Digital Marketing Strategies

Digital marketing strategies are a body of tactics used by organizations to boost their products or services online and encourage engagement with customers. A few of the best digital marketing strategies include Search Engine Optimization, influencer marketing, content marketing, influencer marketing, and email marketing. The primary goal is to reach target audiences and leverage digital spaces to attain marketing goals.

Using these tools significantly increases the online presence of the business. The visibility not only attracts new customers that resonate with the company's goods/services but also engages with existing audiences. As a result, broader business goals can be achieved as these marketing efforts cater beyond the geographical boundaries of the headquarters or office of the organization.

Digital marketing strategies refer to a plan devised by an organization to make use of digital/online platforms, technologies, and channels to reach its objectives in terms of marketing. By incorporating data analytics, organizations can gauge the performance of their campaigns.

In the modern world, or as we often refer to it, 'the internet era,' the target customers of most businesses are more and more active online with every passing day. Therefore, engagement with existing and potential customers is primarily done online. It helps with raising awareness about the brand, generating new leads, and driving more traffic to the business's website, social media profiles, or online marketplaces. 

The most common integrated digital marketing strategies are SEO, content marketing, social media marketing, affiliate marketing, influencer marketing, pay-per-click, and email marketing. Any one or a combination of two or more of these strategies helps a business curate a marketing plan that is in line with the organization's marketing goals, objectives, and customer requirements.

Many experts in the field also refer to this process as the usage of online means to reach out to the ideal customer or the target customer of a particular business. This is achieved through a customized combination of paid and organic posts on different platforms and channels to attract more traffic to the company's profile online.

It ultimately boils down to implementing the marketing tactics of an organization. The implementation is what makes these strategies. Otherwise, they would be referred to as tactics instead.  

Curating an effective digital marketing strategy can be an exercise that may vary for every organization based on its goals, nature of business, and channels of communication. However, the typical steps in all processes are mentioned in the step-by-step explanation below.  

• Before a concrete strategy is finalized, it is first necessary to decide upon the goals and short-term and long-term objectives. These shall act as the foundation of the company's marketing efforts. It is vital to ensure that these objectives are Specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and timely (SMART).
• Devising a plan without understanding the target customer is like shooting arrows in the dark with a blindfold on. Therefore, marketing experts create a buyer persona that clarifies the qualities their target customers possess. The practice gives the team an idea of the location, income or occupation, goals, interests, and pain points. If the business can better an existing practice or solve a problem, that shall be their primary goal.  
• Businesses should take a headcount of their existing digital assets. These not only help with identifying what the business needs to develop but also give insights into the gaps that they need to fill. It also gives them an idea of which aspect, channel, or platform needs to be bettered.
• Once the decision regarding what needs to be created is taken, the team must decide on execution. Typically, execution includes budget allocation, resource planning, technological support, and a deadline for each task in the process.
• With all the foundational factors ready for the tactics to be executed, the primary decision at this point is regarding the distribution of the content. It can be through owned, earned, or paid channels. 
• To constantly monitor the progress, the business must clearly define its key performance indicators (KPIs).

In a world with exceedingly higher numbers each day regarding everything online, it's challenging to stay relevant in terms of integrated digital marketing strategies. Despite so many changes, below are the top 10 strategies that almost always work. 

#1 - Search Engine Optimization (SEO) 

With over 75,000 searches every second on the world's favorite search engine, Google, businesses might need help to rank on the first page or be visible to target customers in their domain. SEO makes sure that the ideal buyer persona is attracted to the website, increases traffic for the content, and improves conversion rates.

#2 - Social Media Marketing

An average adult spends over two hours a day on social media, and the number of social media users is well into the billions. Therefore, with these mammoth numbers, it would be ignorant or even irresponsible on the business's part if they miss out on marketing on social media platforms. However, maintaining a tone of marketing that resonates with their ideal customers and staying on top of trends are vital points when it comes to social media platforms. 

#3 - Pay Per Click (PPC)

As the name suggests, whenever a target customer is recommended a business, they click on the link, and Google directly charges the registered business. The back story is that the company might have created an advertisement on Google Ads to attract more customers. 

#4 - E-commerce Marketing

Online shopping and third-party marketplaces have grown multifold in the last decade or so. These websites bring visibility, promotion, and engagement. Moreover, the conversion rates are higher in this form of marketing than in any other form. The three main parts of an efficient e-commerce website are category pages, blog posts, and product pages. 

#5 - Email Marketing

Email marketing is a customized marketing approach. It involves creating a list by inviting audiences to subscribe to a newsletter or other similar blog posts. These emails are then used to push products or services. Otherwise, existing customers are also touched upon through these means to constantly remind them of the product, service, or the brand itself. 

