The Basics: How To Grow Your Digital Marketing Strategy

When talking to business owners about digital marketing, I often find a common problem we run into is not knowing where to start. There are so many directions to go and each has its nuances and complexities. However, good marketing strategy is less complicated than you think. Yes, there are a lot of moving pieces, but you don't need to do everything - just a few things very well. A good digital marketing strategy essentially boils down to five branches: content, website, search, email, and social. 

Developing a marketing plan is easier than you think, especially when you have the right tools at hand. 

Not every business needs to tackle all five of these branches to have a solid marketing presence, but every business should focus on at least one.

Content is king:

Perhaps you’ve heard this before. Marketers say this because content is everything. Content is every picture, video, photo series, graphic, label, logo, and word you see. In order to be a successful marketer, the key is to provide valuable, interesting content through the available channels that make sense for your business. 

If there is one piece of advice I can provide, it is to focus on the content first and foremost. Whatever else you do in your marketing plan, make sure the quality of the content holds up. 

Let's talk web...

 Did you know that 90% of users never make it past the first page of any given website. That's why it's so important to have a beautiful, well-crafted website that funnels in as many eyes as possible. 

By appearing in the first few options of search engine results, you can catch people who are Googling terms related to your industry. 

There are two ways to catch these customers - Pay Per Click (PPC) and Search Engine Optimization (SEO). The main thing you need to know about search is that customers are searching your industry terms, and either you are capturing those clicks or your competition is. 

Next is email - email is a good way to keep customers engaged with the brand. The key with email is to always provide value and make sure you are never spamming your customers. 

In my experience, I find MailChimp to be the easiest platform to work with. You can use it for free for the first 500 contacts or so and it has a friendly interface with pretty layouts. 

Finally social media is the small but persistent last branch of the marketing tree. Not every business needs to have a blossoming social media presence or even an active one. Simply having an existing and professional social media presence can do wonders for your business. 

If you don't know where to start, start with just one platform. Post 2-3 times a week for one month and at the end of the month see which post got the most engagement. You can then begin investing small amounts boosting ads. Boost posts that receive higher levels of engagement. I could get quite a bit more granular in this area, but I'll leave it there for now. 

In Conclusion...

Those are the high level pieces of a successful marketing plan. Ultimately, I believe when growing your marketing tree, you have to consider where your customers spend their time and how you connect with them authentically in those places. 

I hope this email provides value and inspiration for you as you navigate your marketing journey. Please don’t hesitate to reach out if you have any questions or want to chew over some ideas. I’m a marketing nerd and I love a good conversation about brand, strategy, and content.

Good luck in your research and I hope to hear from you.