How to write a Digital Marketing Plan
Roy H. Williams ones said – “The first step in exceeding your customer’s expectations is to know those expectations.”
So where do you start? You should know that a marketing plan has different strategies such as:
Paid advertising
Public relations
Digital marketing
Word of mouth
Influencer marketing
Brand marketing
Affiliate marketing
Product marketing
Proximity marketing
Event marketing
Experiential marketing
Traditional marketing
Controversial marketing
Field marketing
Transactional marketing etc.
As a Digital Marketing Agency, this marketing plan will focus on the digital aspect of your entire marketing plan.
Before we dive in, let’s take a look at how you should structure a digital marketing plan.
Step one:
List your goals and objectives.
You had certain goals and objectives in your mind before you thought about creating a digital marketing plan right? The first step is to write them down. It’s not enough to have them in your head.
Step two:
Research Methods
The foundation of your marketing plan is research. You need to find your capabilities, strengths, and weaknesses, what your competitors are doing, and many more.
The research section should include:
SWOT Analysis or Pest Analysis
Competitive analysis (who are your competitors? What are they doing better than you?
Personas ( Who exactly are you talking to? What do they earn? How do they consume information?
Buying cycle (Awareness stage, consideration stage, decision stage)
Step three
Explain in detail, your strategy
Once you understand who you are talking to, who you are competing with, and how they are going to buy, it’s time to list out how you will reach them.
This phase includes:
- Your goals
2. Creating a strong brand (this is one of your strongest assets. Your brand should be represented across all channels including your Logo, business cards, email signature, packaging design, social media profiles,
3. Your unique selling point (USP)
4. Content marketing strategy
4. Distribution channels (social media, email marketing etc)
6. Website optimization
Step four
Explain your KPIs
This is the only way to find out if your strategies are working or if you need to switch. This should be done before, during and after – on a monthly basis.
Step five
List out specific strategies and tactical plans.
You have several strategies to achieve different goals, but which one are you implementing first? A calendar makes your strategy easier to implement.
You should focus on 4 tactics throughout the year and create an execution plan. Remember that different goals attract different tactics.
Finally, create a budget.
Executing your marketing plan effectively might cost some money. Your digital marketing plan might be useless if you don’t know how much your company is willing to invest.
Your budget will help you determine which goal you need to tackle first.