A strong digital marketing strategy is vital to a business’s success, especially as we begin looking toward 2022. As more companies are moving to remote work and digitizing the way they do business, you don’t want to fall behind! We know that implementing the right tactics and having them be cohesive with the rest of your marketing efforts is extremely important, but it does take a lot of work. Whether you decide to work with a marketing company such as Shout It Out Design, or tackle your digital marketing efforts on your own, it can be difficult to get your whole team on board and help them to see the great need for these efforts.
With that being said, let’s set the scene. You’re in charge of marketing, and you decide that it’s time to create a new website because you know that 29% of all business is now being conducted online. With that, you know you will need to enhance your social media presence, generate new content on a regular basis, run advertisements, and keep in touch with your current or prospective customers through email. If you don’t have a marketing team on staff, it might be difficult to pull this off and keep it consistent.
In walks Shout It Out Design.
Of course we can help with your digital marketing strategy in whatever capacity needed, but whether you work with a marketing company or within your own team, the same will apply. You will need to first discuss an ongoing plan of action for your digital marketing efforts. This includes:
- Forming a budget and deciding where that money will be best spent.
- Deciding on the layout of your new website and what content should be added to it.
- Creating a social media calendar and content plan for your blog.
- Getting your plan approved!
If you don’t have the authority to make final decisions on things such as budgets or business tactics, you will need to pitch this strategy to a decision maker and gain approval. This can sometimes be a challenge if the person you have to pitch to isn’t familiar with the importance of digital marketing, or marketing in general for that matter. This individual might just see it as more money that doesn’t need to be spent. It is your job to make them see the value!
Pitching Your Strategy
Before you head into your boss’s office for approval of a marketing budget, put yourself in their shoes and think about what it is they care about and want to see. Of course they’ll be concerned with cost, but also the return on investment from these added efforts. Here are a few tips for presenting this information in a way that resonates.
1. Know Your Goals and Identify the Problem
This marketing strategy didn’t come out of nowhere. Your marketing team came up with these tactics to solve a problem and to meet your company’s goals. It is important to share how this strategy is going to address your needs and ultimately help you reach your goals. Have you seen a decrease in leads or sales? Maybe you notice your competitors are always showing up in online searches where you are not. Explaining how your marketing efforts will address this and push you closer to your goals will help them see that there is a clear need for what you are pitching.
2. Discuss the Opportunity
Showing your boss or other management staff specifically where you are lacking and why it needs to be improved will lead them to the question of, “what can we do?”
“Funny you should ask!” might be your next line. This is when you can get into the specifics of the strategy. Showing them exactly what improvements you can make to your website or digital presence to increase sales or leads will put into perspective where they are falling short.
To make your case stronger, a competitor analysis could come in handy here. You might be falling behind simply because your competitors are doing it better. Providing details about what your competitors are doing, and how it’s working for them will further prove that something needs to be done on your end. At the very least, it will provide examples of what you are talking about for your strategy and show that these competitors are being seen in a space that you aren’t yet. And let’s face it, nothing strikes a nerve quite like seeing your competitors doing something better than you.
3. Prove It
“Great, but how do we know this is going to work?”
Another great question. Of course they want to know this, they are about to invest a decent chunk of money and want to be sure it’s going to work! Show supporting evidence of the tactics you plan to use, and be specific. You can give details such as projected website traffic increases for the different proposed tactics, or research case studies of these strategies in your industry and show how they worked in different scenarios. Relate this back to your business and explain exactly how that will help you reach specific goals. This further solidifies your argument as to why you need to pursue this strategy.
4. Anticipate Questions and Alleviate Concerns
How will this be tracked?
What is this going to cost?
Who is going to oversee this process?
When will we see results?
What does the implementation process look like?
It’s time to discuss the logistics. With any new process in business comes the above questions and concerns. Every separate digital marketing tactic might have slightly different answers, but informing everyone on the various timelines, costs, and procedures will prepare them for what to expect with this process. The great thing about digital marketing tactics is that they are highly measurable, and you can usually see results fairly quickly!
5. ROI – Duh!
The obvious question.. “What will our return on investment be?”
All of the information in your pitch has been great, but what it really comes down to is whether it’s worth it. You can estimate your ROI based on some of the research you did in step 3. You will simply compare the projected amount of new traffic you will get from this digital marketing strategy with a solid industry conversion rate.
Here’s an example for you:
You recommend spending $15,000 on this strategy, and are projecting a reach of 18,000 website visitors with an industry average 3% conversion rate. This means you have an opportunity for 540 new leads. If you know you have a close rate of about 25%, this means you could potentially have 135 new customers. You’ll have to determine your average client value, but once you do that, you can multiply that by your 135 new customers to determine the value of this new business.
Let Us Help!
Don’t worry, it’s common to not have a full marketing team on staff – that’s what we’re here for! We can help you pull off a seamless digital marketing strategy and support you through business growth. Give us a shout to get started!
