Planning a
digital marketing
strategy
Learn digital strategy in five steps
Step two - strategy planning
A digital marketing strategy can be centred around five main pillars:
- Business goals and objectives
- Understanding your audience
- Communicating value via messaging
- Using digital channels
- Content marketing and consumption
Business goals and objectives:
Objectives relate to what a business is ultimately trying to achieve through their digital marketing efforts – often making more sales or gaining more leads.
Understanding your audience.
This refers to understanding the demographics, online behaviours, pain-points, emotions, aspirations etc of people who are within your target market for your products or services. As mentioned in the strategy fundamentals section, understanding how to provide and communicate value to customers is the most critical step in determining whether or not a digital strategy will be successful.
Understanding the customer journey of your audience is critical when deciding which digital channels are ideal for each journey stage. The customer journey is a series of steps people take when deciding to make a purchase (awareness, consideration and purchase).
Understanding the online behaviours people take at each stage of the journey is key to tailoring content within each channel.
For example, Google ads generally aren’t used to reach people when they are beginning to learn about a topic (i.e. the awareness stage). These ads can become expensive and if users who click on them are just ‘window shopping’ (i.e. aren’t ready to purchase yet), a business may face an expense with no resulting revenue.
A better approach to reach users who are searching for general information is to create advice-based content on your website which can be communicated via SEO.
Defining your audience will help create a plan for the type of content you create. If you have an audience of professional chefs, for example, your content wouldn’t include basic cooking concepts but could include industry jargon and acronyms.
It’s also important to understand how your audience uses online platforms to search for content relating to your business or product. For some businesses, customers simply don’t use online channels for product research. Many industrial B2B businesses still use in-person trade shows to connect with potential customers. Content marketing via SEO may be an unsuitable activity if these types of customers aren’t using Google search to find these types of products.
When people download a new game app, did they do so because they found it from a Google search? Most likely they saw it mentioned in an online community, or they heard their friends talking about it or maybe they saw an ad on Facebook. Google search generally doesn’t play a role in this type of purchase.
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Before committing to creating content and being present across multiple channels, first understand how consumers behave online before they discover your type of product.
Using messaging to communicate value:
Messaging extends on from understanding your audience and involves communicating how your products/services can help improve the lives of your customers and provide value to them. Whether this be by solving a problem, helping them achieve a goal, taking them from point A to point B, making them feel happier etc.
Messaging involves understanding what people are trying to do and then communicating how you can help them achieve that goal. The more you can help (i.e. the more value you can provide), the more receptive people will be to your messages and advertisements.
Caution
When companies simply advertise themselves or their products, people are unsure of what value they would receive so they ignore the messaging altogether as it doesn’t benefit them.
Digital channels:
Channels refer to the digital channels which can be used to communicate messaging to potential customers. These include SEO, PPC (Facebook and Google ads), Social Media, eDM’s etc. It’s important to learn which channels customers are present on rather than trying to be across every platform at the same time.
Many businesses see choosing online channels as the only requirement for having a digital strategy and use these channels to push advertisements. This approach receives poor results as the business lacks a purpose for their digital activities (i.e. they simply bring traffic to the website) and ads receive little engagement as people see no value or reason to click.
Content:
Content involves understanding how to use content marketing to reach consumers in a way which directly benefits them.
Rather than running direct ads to people, content is the ‘carrier service’ for communicating messaging and value to consumers. Understanding how your audience consumes content is a critical part of content marketing – do they search for help on Google, do they prefer spending time on Facebook, do they learn by watching videos on YouTube, do they sign up to online courses etc?
A smart digital strategy will tailor each digital channel and content type to a stage of the customer journey.
At the awareness stage, consumers may search Google for solutions to their problem so SEO would be a good way to reach these users. This type of content is not aimed at making a sale but more so at helping them (and introducing them to your brand in the process – i.e. brand awareness).
In some cases, people may not have reached the stage of searching Google just yet (i.e. they don’t realise there is a better way of doing something or there are other options out there for helping them achieve a goal). Facebook ads can be effective in reaching these users and raising awareness of the value your product or service can provide them.
The content communicated at the awareness stage is based solely on helping the user. It is not sales or product focussed or intended to result in purchases on the website or in-store.
