Digital Marketing, Digital Marketing Strategy, Digital Marketing Steps

How to do successful digital marketing in 15 easy steps

March 31, 2023 - by ABK Digital
  1. Introduction
  2. 15 steps to succeed in your digital marketing efforts
  3. Conclusion

Introduction

The digital marketing game is constantly changing, and the stakes are higher than ever. In today’s world, businesses cannot afford to ignore digital marketing. But with limited resources and knowledge, it can be overwhelming to know where to start. That’s why we’ve put together this guide to help you do your digital marketing effectively and succeed in it.

First, let’s understand what is digital marketing and why it is important. Digital marketing is the art and science of promoting your brand, product, and service through various digital channels such as search engines, social media platforms, email, and mobile apps. A well-executed digital marketing strategy can help you reach your target audience, increase brand awareness, drive traffic to your website, and ultimately boost sales.

One example of a business that has seen success with its digital marketing efforts is Glossier, a beauty brand that started as an online-only store. With a robust social media presence and a focus on user-generated content, Glossier created a loyal following and generated buzz around its products.

In this article, we’ll cover some creative and comprehensive strategies for doing digital marketing with real-world examples and relevant data.

Whether you are just starting afresh or looking to take your digital marketing efforts to the next level, this 15 steps guide will provide valuable insights and actionable advice to help you succeed in the competitive digital marketing world.

15 steps to succeed in your digital marketing efforts:

  • Clearly define your goals and objectives:

Goals and objectives are the backbones of any digital marketing campaign. They help businesses set clear expectations and measure their progress over time.

A goal is a broad, overarching statement that defines what any business wants to achieve through ongoing digital marketing efforts.

On the other hand, objectives are specific, measurable, and time-bound targets that contribute to achieving the overall goal through digital marketing.

When defining goals and objectives for digital marketing, businesses need to be specific about what they want to achieve. For example, your digital marketing goal could be to increase website traffic, while an objective would be to increase website traffic by 30% within the next six months.

Defining goals and objectives in digital marketing is crucial for businesses for these reasons:

It helps them stay focused and align their marketing efforts with their aggregate business objectives.

It allows them to measure their progress and adjust their digital marketing strategies accordingly.

It helps them to identify their target audience and tailor their marketing messages to resonate with them.

Data from HubSpot’s State of Marketing Report shows that businesses with a clearly defined marketing strategy are 313% more likely to report success than those without one.

One example of a business that has successfully defined its digital marketing goals and objectives is Coca-Cola. In 2016, the company launched its “Taste the Feeling” campaign to create an emotional connection with consumers and reinforce Coca-Cola’s position as a beverage that brings people together.

The campaign included TV ads, social media content, and experiential marketing events. By defining its objectives and tracking its progress, Coca-Cola achieved a 2.5% increase in global sales volume that year.

Thus, defining goals and objectives is crucial for a successful digital marketing campaign. It helps businesses stay focused, measure their progress, and tailor their marketing messages to resonate with their target audience.

  • Identify your target audience:

Identifying your target audience is about defining the characteristics of your ideal customer for your product or service.

These characteristics may include demographic information, such as age, gender, and location, as well as psychographic information, such as interests, values, and behavior.

Businesses can use various methods to identify their target audience, such as analyzing customer data, conducting market research, and creating buyer personas.

Identifying your target audience is essential in digital marketing for several reasons listed below:

It allows businesses to create targeted marketing messages that resonate with their intended audience, leading to higher engagement and conversions.

It helps businesses optimize their marketing budget by focusing on the most profitable customer segments.

It allows businesses to stay ahead of their competitors by identifying untapped customer segments and creating products and services that cater to their needs.

It helps businesses choose precise digital marketing channels, as different audiences prefer different communication platforms. For example, younger audiences spend more time on social media platforms like Instagram and TikTok, while older audiences are more likely to read email newsletters.

  • Create detailed buyer personas:

Creating detailed buyer personas is an essential aspect of digital marketing. A buyer persona is a fictional representation of your ideal customer based on your target audience.

By creating detailed buyer personas, you can better understand your customers’ needs, preferences, behavior, etc., and tailor your marketing efforts to meet those.