#6 - Content Marketing

With a plethora of information available on all topics on the internet, audiences look for sources of information that can be relied on. Businesses can cater to customers on these grounds through videos, infographics, blogs, or posts. These methods of providing value or information can provide answers to customers, inform them about the latest trends, and accustom them to new products of the business. 

#7 - Affiliate Marketing

Affiliate marketing is partnering with or involving a third party who takes up the onus of promoting the products or services in exchange for every unit sold or lead generated. These forms of marketing have become extremely popular after the rise of e-commerce websites, where anyone with a significant online presence can become an affiliate marketer. 

#8 - Influencer Marketing

Influencers are people with prominent online audiences within a particular domain. Brands in the same domain approach these influencers to promote their product or services in exchange for hampers from the brand or a paid collaboration. 

#9 - Website Optimization

Optimization with regard to a business's website refers to the improvement of the look and feel of the landing page, boosting the overall speed of the website, conversion rate boosting, UI (User Interface) and UX (User Experience) revamping, and conversion rate optimization (CRO).

#10 - Mobile Marketing

Mobile marketing is approaching target customers through mobile-friendly websites, mobile apps, or SMS marketing. In times like today, where smartphones are a basic necessity for most people, approaching marketing from this angle could widen the range of audiences that can be reached.

Now that the fundamental and related factors of the best digital marketing strategies are out of the way, it is time to touch upon their real-life application. Understanding the practical application shall clarify the intricacies of the concept.

Example #1

MuscleMuscle is a brand that manufactures protein powder for bodybuilders and fitness freaks. Their primary form of sales has been through physical means, where they send products to their distributors and retailers and earn a margin on each unit sold.

However, when the team sat for a yearly performance review, they found that sales could have improved over the last two years. Upon research, they found that a competitor had increased their sales significantly by taking the business online.  

Therefore, MuscleMuscle decided to create an online profile on Instagram and post educational content. Additionally, they collaborated with fitness influencers and promoted their products through them, which increased their credibility. These influencers were paid a fee for promotion or were given free post-workout protein bars and shakes. As a result, their sales doubled in just two months.

Example #2

MuscleMuscle is a brand that manufactures protein powder for bodybuilders and fitness freaks. Their primary form of sales has been through physical means, where they send products to their distributors and retailers and earn a margin on each unit sold.

However, when the team sat for a yearly performance review, they found that sales could have improved over the last two years. Upon research, they found that a competitor had increased their sales significantly by taking the business online.

Therefore, MuscleMuscle decided to create an online profile on Instagram and post educational content. Additionally, they collaborated with fitness influencers and promoted their products through them, which increased their credibility. These influencers were paid a fee for promotion or were given free post-workout protein bars and shakes. As a result, their sales doubled in just two months.

The benefits of implementing new digital marketing strategies are explained below.

• Digital marketing strategies help businesses reach a wider audience. Geographical boundaries do not restrict it. The business can cater to a global audience if they have relevant clearances. 
• Orthodox marketing channels are costly and often need to provide better returns on investments. However, digital versions of these exercises allow precise targeting of audiences and track the performance of the campaign.
• Online means of marketing allow targeted marketing. Advertisements are shown only to people of specific interests, locations, behaviors, and demographics. Therefore, convertibility is better. 
• The results derived from digital means of promoting products or services are measurable to a great extent. In fact, marketing teams can track even how much ROI the business generates for every dollar employed. 
• Constantly being in touch with customers through the engaging channels of email, social media, and content marketing, businesses can breed a loyal customer base.
• Digital marketing allows flexibility in terms of altering, enhancing, or forfeiting the marketing campaign based on changes in market trends or consumer behavior. These changes are not practical in traditional forms of marketing. 

Despite the various benefits, integrated digital marketing strategies are not free of challenges. The challenges are explained below. 

• In the modern day, online spaces are crowded to an extent where every micro-segment is highly competitive. Therefore, staying relevant and effective in a competitive market can be a severe challenge. 
• Every few months, the algorithm of major social media platforms changes to newer specifications. As a result, the strategies have to completely change according to the new algorithm to ensure the visibility and engagement improve and convert into more business.
• With each passing day, data privacy laws are becoming stricter. Therefore, businesses need help finding easy ways to collect, use, or store customer data.
• The content on the social media platform space is driven majorly by trends that come and go every other week. What happens is that most people try to ride the trend, which leads to content saturation. As a result, the content for the business needs to stand out. 
• When businesses promote their products through multiple channels, it becomes difficult to understand the ROI generated from each platform or even if they have generated any ROI at all.