Whether you are a big Elon Musk fan and believe you don’t really need advertising to build a brand or you are just not sure if it will work for you, there are certain aspects about your business that might point to the fact that you need a digital marketing strategy in place.
This is available for those who have never activated any marketing campaigns for their brand, as well as for those who have been running campaigns for some time but didn’t see the results they were expecting.
If you recognise these signs, it’s time for you to develop a solid digital marketing strategy asap:
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You feel the results you get are low, given the resources allocated to marketing
Digital marketing is a beautiful blend of creativity, strategy and math. However, people tend to focus on the latter, looking at the numbers more than anything else. If you’re also doing that and you feel like you’re investing a lot more than what you’re getting in return, it’s time to look at other aspects of your marketing efforts, not just the time or money you spend.
The strategy is the place where it all starts and it should be a reference point throughout the digital marketing campaigns, regardless of the short-term goals. This will enable you or your team to create and activate campaigns that are thought strategically and ensure you’re always on track with your goals.
You find it challenging to keep up with your competitors
If it seems like your competitors are always one step ahead of you….that means they are. When you’re finding it challenging to keep up with your competitors, it’s time to take a step back and analyse your marketing strategy. Setting long-term goals and short-term objectives is not going to take you too far if you don’t have a strategy in place.
Make sure you do a thorough analysis of your competitors and understand their strategy before setting out yours and start implementing better converting campaigns for your brand.
You don’t have SMART objectives
Another sign you are in dire need of a solid digital marketing strategy is you don’t have SMART objectives. You may already be familiar with SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Time-bound) and you should always use these within your strategy as it makes no sense to create unrealistic goals for your company when it comes to digital marketing.
While it’s understandable that you may want to reach the stars, it is essential to keep your goals relevant and achievable with digital marketing, ensuring that you are analysing KPIs that can be easily monitored and evaluated.
You’re not entirely sure about your target audience
Many businesses nowadays understand that digital marketing serves as an excellent tool to scale your business, increase your brand awareness and build an online community. However, when it comes to implementing strategies, I often see brands that are not 100% sure of who their target audience is or whom they would like to reach with their marketing.
Some of the groups are described as ‘everyone between the ages of 25 – 34’ or ‘females between 18-24’. While the age group is a great starting point, it won’t say much about your audience besides a few characteristics specific to their generation.
When it comes to your target audience, there is never too much information you can have. Ideally, you want to understand not only demographic characteristics but also psychographic traits. You are interested in finding out their online behaviour, what makes them tick and what pushes them to purchase products or services similar to yours.
Digital marketing campaigns are more rewarding when you have a very clear picture of your target audience and that will also help you with other areas of marketing, as well as business decisions for your brand’s direction and market positioning.
You’re not sure how to optimise your online assets
Something that is tightly related to your target audience is every asset you’re putting out there to market your business. You may have had moments when you were not sure about the design of your website, the themes and direction of your social media presence or what type of content to promote online for optimal results.
Based on your digital marketing strategy, competitor analysis, as well as market and target audience research, you will be able to make the right decision on how to optimise your online assets because you will know exactly what you need to do, instead of always experimenting.
Of course, these are just a few of the challenges you may be facing at the moment if you’re not following an actual digital marketing strategy. Not developing one will only lead to wasting more time, resources and opportunities.
Not sure where to start? Get in touch with us at hello@socialgamma.com and book a call to discuss your brand’s strategy.
