Your 2017 Digital Marketing Strategy Needs These Two Guiding Principles

What separates mundane brands from the pioneering brands? Is it consistency? Innovation? Clarity? Risk-taking? These things all have a place at the table, but the bread and butter of a successful digital marketing strategy comes down to two guiding principles: diligence and vision. Now this posits the question: what does that look like for my 2017 digital marketing strategy?

First, let’s talk housekeeping. There are a few things you need to settle before investing in plans for 2017. Just as it’s good practice to pay off debts before making a large purchase, it’s vital to make sure your ongoing marketing efforts aren’t falling behind. Before diving into next year’s potential, do your due diligence…

• Measure: Break down your analytics from 2016. What were your top performing tactics?
• Clarify: Use the metrics you gathered from documenting KPIs to redefine or reinforce your digital marketing plan and key differentiators.
• Compare: Progress is often made by stacking your own efforts side by side with competitors in your market. Are other businesses doing anything innovative? Are they more consistent or providing more significant content?
• Improve: Update your target personas using the data you’ve collected and optimize landing pages and CTAs where you aren’t seeing conversions.
• Revisit: Take a look at some of the ideas you didn’t have time to explore this year. Are they still relevant? Will they fit into your upcoming calendar?
• Evolve: Capitalize on all of the information you’ve gathered by brainstorming new campaigns, blocking out calendars, laying out upgrades to your premium content and making new SMART goals.

Then, once it’s all said and done, you’ll be ready to explore some of the focus areas already forming the digital landscape of 2017. I know what you’re thinking… that seems like a lot of work to power through before investing in cool new ideas; and the truth of the matter is, you’re right. Evaluating your successes and failures is crucial to progress when it comes to your marketing efforts and now is a great time to get started before investing in fresh ideas.

Now, with everything cleaned up and structured, let’s turn our focus to your vision by looking at popular trends revealing themselves early in this quarter:

Video Reigns

Marketers are moving away from some tired maxims like the ever-present “content is king.” Don’t get me wrong, content is still incredibly important, but innovators with their ear to the ground more readily say “story is king” nowadays. That may sound just as ambiguous as “content is king” once did, but the answer to harnessing that potential is still the same: video marketing.

The sheer volume of potential leads who prefer the video medium simply cannot be ignored. People still read content online, but in terms of response, engagement with video content is significantly higher. In fact, according to HubSpot, video being included on a landing page can increase conversion rates by 80%.

User Experience

Remember the days before reliable GPS solutions were tethered to our smartphones and the frustration that resulted from trying to find a new friend’s house via vague directions and a printed map? That is the feeling a visitor gets when arriving at your site if your user experience (UX) is not planned out properly. With a user flow considered and functionality locked down, navigating and finding the content or product they are looking is second nature. Make sure you consider this incredibly important facet before a foray into a website redesign.

User Interface

Speaking of design, it’s no secret that the web is in a constant flux of updates and improvements. Take a second and imagine your website as a performer for a Broadway show. In order for your brand to stay confidently in the limelight, you’ll need to look sharp. You may be able to deliver an award-winning performance, but if you appear center-stage in sweats, you’re going to leave the wrong impression. This is where your user interface comes in. In order to meet the high standards and unforgiving expectations of the modern user, you’ve got to keep things crisp and straightforward. For more about UX/UI, check out this blog Pyxl wrote recently on the very subject.

Native Advertising

For platforms like the major social media channels, native advertising is the only way to reach the most relevant communities where your target personas are already active. Not only is it applicable to the social arena, but in terms of content marketing, it’s one of the best ways to reach your potential leads in large quantities. Sponsored content like native ads are a benefit to both the publisher and the marketer, exchanging revenue for strong placement within an already trusted environment. By taking advantage of a fully credible and active platform, you remove the need to use guess work in your ad spend.

This handful of marketing tactics represents the most prominent of a number of topics with great potential in the coming year. If you have any questions about how to leverage these tactics, reach out! We’d love to talk about your goals.

Updated: Nov 15, 2024