Every company should have a digital strategy.
This is what informs your marketing tactics and outlines how you will reach your goals online. While the execution of digital tactics is what most companies need help with, creating the strategy is the essential first step toward success digitally. Without it, there is no guiding light. Unfortunately, many companies are stuck thinking their traditional efforts are working and don’t know the benefits of moving online. This is where digital can shine, thanks to metrics providing closed-looped ROI data. This results-driven approach is the basis for digital strategy.
You need a comprehensive, digital marketing approach that works for you. This begins with auditing your current efforts, traditional and digital, and using the findings to discover what pieces are working, what pieces are missing, and if you’re heading towards success. There is no one-size-fits-all approach when it comes to your digital marketing efforts. Rather, your strategy should be a compilation of different tactics served at the right time to the right audience.
Seven reasons why you need a digital strategy:
1. In-depth business discovery
2. Eliminate missed opportunities
3. Reach your audience where they are: online
4. Digital differentiation
5. Provide direction
6. Track ROI
7. Get everyone on the same page
1. In-depth business discovery
The first step of any business strategy process is the discovery stage. This is where your team really begins to understand what you’re trying to accomplish and what’s absolutely necessary to get you there. The discovery stage is not only important because it informs the strategy, but also because it provides a time to reevaluate and optimize your company goals, current tactics, target audience, and more.
2. Eliminate missed opportunities
We recommend performing a SWOT analysis of your company to see your areas of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. This will help you understand the direction of your strategy by identifying areas for better optimization and new areas to focus on. This also helps eliminate any potential missed opportunities that could arise if you’d skipped the strategy stage.
3. Reach your audience where they are: online
The majority of people are viewing content online — constantly connected via their smartphone, laptop, desktop, and any other “smart” or technological items. If they spend most of their time online, then this is where you’ll want to target your audience. Having a cohesive strategy allows you to reach your target audience more effectively, using the platforms they prefer to spend their time on, such as Google, social media, emails, etc. If you aren’t meeting your customers where they are — online — another company will.
4. Digital differentiation
The best way to cut through the noise and keep people from scrolling right past you is finding ways to differentiate your company from the rest. By creating a digital strategy beforehand you’ll be able to discover ways that differentiate your company online, like trying new digital trends, or by nurturing your audience with strategic content that informs and educates them down the funnel. Without a clear strategy, it won’t be a cohesive experience, and you won’t stand out from the crowd.
5. Provide direction
A digital strategy will help you outline and create a clear path to strategic goals. It will also help you determine benchmarks to hit, and the tactics that will lead you to success. To do this, determine what success looks like for you and create your strategy around it to help you get there.
6. Track ROI
One of the biggest benefits of a digital strategy is the ability to track ROI with the tactics put into place. It’s easy to keep track of your progress with analytics online. Plus, measuring every marketing tactic ensures a cost-effective strategy so you can create the capabilities to support your operations.
7. Get everyone on the same page
An integrated digital marketing strategy establishes a vision that is aligned with every department. That way, everyone will be able to communicate a consistent brand message, resulting in a unified brand image.
These seven reasons to create a digital strategy are just the tip of the iceberg. Now that you know that having a plan in place can help engage your audience and grow your business, turn that into action. It’s time for you to put digital first by creating a digital strategy that will transform your business.
Partner with Pyxl
Not sure what your digital strategy would look like? Or maybe you don’t have the time or bandwidth? Reach out to a Pyxl digital expert! We create custom, digital strategies tailored to your business goals and we’d love to talk to you.
Updated: Apr 13, 2022