Here is how you create detailed buyer personas for your brand:

Demographics: Start by gathering information about your target audience's demographics, such as age, gender, income, education level, and occupation. This data can help you understand who your customers are and their needs and interests.

Psychographics: Psychographics refers to your customers' personality traits, values, attitudes, and lifestyles. This information can help you understand what motivates your customers and what kind of messaging and content will resonate with them.

Pain points: Identify your customers' pain points, which are the problems or challenges they are facing that your product or service can help solve.

Buying behavior: Analyze your customers' buying behavior by understanding how they research, evaluate, and purchase products or services. This information can help you create marketing campaigns that target customers at each stage of the buying process.

Channels of engagement: Determine which channels your customers use to engage with your brands, such as social media, email, or your website. This information can help you tailor your marketing efforts to reach customers where they are most likely to engage with your brand.

  • Identify your unique selling proposition (USP):

Your USP sets you apart from your competitors and communicates the unique value that you offer to your customers.

Here are some relevant data and examples to help you identify your USP:

Research your competition: Research your competitors to see what they are offering and how they are positioning that in the market. Look for gaps in the market that you can fill with your USP.

Focus on benefits, not features: Instead of focusing on the features of your product or service, highlight its benefits to your customers. For example, a product that is easy to use and saves time is more compelling than one with advanced technical features that may be difficult to use.

Communicate your value clearly: Your USP should be communicated clearly and effectively in all your marketing efforts, including your website, social media, and advertising campaigns.

Test your USP: Once you've identified your USP, test it with your target audience to see how they respond. Use surveys or focus groups to gather feedback and refine your USP until it resonates with your audience.

  • Use data and analytics:

Analytics and reporting are crucial components of digital marketing that help businesses understand the effectiveness of their campaigns and make data-driven decisions to improve their performance. Here is how:

Performance Tracking: By tracking key performance indicators (KPIs) such as conversion rates, click-through rates, and engagement rates, businesses can measure the success of their campaigns and identify areas for improvement.

Audience Segmentation: By segmenting their audience based on demographics, behaviors, and interests, businesses can create more targeted and personalized marketing messages and higher click-through rates

Competitive Analysis: By comparing your performance to your competitors, you can gain insights into what works well in their industry and what they can do to stay ahead.

  • Create high-quality and relevant content:

Creating high-quality and relevant content is a crucial aspect of digital marketing plan, as it can help businesses attract and engage their target audience, build brand awareness, and drive conversions.

To create high-quality content:

Use Visuals: Visual content, such as images, videos, and infographics, can help businesses communicate their message more effectively and engage their audience. Using visuals in your content can also help break up large blocks of text and make your content more scannable and easier to read.

Use Keywords: By including semantic and long-tail keywords in your content, your website can rank higher in search engine results and attract more organic traffic. However, it's essential to use keywords naturally and organically that don't compromise the quality of your content.

Provide Value: Creating high-quality and relevant content is about providing value to your audience. Whether you are creating blog posts, videos, or social media content, make them informative, helpful, and actionable.

  • Invest in paid advertising channels:

Investing in paid advertising channels is a crucial aspect of digital marketing, as it can help businesses reach their target audience, drive traffic, and increase conversions.

Here are some paid marketing techniques that are popular in the market:

Search Engine Advertising: Search engine advertising, such as Google Ads and Bing Ads, allows businesses to bid on keywords related to their products or services and display ads to users who search for those keywords.

Social Media Advertising: Social media advertising, such as Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Twitter Ads, allows businesses to display ads to users based on their demographics, interests, and behaviors.

Display Advertising: Display advertising, such as banner ads and retargeting ads, allows businesses to display ads on websites and mobile apps to users who match their target audience.

Video Advertising: Video advertising, such as YouTube Ads and pre-roll ads, allows businesses to display ads to users who watch videos on platforms like YouTube.

As the digital landscape is evolving rapidly, investing in paid advertising channels will become increasingly important in driving business success.

  • Utilize retargeting ads:

Retargeting ads, also known as remarketing ads, can help businesses to re-engage users who have previously interacted with their website or products and increase the likelihood of conversion.

