy
Your digital strategy should focus on SMART objectives and indicators.
DEFINITION OF THE SMART METHOD
The SMART method consists of five indicators:
Specific
A specific objective must be directly related to the work to be carried out: it must be personalized. This objective must be exclusive to your company. It must be clear, precise, and understandable by all.
Measurable
A measurable objective must be quantified or qualified.
Attainable
An attainable goal is a goal that represents a challenge to be achieved and is big and ambitious enough to be motivating.
Relevant
A relevant goal is capable of anticipating the obstacles you will encounter and avoiding abandonment.
Time-based
There is a clearly defined goal in time, at a specific date.
These indicators are all indicators that allow you to achieve your objectives for your digital strategy.
Your objectives directly influence your action plans to be implemented.
Of course, a digital transformation may seem indispensable to adapt to new technologies and the resulting consumption habits. It is therefore wise to think that you don’t really have a choice.
But this is a real opportunity for your company: new ways of communicating that will allow you to reach a wider audience and increase your turnover.
So you can’t embark on the adventure without clearly defining your expectations.
There are many possible objectives, among which are the following:
– Traffic: generating traffic, both online on your e-commerce or m-commerce website and in a drive-to-store strategy to generate traffic at the point of sale.
– Lead: lead generation, lead nurturing, conversion…
– Visibility: developing brand awareness, your online presence, and improving your e-reputation.
– Customer loyalty.
– The customer experience.
Also ask yourself what you expect from your strategy: does it concern a single product, a product catalog, or even your entire company?
3. Analyse your competitors’ digital strategy
Your competitors have the same objectives as you. It is therefore interesting and instructive to see what methods they use to achieve their digital strategy.
This can allow you to identify what works and what doesn’t, to be inspired by it, and even more so to differentiate yourself and do better.
For example, in a highly competitive market such as that for B2B SaaS solutions, being able to stand out from what the competitors offer becomes vital in order to exist and not blend in with the mass.
- Who are these competitors?
- What are their strengths and weaknesses?
- How do they communicate with your target?
- Through what media?
The answers to these questions are a good starting point for developing your own e-marketing strategy.
4. Define the target of your digital strategy
Implementing a digital marketing strategy without clearly defining the target audience is irrelevant. Because this could lead you to a resounding failure.
To help you, you can create a buyer persona, i.e. a typical profile of the consumer you want to target:
– Who is he? Age, place of residence, employment, hobbies, income…
– What are his or her needs?
– What are his motivations?
– How does he or she use the Internet? How many times a day and at what times? Do they use it on their mobile or desktop?
– What social networks does he use? Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn…
Draw up a precise profile. You will then know how to communicate with him, on any media and at any time.
5. Define your webmarketing budget
Implementing a digital strategy represents a cost for companies. You must therefore establish a budget, as this will at least partly determine the means you will use to achieve your objectives.
Digital is a real goldmine in terms of possibilities, each with its advantages and disadvantages, and above all with a distinct price.
Some means represent a significant financial investment when other solutions require patience and subtlety, as is the case with an Inbound Marketing strategy.
6. Define your digital communication strategy
You have identified your strengths, weaknesses, objectives, the target to be reached, and your budget to achieve it. You can now think about the means of communication you will use to build loyalty with your prospects.
Depending on your needs, you can :
– Invest in social media (social networks) ;
– Put videos online on Youtube ;
– Launch a newsletter by emailing ;
– Develop a website or blog that will serve as a showcase for your brand or as a support for e-commerce or m-commerce;
– Create a mobile application…
Or why not do all of this at once if it’s relevant!
7. Set up a content creation strategy
This point is directly related to the choice of the different digital communication channels used. Indeed, you do not broadcast the same content depending on the chosen channel. And you don’t choose the same channel depending on the content to be broadcast. These two points are therefore inseparable.
Are you going to rely on an Outbound Marketing or Inbound Marketing strategy?
If you opt for an Inbound Marketing strategy, you will be responsible for the web copywriting of brand content:
– blog articles (blogging),
– e-book,
– white papers,
– infographics, etc.
Outbound marketing ensures quick results, but it is expensive.
Inbound Marketing is not expensive, but the results take longer to come.
It is an in-depth strategy that focuses on the medium and long term: producing content with high added value for visitors, which will, in turn, promote your products, your brand strategy, and your values through the employer brand.
The patience it requires is very well rewarded, so much so that this strategy becomes unavoidable.
To make things easier for you, think of Marketing Automation, which will allow you to optimize your productivity and results.
Marketing automation is an emailing strategy that allows you to send emails automatically based on the actions taken by your leads.
The inbound marketing boom
According to the report “State of Inbound Marketing in 2020” published by Digital22 in early 2020, 75% of marketers using Inbound Marketing in Europe believe it is an effective strategy. And 79% in North America. Another 38% think that Outbound Marketing is overestimated and does not deliver the promised results.
8. Measure your web performance
You have established a strategy on the web and it is now being deployed. You now need to analyze the data using performance indicators.
Define the KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) that will allow you to effectively measure your performance. There are many of them, so you need to choose them carefully.
Some of them are as follows:
– The amount of traffic generated on your website;
– The conversion rate;
– SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) ranking;
– The click rate;
– The time spent on the site;
– ROI (Return on Investment).
Don’t wait to analyze the data, as it provides you with essential insights into what works and what doesn’t work.
It is therefore an opportunity to adjust your web strategy as you go along.
Finally
You now know how to build an effective digital strategy in 8 steps. It is both a work of introspection on your company and of observation of the market, opportunities, targets, and competitors.
A job that will bear fruit if it is done well!
The key points to remember :
– Analyse your strengths and weaknesses, as well as opportunities and threats.
– Define your objectives and targets in order to decide on the actions to be taken.
– Monitor your performance to adjust your overall strategy if necessary.
However, the budgets you commit on the Internet must make sense. Our audits & recommendations help you to see clearly and make the right decisions. Do not hesitate to contact us to know more. We will be glad to share our knowledge with you. Or you can leave a comment.
If you are interested in the subject of digital strategies do not hesitate to look at the articles in this category. We regularly publish