The Importance of Digital Marketing in a Marketing Strategy

What digital marketing can offer you

Digital marketing has the ​potential to transform the way that your business reaches and engages with customers.  While traditional marketing tactics require you to wait months to assess which strategies are working, digital marketing allows you to view results in ​real time​.  This gives you the chance to easily and quickly adapt your strategy and tactics as you go for optimum results.  But beyond strategy digital marketing tactics offer the most ​cost-effective way to market your business.

Affordable digital marketing tactics can allow you to get more out of your marketing spend, allowing smaller businesses greater opportunities to compete with larger companies of scale.

How important is digital marketing

In today's digital sphere the ​importance of creating and using a digital marketing plan to support digital transform and generate company growth is paramount.

What is still very common among many businesses today is the ​challenge they face knowing how vital digital and mobile channels are for acquiring and retaining customers.  Yet for some reason they don't seem to have an integrated plan in place to grow and engage their audiences effectively.

Bottom line if your business doesn’t have a plan in place you will suffer and most often ​lose out to your competitors who are more tech savvy.

But how do I start

When people start thinking about strategic planning there is a fear that a massive report is required.  Sure for any strategy to be a success, planning is paramount but a clear and concise ​digital marketing plan​ no longer then three or so pages is all that may be needed.

Lean strategy is key

A huge report will just bog you down, your digital marketing strategy can be best summarized down into clear concise tables linking digital marketing strategies to smart objectives. A ​lean strategy​ will allow you to implement your digital plan more rapidly to gain traction.

But what tactics do I choose

Another major challenge for anyone considering implementing digital marketing into their marketing strategy is the sheer ​scope and scale of digital marketing. An endless amount of digital marketing techniques exist ranging from search, content, social media marketing to website design and optimisation.

Having a ​clear idea of what you want to achieve with your strategy will allow you to define a more manageable number of digital marketing activities that cover your full customer journey.

How to get digital

In order for digital marketing to be successful businesses must take a strategic approach to digital. Before pushing ahead with some wishful idea of how you want to digitally transform your business, first ​creating a plan​ will suggest a way forward.

Start with a digital marketing plan that’s ​separate from the overall marketing plan​. Aim to define the transformation needed and make sure any changes to your strategy are made clear. This step provides an important opportunity to identify any potential problems, allowing you to map out a path through setting goals and specific digital strategies.

Integration is key

While at first creating a separate digital marketing plan is key make sure it’s not packaged entirely separate. Digital media ​works best when integrated ​with traditional media.  Following the clear definition of your digital marketing initiatives, develop an integrated digital marketing strategy which is part of the overall marketing plan.

Integrating your digital plan into a fully aligned marketing plan allows it to become a core activity that becomes part of ​business as usual.

How to take advantage of the benefits of digital marketing

Without a doubt ​digital marketing offers the best way to reach your customers right where they are during the moments they may be online searching for brands just like yours.  Make sure before you leap into an unknown world of digital marketing you have a ​sound digital marketing strategy​ in place.

Having a clear idea of what it is you want you want your business to achieve overall is important. From here you can create digital marketing goals that align with these objectives.

From here the real magic can begin. Start determining which digital marketing strategies you will use, and develop a ​plan for implementation​ and measurement.

By Matthew Crawford

Thanks to Domenico Loia for allowing us to use his image.