According to a study, “retargeted visitors are 70% more likely to convert on a website to those who are not targeted for the second time.”

Retargeting ads work by placing a cookie on the user’s browser, which allows the ad network to display ads to the user as they browse the web. There are several types of retargeting ads that businesses can utilize, including:

Site Retargeting: Displays ads to users who have previously visited a website or landing page.

Search Retargeting: Displays ads to users based on their search history and keywords they have used.

Email Retargeting: Displays ads to users who have previously opened or clicked on an email from a business.

Social Media Retargeting: Displays ads to users who have engaged with a business on social media platforms before.

Businesses should consider the following best practices to maximize the effectiveness of retargeting ads:

Segment your audience based on their behavior and interests to create more targeted and personalized retargeting ads.

Use engaging ad creative, visuals, and compelling messaging to grab the audience's attention and encourage them to click on your ad.

Set a limit on how often a user will see your retargeting ads to avoid overexposure and ad fatigue.

Use analytics tools to measure the performance of your retargeting ads and make adjustments as needed to improve their effectiveness.

  • Use video marketing:

Video marketing is a powerful tool that allows businesses to engage with their audience more visually and dynamically through video content to promote products, services, or brands.

According to a study by Wyzowl, 84% of consumers say that they get convinced to buy a product or service after watching a brand’s video. In addition, video content tends to perform better on social media platforms, with video posts on Facebook receiving 59% more engagement than other post types.

Video marketing has become increasingly popular in recent years. For example, Blendtec’s “Will It Blend?” series of videos features the blender pulverizing a variety of objects, including iPhones and golf balls, resulting in over 1 million subscribers on YouTube.

There are several types of video marketing that businesses can utilize, including:

Product Demos: These videos showcase how a product works and its features and benefits.

Explainer Videos: These videos explain a concept or process in an easy-to-understand way.

Brand Storytelling: These videos tell the story of a brand, its mission, and its values.

Testimonials: These videos feature satisfied customers talking about their positive experiences with a business or product.

To make your video better and perform best, consider the following points while making:

Keep your videos short: As users' attention spans are short, keep your videos concise and to the point.

Include a call-to-action (CTA): Encourage viewers to take action at the end of watching the video, such as visiting your website or making a purchase.

Optimize for SEO: Include keywords in your video title and description to improve your video's visibility in search engines.

Promotion: Share your videos on social media platforms and your website to increase their reach.

  • Develop a strong brand identity and consistent messaging across all digital channels:

Developing a strong brand identity and consistent messaging across all digital channels is crucial for businesses to establish a recognizable presence in the digital marketplace.

Brand identity is a visual and emotional representation of a business, including its name, logo, color scheme, messaging, etc. A strong brand identity can help businesses set themselves apart from their competitors and establish a loyal customer base.

According to a study, 90% of consumers expect a similar branded experience across your marketing channels. Also, consistent branding can increase brand recognition and loyalty, as customers are more likely to remember and trust a brand with a strong and consistent identity.

In addition to developing a strong brand identity, businesses should ensure that their messaging is consistent across all digital channels, including social media, emails, website content, etc., to establish trust and loyalty with their audience.

To develop a strong brand identity, consider the following:

Define your brand: Determine what your brand stands for, its values, and its personality.

Create a visual identity: Develop a logo, color scheme, and typography that reflects your brand's personality and values.

Develop messaging: Create a clear and consistent message that communicates your brand's value proposition and differentiates it from competitors.

Be authentic: Be true to your brand's values and personality, and ensure all your marketing efforts align with them.

  • Focus on building long-term relationships with your audience:

Digital marketing is not just about acquiring new customers but also about building long-term relationships with your audience. By focusing on building these relationships, businesses can establish brand loyalty, increase customer retention, and ultimately drive more revenue.

According to a study by Harvard Business Review, acquiring a new customer can cost up to 25 times more than retaining an existing one.

One way to build long-term relationships with your audience is through personalization. Businesses can tailor their marketing efforts to each customer by using data and analytics to offer personalized recommendations and experiences.

Another way to build long-term relationships with your audience is by providing value by offering educational content, exclusive deals, promotions, or personalized recommendations based on their interests and behaviors.

