You're a digital marketer looking to improve your performance. How can you develop a plan that will work?

To enhance your digital marketing performance, start with a comprehensive audit of your current efforts. Identify what's working and areas for improvement. Set clear, measurable goals aligned with your business objectives. Research your audience deeply to tailor your strategies effectively. Prioritize tactics with the highest potential ROI, and don't forget to leverage data analytics for insights and optimization. Finally, stay adaptable, and ready to pivot based on performance data and market trends. Consistent evaluation and refinement are key to a plan that not only works but excels.

Don't be shy in asking your team's or other department's thoughts as well. You may not agree with everything they say or suggest, but they also might help you address points which you couldn't previously think of yourself.

Start by analyzing current performance metrics to identify strengths and weaknesses. Conduct market research to understand audience needs, preferences, and competitors' strategies. Set specific, measurable goals aligned with overall business objectives. Develop a comprehensive marketing plan outlining strategies and tactics to achieve goals. Continuously monitor and evaluate results, adjusting strategies as needed to optimize performance and drive success.

Begin by conducting a thorough assessment of your current digital marketing efforts. Analyze key metrics such as website traffic, conversion rates, engagement metrics, and ROI from various marketing channels. Identify strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats to gain insights into areas for improvement.

Start with an Audit. Evaluate current performance: Assess your website traffic, conversion rates, social media engagement, and other key metrics. Tools like Google Analytics and social media insights dashboards can provide valuable data. Analyse existing strategies: Review your current digital marketing campaigns across various channels (SEO, social media, email marketing, etc.). Identify what's working and what areas need improvement. Then, define your goals and target audience:

I'd start by identifying specific and measurable objectives that align with your overall business objectives. This means being clear about what you want to achieve (e.g., increase website traffic by 20%), how you'll measure that success, ensuring your goals are realistic, relevant to your overall business objectives, and setting a deadline for achieving them. Then audit your current digital marketing efforts, identifying strengths, weaknesses, and areas with potential. Look deeply at website analytics, social media metrics, campaign results, and any other data you have to establish benchmarks. With clear goals and a baseline understanding of your performance, design strategies tailored to achieve your desired outcomes.

Big focus on the 'realistic' in this part. It might be tempting to shoot for the stars, but you don't want to set goals which are entirely unattainable.

Set clear and specific goals that are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound (SMART). For example, increasing website traffic by 20% in the next six months or improving email open rates by 10% within three months. Having well-defined goals provides direction and focus for your digital marketing efforts.

It's time we stop being smart and start being a SMARTIE when it comes to goal setting. By incorporating an equity and inclusion component to your goals, you can make sure the outcomes are anchored in tangible and actionable steps that are aligned with your organization. The SMARTIE framework can help you and your team clearly identify goals and that they are communicated clearly and effectively.

Besides SMART goals, clarify your vision by understanding the 'why' behind your objectives, which adds purpose and motivation. Align your goals with broader business objectives to ensure coherence and support from stakeholders. Utilize data-driven insights to set realistic and relevant targets. Consider employing the OKR (Objectives and Key Results) framework, which focuses on setting ambitious goals with measurable results, fostering alignment and engagement across teams. Regularly review and adapt your goals based on performance data and market changes to stay relevant and achieve continuous improvement.

Stay open to experimentation! Don't force tactics and channels that clearly don't work, just because you're trying to prove something. Be open to new approaches; be flexible.

Based on your goals and assessment of your current situation, determine the tactics and channels that will best help you achieve your objectives. This may include strategies such as search engine optimization (SEO), content marketing, social media advertising, email marketing, and more. Choose the tactics and channels that align with your goals and target audience.

In my experience, the selection of tactics and channels is a critical step in any digital marketing plan. It's not just about choosing the most popular or trendy methods, but about finding the ones that align with your specific goals, budget, and audience. For instance, if your audience is younger, social media and influencer marketing might be more effective. If you're targeting professionals, LinkedIn and email marketing could be better options. Additionally, the tools you use to execute and measure your strategies are equally important. They should provide actionable insights to help you optimize your plan.

To choose the best tactics and channels, start by analyzing your target audience's preferences and behaviors to determine where they spend their time online. Align your selection with the goals you've set, opting for channels that best facilitate achieving these objectives. Consider the nature of your content and the formats supported by each platform. Use data from past campaigns to identify which channels yielded the best ROI. Experiment with a mix of established and emerging platforms to reach a broader audience. Continuously monitor performance and adjust your strategy to optimize results and ensure efficient use of resources.