Once users have visited a business’s website (i.e. they have demonstrated some interest in the products/services), they are considered to be in the consideration stage of their customer journey. They are learning more about potential solutions to their problems or needs and the different options available.
Retargeting ads can be used across Facebook and Google ads to further reach and communicate value to the user once they have left the website. This content is a mix between helpful advice-based content but also contains a small element of product/business promotion. People will continue to search on Google at this stage so SEO content may be based around comparisons of options, which option is best for the customer’s situation etc.
Finally, the customer reaches the purchase stage where they have decided between all available options and are ready to make a purchase. They may search on Google for a brand name or a specific product type. These searches will be based on purchase intent keywords such as ‘buy now’, ‘where to buy’, ‘best price for’ etc.
Google ads are best for this stage as there’s a strong chance the user is ready to become a paying customer so the expense of running the ads is justified. Facebook ads can also be used at this stage to show users purely product/sales focussed ads promoting the products they were previously looking at on the website.
SEO also comes into play to ensure the website is listed highly within Google’s search results when users are looking to buy. SEO is also focussed on ensuring users have a good experience when on product pages (such as fast loading times, detailed descriptions, payment security etc).
Using content marketing, not advertising, to reach customers:
The traditional way of communicating product details to customers was to use intrusive and unwelcome advertising. Consumers are now overwhelmed with noise and messages from brands, they have turned off from advertising efforts.
However, they still search for solutions to solve their problems, improve their lives, and make everyday activities easier.
Content marketing is now the bridge which closes the gap between a company/products and its customers.
This approach can be one of the cheapest and most effective ways of attracting people to a website and raising awareness of a brand.
Content marketing should form the basis of the majority of communication a business has with potential customers who are online.
Tip
Content marketing is focussed on having the consumer come to you rather than you pushing advertising towards them.
Content marketing doesn’t exist to talk about the brand – it exists to use content to help solve the customer’s problems. Content is not an advertising campaign, you first need to understand the customer, create value for them and then use content and digital channels as a means of communicating this value.
All communications should be focused on the users point-of-view (WIIFM – What’s In It For Me) rather than focused on just promoting the business or website. Having a good understanding of your audience makes it much easier to deliver content which appeals to them.
One of the most important steps in developing a content marketing strategy is to create a document which provides insight and understanding into customers and their online behaviours.
The customer insights document will form the basis of creating valuable in-demand content across multiple channels and touchpoints.
What are their needs, frustrations, problems, aspirations?
What are their pain points? Why are they having trouble? Are existing solutions not working?
How can your brand help improve their situation?
What benefit and value does your product or service provide?
How can your brand reach and communicate with these potential customers?
Where are they online? What type of content do they consume?
Hubspot has a useful tool which can help you define the characteristics of your ideal customer.
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Even online ads should be based around content marketing. Instead of directly promoting a product, have the ad copy relate to the consumer (e.g. highlight their current problem) and then direct them to a content piece on the website which helps them. People are much more likely to click on something, even if it’s an ad, if they believe it can help them.
When done properly, content marketing will create the demand for people to want your products/services to fulfil their needs. Don’t describe the product or push the product features, use content to create the demand first.
Content marketing done right:
An excellent example of content marketing is Ben Heath’s Facebook Ad tutorials on YouTube.
Ben understands his customers and uses this understanding as the basis for creating content.
He knows people are unsure of how to set up campaigns, are intimidated by the Facebook Ads user interface, are worried about spending money but not achieving results etc.
This understanding results in video content being focussed on providing practical actionable advice/solutions (e.g. how to set up a campaign) with the same easy-to-understand approach in each video (e.g. a step-by-step tutorial).
Ben also understands when people are seeking to learn how to advertise on Facebook, they often turn to YouTube rather than listening to podcasts, reading blogs, downloading a PDF etc.
His videos provide help and value without pushing his services or brand. The only mention of his agency is at the start of each video – which he does naturally. He doesn’t focus on what his agency offers, his prices etc – the content is focused on providing value to viewers.
One of the best aspects of this content approach is the low-cost and ease-of-creation. Ben’s agency, Lead Guru UK, didn’t need to spend thousands of dollars on creating the content, all Ben needed was a webcam and a screen capture program. The tutorials he provides (e.g. setting up a campaign) are simply everyday activities for his agency.