Building trust is also essential for building long-term relationships. By being transparent about your business practices and values, businesses can establish trust with their audience and strengthen their relationship.

  • Stay updated with the latest trends and technologies:

By staying updated with the latest trends and technologies, businesses can improve their design, creativity, and overall digital marketing strategy to stay ahead of the competition.

Staying updated with emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence, virtual reality, and chatbots can help businesses stay ahead of the curve and provide innovative solutions to their audience.

One way to stay updated with the latest trends and technologies in digital marketing is by following industry thought leaders, which can include marketing blogs, podcasts, and social media accounts that share the latest news and insights.

Another way to stay updated is by attending industry events such as conferences and workshops. These events provide valuable networking opportunities, along with the latest insights and trends in digital marketing.

  • Utilize marketing automation tools:

Marketing automation refers to using software and technologies to automate repetitive marketing tasks and processes.

Marketing automation allows businesses to streamline their marketing efforts, save time and resources, and deliver personalized experiences to their audience.

According to a study by HubSpot, businesses that use marketing automation see a 451% increase in qualified leads, along with a 14.5% increase in sales productivity.

There are various types of marketing automation tools available, including:

Email marketing automation tools, such as Mailchimp and HubSpot, allow businesses to automate their email campaigns and send personalized messages to their audience.

Social media automation tools, such as Hootsuite and Buffer, allow businesses to schedule and publish social media posts across multiple channels.

Lead nurturing automation tools, such as Marketo and Pardot, allow businesses to automate their lead nurturing process and deliver personalized experiences to their leads.

  • Use A/B testing:

A/B testing, also known as split testing, is a powerful tool in digital marketing that allows businesses to compare two versions of a marketing campaign or web page to determine which one performs better.

By testing different elements of a campaign, such as headlines, images, and calls to action, businesses can optimize their campaigns for better results.

A/B testing involves creating two versions of a campaign or web page and then randomly showing each version to a sample of your audience. The version that performs better is then shown to the remaining audience. A/B testing can be applied to various aspects of a campaign, such as:

Email marketing: Businesses can test different subject lines, sender names, and email designs to determine which one results in higher open and click-through rates.

Landing pages: Businesses can test different variations of their landing pages, such as headlines, images, and call-to-action buttons, to determine which ones result in higher conversion rates.

Ads: Businesses can test different ad copies, images, and targeting options to determine which one results in higher click-through and conversion rates.

To get the most out of A/B testing, test one variable at a time, test a large enough sample size, set clear goals, and continuously measure to improve results over time.

  • Collaborate with influencers and other brands:

Influencer marketing has become an increasingly popular part of digital marketing strategy in recent years. By collaborating with influencers and other brands, businesses can reach new audiences and build credibility through trusted partnerships.

According to a study by Influencer Marketing Hub, 60% of marketers confirmed that influencer-generated content performs better and drives more engagement compared to branded posts.

Influencer and brand collaborations can take many forms, including:

Sponsored content: Businesses can pay influencers or other brands to create content featuring their products or services.

Product collaborations: Businesses can partner with other brands to create co-branded products or limited-edition items.

Event collaborations: Businesses can partner with influencers or other brands to host events or webinars.

Conclusion

To succeed in digital marketing, you need a well-crafted strategy backed by data, creativity, and innovation. The 15 easy steps outlined in this blog provide a roadmap for achieving success in digital marketing.

ABK Digital is a dynamic and innovative digital marketing agency that has carved a niche as a leading player in the industry. With a team of experienced and highly skilled digital marketing professionals, ABK Digital has helped numerous businesses of all sizes to achieve their marketing goals and drive sustainable growth.

We at ABK Digital offer a wide range of digital marketing services, including search engine optimization, search engine marketing, social media marketing, content marketing, email marketing, and more. We also leverage the latest tools and technologies to create data-driven campaigns that optimize for conversions and ROI.

So, if you need a perfect digital marketing partner for your business, any advice on how to craft a result-oriented digital marketing strategy for your business, or get success in your ongoing digital marketing efforts, then ABK Digital is the right place for you.

Why wait? When we are just a call away, contact us now!