It’s becoming clear that posting on social media can be a beneficial aspect of business marketing, however, it’s important to go further than just posting on Instagram every now and then. One way to maximise the effectiveness of your online presence is by developing a strong digital marketing strategy. Here are a few things to consider when creating a digital marketing strategy:

Target audience

Similar to offline marketing, it is critical to design your digital marketing campaigns with your target audience/s in mind. A researched profile of your target audience/s will help ensure your communications are well-received and match your audience’s needs. Most social media sites will allow you to select your target demographic when running an ad campaign, making it possible to easily choose your audience based on attributes such as their location, gender, interests, and age.

Set specific goals

Digital marketing often works in conjunction with a business’ overall marketing efforts to achieve its short and long-term goals. A timeline and action plan needs to be implemented to reach both goals. Ideally, this timeframe should be between 6 to 24 months and reviewed regularly. Goals should be measured by a set of metrics, for example, return-on investment, volume of leads or expected sales from a campaign etc.

Types of channels

Consider what digital marketing channels will be the most beneficial for your business specifically – just because you see other businesses using a particular platform doesn’t mean that it will also work for your business. Consider the needs and wants of your target audience, how to best showcase your product or service, and what will work with the resources available to you. For some businesses, email marketing may be the best option whereas social media and blogging may be more viable for other businesses. Generally, a combination of channels such as social media, blogs, email marketing, or search engine optimisation ensures optimal reach.

The frequency of usage for each channel will again depend on your target audience and your goals. For example, you may choose to heavily promote a new product across social media rather than blog about it.