While I often discuss the benefits of a Digital Marketing Strategy for your business, it’s just as important to understand exactly what to expect when you receive your strategy for the first time.
‍

A digital marketing strategy is essentially a plan of action that encompasses all facets of digital marketing to help you successfully execute it within your business.
‍
Much like a roadmap, it outlines the plan, the content, the people, the resources, and the budget that will make up your strategy, effectively providing you with the What, Who, Where, When and Why of digital marketing for your business. The fact that our digital marketing strategies provide such an accessible blueprint to navigate towards real results is why our clients find so much value in them.
‍
In this article, I want to break down exactly what to expect from your digital marketing strategy, as well as how each of these components applies to your business.
‍
Let’s get started.‍

‍

The WHAT: Your Plan

The WHAT is the roadmap of your strategy itself.
‍

This is where your strategy outlines how it relates to and aligns with the commercialisation of your business, as well as how it will work with your sales team to achieve your business objectives.

By defining which business vertical is the focus for your business, the strategy then determines how digital marketing will deliver the key growth goals that align with this focus, and what content is needed to fuel the strategy for success.

‍
Download our free content calendar template here.

‍
The WHO: Your People

Let’s break down the WHO into two parts:
‍
First, your strategy will define who your marketing is going to be targeting. Through detailed interviews, your priority customer personas will be built around your dream clients, with the focus being on targeting more of these client types.

In the second part, your strategy outlines who is going to be executing your digital marketing plan. This considers current and future internal resources, as well as the need for external agency support, or a combination of both, to achieve your strategy’s intended outcomes.

Did you know that we have launched our Marketing as a Managed Service offering, so that we can be your marketing team and execute this plan for you. Get in touch with us to find out more about how we can help.

‍

The WHERE: Your Channels

The WHERE defines which marketing channels and tactics are the priorities of your digital marketing strategy. Essentially, this answers the question, “Where and how is our content going to be posted?”
‍
Different channels serve different audiences and different purposes within the greater marketing funnel, so it’s important to understand where your audience can be found to effectively communicate with them, using the right tactics to get their attention.
‍
For more information, check out our 9-Step Digital Marketing Strategy Guide.

‍

The WHEN: Your Frequency

The WHEN details how you can break up your business’ content marketing into seasonal or periodic posting to make planning and execution more seamless for your marketing team.
‍
Your strategy could recommend posting regular content once or multiple times a week, based on market research that determines the times when your audience is most active and responsive.
‍
Download our free content calendar template here.
‍
It will also take a broader approach, outlining which months of the year will be more reliant on marketing. For example, some businesses need to focus much of their marketing around November and December, while others should prioritise the middle of the year for their targeted campaigns.
‍
There may also be future dates throughout the year that will be important for your business to call out or focus on as part of your marketing. These will be included in your digital marketing strategy as well.

‍

The WHY: Your Purpose & Metrics

The WHY outlines the reason behind each priority channel and tactic in your strategy, as well as what each activity is ultimately responsible for in the marketing funnel.
‍
For example, there’s a common misconception that organic social media posting will close a lead. However, this is not true. Social media posting is a Top of Funnel activity, and its role is to create always-on brand awareness.
‍
That’s why your strategy considers which channels and tactics sit where in the marketing funnel—either at the top, middle or bottom—to deliver effective content and digital marketing for your business.
‍
Your strategy will also define the exact metrics that will be used to measure the success of each channel and tactic, such as click-through rates and page views.
‍
In our 9 step digital marketing strategy guide, we also discuss the importance of having one source of truth for each marketing tactic and how it should be measured in one master reporting file.

‍

Do you need help with strategic digital marketing for your business?

All you have to do is Ask!

At Ask Digital Marketing, we combine decisive digital strategy and managed marketing execution to help B2B service-based businesses build demand, establish thought leadership and own their industry through digital business marketing.

Stop waiting. Start building. Experience success.

Just get in touch with us and we can discuss your business to help you navigate the digital marketing landscape towards success.

Let’s harness the power of digital marketing today!

For more great marketing content, connect with our company leaders, Alexandra King and Stephanie King, or follow our Ask Marketing LinkedIn page.