A good digital marketing campaign must ascertain which tools to use, whether it is SMS marketing, social media platforms, a survey or targeted email campaign. This will depend on the aims of the client and what kind of business, product, place or event they wish to promote. Be clear about the outcome you want to achieve and then select the right tools to convey your message in a clear way. All of these tools may be used in conjunction with one another, but it is possible to filter out some online platforms as they may not all be relevant or useful to the campaign. As Jan Willis describes, “find the right medium for the message”.
Many businesses will have set up their own high quality, responsive website with a clearly defined message. This is the first port of call for the majority of digital marketing efforts. Once this has been established, social media opens up a world of possibility in order to send a message to a target audience and, in turn, encourage online interaction with new and existing customers.
It is important to ascertain ‘what am I marketing?’ and from here, there are many different e-tools available, each has its own particular audience, who react in different ways. Cost is always a factor, and social media tools are considered a cheap and effective method of promotion. Once the tools to promote a campaign have been established, they must be fully integrated with all other marketing, advertising and PR activities, both online and offline (Jan Willis; search engine people.com).
1: Objectives:
This is my lovely and tidy office desk - not
Consider your objectives when planning a digital marketing campaign. It could be to raise awareness for a particular cause, encourage people to attend an event, or to maintain and improve market share of a product or place. What is it that you want to achieve? For many, the objective is to direct people to a website business page, where they can learn a lot more information than can be achieved through the likes of social media e-tools such as twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Linked In, pinterest and YouTube. Consider whether there are long or short term objectives. For example, promoting an event will have a set time limit. Or it could be a seasonal campaign. The key is to encourage and promote audience response and allow them to act, whether it is a ‘click to buy’ campaign or to attend the particular event.
2: Target & Positioning:
Look how happy they are - a great audience
Digital marketing has allowed for a much greater ability to target a specific audience. A Facebook advertising campaign, for example, allows you to select a particular demographic to send your message to. In this way, you can target the most relevant audience for your campaign and deliver a more personal experience. Digital marketing allows your target base to engage with you, talk back to you and declare their interest in your product or event in real time. It is this kind of interaction with your key demographic which has made social media a powerful marketing tool. It is easy to find out the response to a campaign and measure the interest from your target group. The internet has a broad reach, but by using a targeted approach, marketers can engage their core clientele and move them into action.
3: Placement & Content/Medium:
Find the right medium for the message
Social media audiences behave differently across different networks. For example, twitter is an excellent platform for an immediate response, while Facebook is more suited to opinion sharing. Finding the right medium for the message requires a strong understanding of e-tools and how the audience interacts with them. For example, using high quality images will boost a campaign across many social media platforms, as the likes of Facebook responds far better to high quality images while Instagram and Pinterest are also image driven. Twitter allows you to retweet a post a number of times if needed, while a facebook audience would not react kindly to this.
As the world of digital marketing progresses, snappy and engaging video content is coming to the fore, and more and more companies are embracing this medium to promote their product. While You Tube is the market leader for video content, developments in mobile technology allow anyone to create a short video from a hand held device and upload it online.
Any form of digital marketing requires “fresh content on a daily basis” (Angela Hausman, www.business2community.com) and consumers demand high quality content that can grab their attention immediately. The content must be relevant, as it reaches an audience in real time, but also targeted, simple and easy to understand. Users are looking for less text and more imagery on social marketing sites, while a website allows the marketer to expand on content and provide even more information to the consumer.
4: Timescales:
Timescales will affect cost and strategy
Timescales are also a factor in digital marketing campaigns. As touched upon under objectives, the campaign may have a long or short term time scale. This will determine the amount of work required and the cost involved. For example, marketing an event will, by its nature, have a specific time scale in which the campaign needs to be launched and completed. An online survey will have a short timescale and quick results. On the other side of the spectrum, the campaign may be ongoing, providing fresh and engaging content daily to drive consumers to a specific website. As a result of real time information, digital marketing allows the marketer to change tactics mid way through a campaign if it is clear that it is not engaging the audience. The campaign may also be seasonal in nature, a Christmas or summer promotion for example, and as such, timescales must be considered as part of any successful strategy.