To enhance performance as a digital marketer, select tactics and channels aligned with your SMART goals. Evaluate the effectiveness of various channels like social media, email marketing, SEO, and PPC based on your target audience and objectives. Utilize a mix of tactics such as content marketing, influencer partnerships, and remarketing campaigns to reach your goals. Prioritize channels that offer the highest ROI and engagement for your audience. By strategically choosing tactics and channels, you can optimize your performance and maximize results.

Develop a detailed action plan outlining the specific tasks, timelines, and responsibilities for executing your digital marketing strategy. Allocate resources and budget accordingly to ensure the successful implementation of your plan. Consider factors such as advertising costs, content creation expenses, software subscriptions, and personnel costs.

In the paid search space you should look at the keywords that are converting at the best ROAS - if you can't increase the spend on them you can go in and look at the locations where they are not converting at all or at ridiculous prices and exclude them - also get your major competitors zip codes and exclude them to avoid bogus clicks.

To create an effective action plan and budget, first, break down your goals into specific, actionable steps, assigning clear timelines and responsibilities for each task. Estimate the resources required for each activity, considering both human and financial aspects. Develop a detailed budget that allocates funds for critical areas such as content creation, advertising, and tools or software. Prioritize spending based on potential impact and ROI. Incorporate flexibility to adjust for unexpected costs or shifts in strategy. Regularly review progress against your plan and budget, making data-driven adjustments to stay on track and maximize effectiveness.

One thing I found helpful in elevating digital marketing performance is meticulously crafting an action plan and budget. This involves delineating clear tasks, assigning responsibilities, setting achievable timelines, and ensuring resources and tools are aptly allocated. Incorporating a content calendar that specifies topics, formats, and distribution channels is crucial for staying organized and consistent. It's also vital to ensure the plan is both realistic and adaptable, allowing for swift adjustments in response to market dynamics or performance data. This approach not only streamlines efforts across the team but also ensures that every action is aligned with the overarching marketing goals, thereby maximizing impact and ROI.

Creating an digital marketing plan is a crucial component of developing a successful campaign. This plan allows you to look at each aspect from development to implementation, and it ensures that each part of your strategy works cohesively along the way. Your action plan can document everything from business goals, tactics and channels, a roadmap, and an investment and budget breakdown. Details are important, but try not to get caught in the weeds. The framework can help be a structure and foundation, and it should also allow for flexibility as you learn from the campaign. As you build the campaign document, collaborate with colleagues on what outline works best to communicate effectively and document for impact.

To effectively implement and monitor your plan, start by setting up a project management system to track progress against milestones and deadlines. Utilize digital marketing tools and analytics platforms to continuously monitor campaign performance against your KPIs. Establish a routine for regular check-ins with your team to address any issues and adjust tactics as needed. Encourage open communication and feedback to foster agility and innovation. Use A/B testing to refine strategies and improve outcomes. Regularly analyze data to identify trends, insights, and opportunities for optimization, ensuring your plan remains dynamic and results-driven.

Deep in a campaign, there are moments of discovery where you identify flaws in your plan or there are new discoveries. The best way to remedy the situation is to stop doing what is not working. Realisation is the first step towards improvement and monitoring the plan and its expected deliverables would would be an ideal place to start.

In my experience, evaluating and optimizing a digital marketing plan is a continuous process. It's crucial to leverage data analytics tools to accurately measure your results against your goals. Also, remember that feedback isn't just about what's not working - positive feedback can highlight successful strategies that can be amplified. In the ever-evolving digital landscape, flexibility and adaptability are key. Always be ready to refine your tactics based on your findings and industry trends.

One key thing is to step out of your comfort zone and overcome your inferiority complex. Attend webinars, offline events, and build a network. While reading blogs is helpful, participating in webinars sparks thinking and develops discussion skills. Recently, I've been learning a lot from Moz Practical Marketer webinar.

As you continue to improve as a digital marketer, building soft skills like emotional intelligence and interpersonal communication can play a key role in being effective and successful. Also, measuring success looks different across teams, organizations and businesses. Setting expectations clearly at the beginning can help with development and planning with many stakeholders. Here are 5 steps I would focus on as you look to measure and improve performance: setting SMARTIE goals for every campaign, identifying target audiences and user journeys, setting key performance metrics and tracking them, analyzing and reporting on the results, and making sure to reflect and learn on the outcomes.

Use direct mail to augment your digital efforts. The key is not just random direct mail but making it personal to the recipient. Start by using their name and not "occupant" or "current resident." Tailor the content to reflect their interests and past interactions with your brand. Segment your audience for targeted messages. Ensure consistent messaging across channels. Drive recipients to your digital platforms with QR/Dynamic QR codes or personalized URLs. Follow up digitally to reinforce your message. Analyze and optimize your campaigns for better results.