The value of the content doesn’t lie in the production quality, but in the value it offers viewers. A content piece can be as simple as a blog post or a video shot on an iPhone, it doesn’t need to be expensive or time-consuming to be valuable.
Ben uses his video series as a way to communicate his knowledge and expertise which then builds trust amongst his viewers. Not only do the videos help users solve a problem (i.e. not knowing how to advertise on Facebook), but the content he provides is practical and actionable (i.e. no fluff). Straight away, people can log on to Facebook and start building their own ads and campaigns.
After watching several videos, people eventually understand how Facebook ads can benefit their business, but they also understand how much value Ben could provide to their business by using his expertise to run the ads for them.
He doesn’t try to convince people to use his agency, he creates demand for his services through the quality content he creates.
If Ben was using PPC to promote his agency, once the ads are turned off, website traffic drops. But with content marketing, he can maintain traffic long after the content has been published (at no ongoing cost).
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Promote the quality of your brand through content:
Rather than pushing the features of what you offer, use your content to demonstrate the outcome your brand can achieve for customers. This content approach also demonstrates your knowledge, capabilities and the resulting quality of your end product.
When people purchase, they face a risk of a product/service not meeting their expectations. By demonstrating knowledge and expertise through your content (i.e. you know the correct way of doing something or how to achieve excellent results), you provide peace of mind and reduce the risk for potential customers.
Instead of mentioning the different features and techniques they use within Facebook Ads, Ben simply shows the results his agency is able to achieve through Facebook ads (strong sales, low costs etc).
When people see these results, they want to achieve the same outcome for their own brand and therefore decide to use Ben’s agency. They already trust the quality and competence of the agency (through the practical helpful video content they originally viewed) and they have peace of mind and reassurance they will receive similar results for their own campaigns.
Maintaining content quality:
Each digital channel has strict requirements around maintaining the quality of ads and content on their platforms. For example, if users on Facebook or Google constantly see bland and boring ads which are of no interest to them, they will stop visiting. It’s in the best interests of platforms to keep brand communications as relevant and as useful as possible to keep existing users happy.
How platforms maintain advertising quality and user satisfaction:
Organic Google Search results:
When deciding which websites to show within search results, Google considers user experience signals such as time users spend on a website, how many pages they view, whether or not they leave straight away etc.
If a website produces poor quality content (i.e. only promoting the company and products without helping visitors), users will quickly leave the website and search result rankings may drop.
Organic Social Media:
When a business page creates a new post, the algorithm of that platform will show the content to an initial group of users. If these users do not respond favourably (e.g. ignore the post, don’t comment or share etc), the platform will not extend the reach of the post any further.
This is why so many businesses achieve little engagement on Facebook, their product-specific posts are not welcomed by initial users.
Facebook and Google Ads:
Facebook ads have a metric called quality ranking which is made up of ad relevance, clicks/engagement, user feedback etc. If users are not engaging with ads or provide negative feedback (e.g. hiding ads or leaving negative comments/reactions), the ad quality score drops. This can result in higher costs and lower reach in future – even if budgets are increased.
Google ads have a quality score which is used in determining which ads will show when users search for specific keywords. Click-through rate has the biggest impact on quality score. If a brand creates bland, product/sales-focussed ads which people see little personal value in (i.e. it doesn’t communicate how the brand/product can help them), they don’t click. Minimal CTR can result in higher costs and lower reach.
As already discussed, a customer will go through several stages when deciding on a purchase (e.g. awareness, consideration and decision). The key to content marketing is to be there at each touchpoint in a way which is most welcomed by the customer. A long YouTube video isn’t useful at the awareness stage but when a user is at the consideration stage and deciding between options, a detailed video of key products features and benefits will be valued.
On average, it takes a user seven interactions with a brand before they take an action on a website (e.g. signing up) or become a paying customer. This is why it’s important to not just reach them once or twice but to be there on each channel throughout their entire buying journey.
97% of initial website visitors are not ready to take action, they are simply browsing.
By being there at each touchpoint, over time you are able to build brand awareness, brand difference and reasons to choose you. If a user is in the final stage of deciding which brand to choose, and they see your ad for the very first time, it is likely other brands are already cemented in their mind.
If you build a positive association with your brand (i.e. valuable and useful content at each stage), it is much easier to connect with and persuade the customer when they are ready to buy.
