E lon Musk once tweeted, “Most people will panic to find a charger before their phone dies.
But won’t panic to find a plan before their dream dies.”
In the world of business, innovative ideas and thinkers are greatly rewarded. The constant need to come up with an idea that stands out, keeps up or succeeds in the competition, is feasible in the long run, and is highly profitable.
As long as competition exists, you need to keep innovating in your marketing, sales, and even in your products/services. The age of a single mindset is over. Competition is increasing and evolving. Consumers are given endless substitutes. You need to put your hand in as many pots as possible to meet the needs of the futuristic consumer market.
But having mere brilliant ideas is not enough to sustain and grow in markets today, especially not in one as vibrant as India. You need to know what to do with these ideas, where to put them, when to use them, and how to convert them into profits.
The answer has always been marketing strategy, and smart action is what follows a mighty plan.
If you don’t have one, you need one, and you know this.
Say you have one and your marketing plan was working like clockwork for decades. But the pandemic has brought a shift in paradigm and almost created a whole new world.
New worlds come with new problems, and a new challenge faced by most traditional companies today is the boosted digital transformation, and the proliferation of Digital Marketing.
Even if you are late to the party, it is never too late to hop on the bus because, let’s face it, digital marketing has become a necessity.
Now you need to be online to find potential clients and keep the ones you already have.
None of this is as difficult as you may think. Let us explain as simply as possible.
What is digital marketing?
In simple terms, successful digital marketing means using online platforms to promote your brand to a clearly defined target audience and yield a higher return on investment.
Why do you need to have a digital marketing strategy?
1. With the limitless options, it can be overwhelming to choose what and where. A plan is always backed by research and data. This facilitates better decision-making.
2. Unless you put your hand, heart, and soul into the digital space, you will not know what market share it has for you. Just a toe will do your brand no justice. Having a plan minimizes risk.
3. Your competitors are already on the digital marketing wagon. They might already have a head start. Do not increase your gap with them. A solid digital marketing strategy can help you catch up quicker and succeed faster.
4. Breaking into and winning customers in the online market is literally survival of the fittest. You might have the tools for it, but you need to know how and where to use them.
“Good philosophers make good kings”- Plato
5. Balancing both online and offline marketing activities is a must. A strong ad/marketing team with a plan will always give you the upper hand in this task.
The main goals of a good digital marketing strategy are as follows:
1. Build engagement and brand loyalty
2. Increased reach, brand awareness and brand familarity.
3. Understand the customers of today, study them and your competitors.
4. Convert potential customers into loyal consumers.
5. Increase sales, provide after-sales support. Happy customers, happy business.
An effective digital marketing strategy requires the following:
1. A solid roadmap for the digital marketing transformation, including which platforms to use and what to avoid.
2. Assessment of your organization’s resources and skills. You have a strong human resources team to recruit the talent you lack.
3. Market and customer research is the backbone of any solid marketing strategy, for traditional to digital techniques
4. Marketing technology and systems are needed to support these skills. Hire the brightest agency for this task.
5. Assessing success and failure and making data-driven decisions. Digital KPI’s, analytics, and customer data, all combined, give a perfect and long-term plan.
6. Internet and media marketing channels: Ability to adapt and use different media to create brand awareness and put your company’s name out there as effectively as possible.
This includes paid (advertisements), owned media (your digital assets such as websites, blogs, and so on), and earned media (influencer and specialist outreach).
7. Taking into account the need and strength of mobile devices, the customers of today are adapted to the convenience of mobile devices. You need to reach them in the comfort of their homes… in their palms.
Refer to our blog “5 blunders to avoid in today’s marketing” for more information. Hyperlink
8. Include messaging apps and platforms to make it easy for the audience and customers to communicate.
9. Customer satisfaction after sales is one of the most important aspects of a good digital marketing plan. Once you have established your good brand value, you need to keep it that way—a sale is a two-way street between you and your customer. After-sales support is mandatory as it takes your product/service and brand name forward.
Never underestimate the power of word of mouth. They are called reviews now.
Conclusion
Not having a digital marketing plan can result in chaos. In the short run, your company might be able to survive or gain a little market share. But your lack of enthusiasm to understand and adapt to your customers, competition, and digital world order will slowly kill your dream…
