Ask yourself; what were the last five flyers, posters, or billboards that you saw walking to work? Chances are you probably don’t remember because there are literally thousands scattered everywhere and nowadays people walk with their heads pointing down towards their phone, completely missing the physical objects which surround them. Another question; when was the last time you watched the whole commercial and then bought that product or signed up for that service right then and there? These days, probably never – and let’s be honest, that’s for the people who actually sit there and watch them. In most cases, people are taking a bathroom break, grabbing snacks, or scrolling their social media feed.

Times have changed. Investing in a marketing plan that mainly focuses on TV and print ads just isn’t effective anymore. It doesn’t matter which industry your company is in, if you want to achieve your business goals, you’ll need to introduce a marketing strategy that’s “hip and with it” and not from 1905.

Applying the right marketing strategy to your business will increase your brand exposure online, which leads to more products/services sold. However, to create a successful digital marketing campaign, these simple steps will help differentiate your company from your competitors.

1. Determine the Goals you Want to Accomplish

What do you want to get out of online marketing? Maybe you want to increase the number of visitors to your website? Increase your sales? Your objectives need to meet specific standards that will help you with achieving them.

• Be specific with your Goals

You can’t have a general goal such as increasing your profit; you need to narrow it down so you can turn it into something real. For instance, raising your company’s revenue by five percent in six months is more realistic. Making your goals specific makes them achievable.

• Measurable

You need to be able to prove the effectiveness of your strategy. Depending on the goal you have, gathering data and analyzing the progress will be important for you to see if you’re on track or not. Once you have the result, you can adjust the plan making it better.

• Realistic

Don’t “aim for the stars” too soon. If you write down goals such as earning $300,000 in two weeks with your business, when your earnings in one week barely reach $5,000, you’re not being realistic. Target small goals, and once you achieve them, you can progressively make them bigger and bigger.

• Establish a Timeframe

When you set a time limit, you’re making a deadline for yourself. The correct timeframe will help you determine if the strategy you’re using is worth your money or not. Remember your short term goals will have a timeline of weeks or months while long term goals will be measured in years.

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2. Create Your Ideal Customer Personas

Creating a profile for your customers will determine how you should target your digital strategy. The ideal way to determine which one should be your market niche is through demographics. Gathering research like location data, age, earnings, and career analytics is crucial to obtain the right information as the wrong assumption could damage your brand’s reputation.

This information will tell you what kind of content you need to produce, which tone you should use and which method is an effective way of approaching them.

If your company is business-to-business (B2B) based, your target audience will be determined by factors such as the type of market, geographical location, and size of the business.

Once you have a clear buyer persona on who will purchase your products/services, you will then build your marketing strategy around them.

Finally, ecology matters. It’s the classic saying, “surround yourself with five broke people and become the sixth; surround yourself with five successful people and become the sixth.” When you surround yourself with the right kind of people, especially in business, it will translate into improving your company’s reputation and increasing profitability.

3. Choose The Right Digital Channels

Now that you know what you want to accomplish and which customers are going to help you achieve it, you now need to establish where you want to convey your message.

There are three mediums that you can utilize:

• Local SEO

Your target audience should always be your local and surrounding area(s) as it’s the most important area for most businesses. Visibility on search engines like Google will be the deciding factor on how people are finding you for the first time via “discovery” search; which means people typing in a keyword like “restaurant” and that person finding you in that search result. Local SEO is organic marketing, so there are long term benefits that will aid in the growth of your business.

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• Social Media

Think of your social media platforms as the inside of your store. It’s the hub that all of your customers hang out in, and welcomes new people in it every day. Engaging content, “behind-the-scenes” visuals, and success stories/updates will engage your audience and allow followers to share content with their friends, creating “word of mouth” referrals. Social media is the way of the 21^st century; make sure you utilize it.

• Paid Ads

Google Ads is probably one of the most common channels – as Google now gives a FREE $100 credit to people who set up their Google listing for the first time to get them hooked. A Pay-Per-Click (PPC) service is where you’ll have a paid ad for your product/service included on a page of search results. The more money you spend, the higher the page your ad will show up on. The best part is you can filter the characteristics of the audience, time your ad gets posted, and who will see your ads.

We recommend all three for businesses, as it will create three streams of business. However, once you achieve a top ranking with Local SEO, Google Ads becomes a little unnecessary because Local SEO will have you showing up 24/7, whereas Google Ads will keep you there temporarily.

Once you have in mind the platforms you’ll manage, you need to decide what percentage of your budget you’re going to invest and then you’re ready to go!

4. Execution

You are ready. You’ve determined your goals, audience, and digital channels. The last step is making sure you get the results. Meet with your team and draft your marketing strategy encouraging new ideas, feedback, and conversations. When you have a clear plan, make sure everyone on your team knows how it works and the action steps in place to execute the plan effectively.

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The ideal digital marketing strategy will not only help you to achieve the goals you set out at the beginning of the fiscal year, but it will also expand your business’s reach. Here at Your Listing Expert, we have every tool you need and creative teams that are dedicated to executing your digital campaigns.

We will create, execute, and keep track of your strategies, always keeping you updated with the results. Contact us today, and we’ll work closely with your company turning your ideas into increased revenue.

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https://www.entrepreneur.com/slideshow/299487#2

https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/digital-strategy-guide

https://digitalmarketinginstitute.com/en-ca/blog/5-steps-powerful-digital-marketing-strategy

https://coschedule.com/marketing-strategy/marketing-channels/

https://www.disruptiveadvertising.com/marketing/digital-marketing-strategy/

https://blog.asana.com/2017/08/create-execute-marketing-strategies/