Content which is authoritative and expertly written reinforces the knowledge and expertise of your brand and therefore the quality of the end product. When you build authority, you build trust. Helping people achieve a goal helps build trust.
When creating an initial content strategy, three questions must be answered:
Who is the audience?
Content needs to be tailored to a specific audience and persona type – don’t try to use one piece of content to speak to every person at every stage of the customer journey. Where are your potential customers – are they on Facebook, YouTube, are they searching Google for answers? What problems or aspirations do they have? What are they trying to achieve?
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What will be delivered and when?
What information are potential customers looking for? Do they prefer videos to images? When it comes to shareability, image and video content performs much better than text-based blogs as it’s easier to share and easier to understand.
The easier a piece of content is to consume, the better it will perform. A video may provide helpful tips but if it’s five hours long, people will switch off. The content will likely perform better if it’s broken down into several 15-minute-long video pieces.
A content calendar helps organise content planning and upcoming distribution across various channels and formats. It’s also useful for organising tasks amongst group members, managing budgets and having a general overview of the development process.
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What is the outcome for the audience?
What have people achieved by using your content? Do they have a solution to their problem or has their situation improved in some way?
If content leaves an audience with a feeling of ‘well, that’s nice to know’, most likely they won’t see great value in it. But if the content clearly takes them from point A to point B, there is much more value and they are much more likely to share the content and return to the website in future.
Many businesses believe creating content is the only aspect to content marketing however there are two major areas which need to be covered.
- Creating and developing content
- Promoting content
Many companies fail to realise that one can’t work without the other. They spend their time creating great content just for it to sit undiscovered on their website. Others allocate large budgets to content distribution but there’s no focus on content quality so they end up with poor results from disinterested users who see no value in what is being promoted.
Creating the right type of content for each channel:
Understanding which types of content perform the best on each platform is key to maximising the chances of content attracting users to a website and being shared.
The Google Panda and Penguin algorithm updates saw an increased focus on useful content becoming a key metric Google uses to show websites at the top of the search results. Facebook has also updated its News Feed algorithm to give preference to posts which inform and entertain, rather than direct ads or product posts from brands.
Edgerank is Facebook’s algorithm which determines what will show in a user’s news feed. Edgerank is made up of three main aspects: affinity, weight of interactions and time decay. Affinity refers to how close a user is to the content publisher. Are they a friend or a follower of a page they’ve interacted with before?
Different post interactions and engagements carry different weights when assessing quality – a comment, for example, is more important than a reaction. Finally, the older a post, the less relevant it may be to users. Facebook prioritises fresh current content.
In 2022, Facebook is pushing video as the most desirable media type, so image-based content pieces are already at a disadvantage. Mobile and desktop use also affect which algorithm Facebook will apply (i.e. links which send you off Facebook are more preferred for desktop users). Facebook also prefers to keep users on their platform so content/posts with external links generally face reduced organic reach.
If your customers are heavily on Facebook, you can use these insights to build a more effective strategy.
When it comes to deciding on content type, content marketing can be focused around images, infographics, videos (short for Facebook, long for website), podcasts, case studies, eBooks, quizzes etc. These media types can also be added to longer blog content which will help break up the page and offer a better user experience (i.e. additional informative content which is easy to consume).
Finding popular content formats:
Ubersuggest is an online tool which features a ‘Content Ideas’ report which will show a range of different content types which have been created for certain keywords or topics.
The Ubersuggest report shows how many users have visited the content page, backlinks the webpage has received and the number of Facebook shares the content received. These metrics provide an indication of popularity for a content topic.
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Buzz Sumo is a similar tool which also provides insight into popular content types for topics. It shows content which has been most shared (e.g. most popular) for a topic/keyword. If you find your customers are most heavily on Facebook, Buzz Sumo can provide great insights into what content types perform best on this platform.
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After you have a general idea of what content types perform the best across certain channels, you can start to decide the topics you will cover. You also need to ensure this content will be discovered by customers during each stage of their online journey and the content helps in the ultimate goal of gaining more customers and achieving more sales.
All these considerations can be fulfilled through the role of keyword research within Search Engine Optimisation (SEO).
Once content has been created, there are three main approaches to amplification and distribution:
- Website
- eDM’s
- Social channels (Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube etc)
- Discussion groups on Facebook
- Forums and message boards (focussed around specific - topics/interests)
- Community websites (e.g. Quora)
- Pinterest
- Slideshare
- Facebook ads
- Google ads
- Remarketing (to website visitors, email subscribers etc)
- Sponsored articles
- Blogger/journalist outreach
- Display advertising
When content is first created, there is usually a slow uptake, and it can take months before it’s noticed. Paid mediums can be an essential part of a content strategy as they provide an initial uplift in traffic and backlinks from referring websites.
Content production needs to be consistent over the long-term as traffic starts to increase. As one content piece is starting to gain traction, another piece should already be in development.
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A content schedule gives people a reason to constantly return to a website or subscribe to a YouTube channel or Podcast etc. Many Social platform algorithms heavily consider posting frequency when assessing the quality of a publisher/brand.
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It’s important to remember, when it comes to content, the focus is on quality not quantity. Releasing one low-value content piece after another simply tells the audience there is no reason to be involved with this brand (if they even choose to click on or see the content in the first place).
Creation consistency doesn’t mean every week; it can mean every three months. If the content is in-demand and the quality is always great, people will seek out the brand as a source of value.
Using content to build an online brand:
When it comes to traditional marketing, a brand is an expectation of quality and a sense of promise – what can I expect when I buy and the next time I buy? A brand gives people a reason to choose one product over a substitute.
The online space is hugely competitive with thousands of websites providing the same type of content and products. High-quality content gives your website and business an edge by creating an online brand which people associate with useful and valuable content which can help them.
An online brand doesn’t refer to the digital version of a traditional store-based brand but instead it’s an expectation of what people can expect from your online activities. When people read content on your website, do they gain value from it or is it simply fluff? When they click an ad, do they find a solution to the problem they were searching for?
Quality content at each stage of the customer journey can help people develop a positive association with your brand and website.
When people are at the consideration stage, they may search Google however your website appears near the bottom of the search results (for this particular keyword search). If you’ve created a positive experience for this user at the awareness stage (i.e. by providing helpful useful content when they were first researching a topic), they will recognise your brand/website in the search results.
Even if you’re near the bottom of the page, a user may click because they have an expectation of quality and know your result will most likely help them.
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Use your online brand to stand out in crowded search results, news feeds and other online spaces.
Avoid pushy advertising, have customers come to you:
Content marketing is about creating the demand for your products/services without directly pushing or promoting your products.
High-quality consistent content which helps people should leave them with a feeling of wanting more and looking forward to the next content release. This ‘content demand’ from consumers can lead to much better performance across all digital channels.
Email open rates will significantly increase, Facebook and Google ads will both enjoy higher CTR’s and content articles on the website will receive greater SEO traffic when people notice the brand listed in the search results. Your online brand and associated quality will further help you stand out on platforms overwhelmed with ads and competing content pieces.
The key aspect to successful content marketing is to test, measure, learn and improve.
Not all content will be successful and will be welcomed by your target audience. The key is to learn what works and what doesn’t so you can refine and eventually find an effective strategy which guides what you create in future.
A/B testing can be used to test whether different aspects to a content piece (such as images, videos, length, titles, calls-to-action, details required for contact form etc) will boost engagement and conversions. This can be done via Google Optimise.
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Making your content stand out:
When it comes to promoting content within Google search results (i.e. SEO), the higher your website position, the more clicks the content will attract. When assessing which websites and content to display for search queries, Google considers the quality, comprehensiveness, and usefulness of the content on the webpage (amongst other things).
When it comes to content marketing in 2022, good unique content isn’t enough. The content must be at least equal in quality to the existing websites already ranking in the search results. To rank higher, your content needs to be even better.
When looking at existing content ask yourself; how can I improve on this? Are there charts/graphs which could be explained in a simpler manner, could you provide more thorough up-to-date answers etc?
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Creating content which is better than anything existing takes a lot of time and effort. Once ranking for popular, high traffic search queries and keywords, you are able to develop a competitive advantage and barrier-to-entry at the top of the search results. Competing brands likely don’t have the time or drive to create similar content which will be able to match yours.
This concludes step two of learning digital strategy (planning a strategy). In step three (running a strategy), we’ll cover how to combine all digital channels into one comprehensive strategy. You’ll also learn how to use the tools of each individual platform to build live campaigns.
Learn digital marketing in five steps
