4 Steps to Creating a Digital Marketing Plan for Small Businesses

4 Steps to Creating a Digital Marketing Plan for Small Businesses

Small businesses are the backbone of the American economy. They account for more than half of all jobs in the United States. And while many small businesses rely on traditional marketing methods like print ads and word-of-mouth, an increasing number are turning to digital marketing to reach new customers and grow their businesses.

If you're a small business owner who's looking to start doing digital marketing, or if you're not sure where to start, this guide is for you. In it, we'll walk you through four steps that will help you create a successful digital marketing plan for your business goals.

1. What is digital marketing, and why do you need it

2. The four steps to creating a digital marketing strategy

3. How to create the right digital assets for your business

4. How to stay on top of trends and social media sites that matter most to your business

5. How to find the right partner or agency to help with your digital marketing

6. How to set achievable goals and measure progress

What is digital marketing, and why do you need it

Digital marketing is a term that encompasses a wide range of activities, but in general, it can be defined as the use of digital technologies to achieve marketing objectives. That could include anything from using the internet to promote your business to using social media to engage with customers and using digital advertising to reach new customers and increase sales and business goals.

Why do you need it? Simply put, digital marketing is an incredibly effective way to reach more people and grow your business. With so many people using the internet and social media every day, you're missing out on a vast audience if you're not using digital marketing.

In an eCommerce businesses era, digital strategies are vital for increasing sales and your business success. Digital marketing can also be more cost-effective than traditional print ads and TV commercials. In a digital world, unlike those conventional methods, with digital marketing, you can measure your results using data of site visitors and analytics, making it easier to make decisions that help you grow your business based on customer behavior.

The four steps to creating a digital marketing strategy

When it comes to digital marketing, having a strategy is essential. A successful digital marketing plan starts with having a clear strategy in place. So, what are the four steps to creating a digital marketing strategy?

Understand your goals and objectives

Before you can start planning your digital marketing strategy, you need to understand what you hope to achieve with it. What are your business goals? Are you looking to increase brand awareness, drive sales, or something else entirely? Once you know your goals, you can figure out how best to achieve them using digital marketing tools and techniques.

When it comes to understanding your goals and objectives, it's essential to think about what you want to achieve, both short-term and long-term. What are your plans for the next three months, for example? And what are your goals for the next three years?

Once you have a good understanding of your goals, you can start thinking about using digital marketing to achieve them. Perhaps you want to increase website traffic in the next three months. You might accomplish that by using SEO techniques to improve your website's ranking in search engine results pages or by running a PPC (pay-per-click) campaign to generate more clicks on your website.

Or maybe you want to increase sales by 20% in the next six months. You could do that by running online print ads or setting up targeted email marketing campaigns.

Research your target market

Part of figuring out how best to achieve your business goals is understanding your target market and what they want. Researching your market involves studying digital channels to know what they're saying about your business. You can use keywords to do this and track social media activity, but don't forget to check out where people are searching for you online. Tools like Google Analytics can tell you a lot about which digital channels are producing the most traffic, so it's essential to take a look at both!

It's essential to look at the positive and negative feedback you're getting online. Doing this will help you better understand your target market and what they want. You can also use keywords to help with your research. Tracking social media activity is another way to gather information about your target market.

Look at what competitors are doing

Once you've researched your target market and have a good idea of how best to achieve your goals using digital marketing tools, it's time to figure out how your competitors are using these tools. What strategies are they using? How much success have they had? Understanding what works well will help you create a better strategy for your business.

Looking at your competitor's social media activity is an excellent way to understand what's working for them. What kind of content are they publishing? What kind of tone are they using? How often are they posting? This information can help you create better content for your social media accounts.

Define your digital marketing objectives

Once you know what you're doing, it's time to figure out how you'll measure success-defining your digital marketing objectives. What KPIs will you use? How will you know if the strategy is working?

Don't forget that some of these metrics might differ from more traditional advertising metrics like likes and page views because they may not always be easy to quantify or track.

For example, understanding return on investment (ROI) for social media ads isn't always as straightforward as measuring CTRs with search ads, so it's essential to think about what each objective will require before moving forward with the plan.

Setting objectives is a vital part of any digital marketing plan, but it's imperative when it comes to social media. After all, if you don't know what you're trying to achieve, how will you know when you've succeeded?

When setting objectives for social media, it's essential to think about factors like reach, engagement, and leads. You may also want to consider more specific purposes like growing your follower count or increasing website traffic.

It's essential to be realistic when setting objectives. You don't want to set goals that are impossible to achieve, but you also want to make sure that the purposes are challenging enough to continue to improve your digital marketing efforts.

How to create the right digital assets for your business

Having the right assets in place is essential for success when it comes to digital marketing. These include your website, email marketing software, social media accounts, and more.

Before focusing on specific digital assets, though, it's also essential to look at the bigger picture of how all of these different efforts will work together to help you achieve your goals. Ensuring that you can effectively measure ROI is an integral part of building a cohesive digital strategy, so make sure that all of your digital assets are compatible before moving forward.

When planning which digital assets to use for your business, think about what best suits your business needs, and don't forget that some resources may not be necessary depending on the size or needs of your company. For example, if you have no employees or contractors, then chat apps will not be that useful to you.

With so many options, it's easy to get overwhelmed when choosing the best digital marketing tools for your business, but don't give up hope. There are many digital marketing tools out there, and many will work well for your business even if you can't afford or don't need the more expensive tools.

How to stay on top of trends and social media sites that matter most to your business

It can be hard to keep up with all of the latest trends in digital marketing, but it's crucial to stay on top of things if you want your business to be successful. Here are a few tips for staying current:

Follow industry blogs and newsletters

One of the best ways to stay up-to-date on the latest trends is following industry blogs and newsletters. This way, you'll get regular updates on what's happening in the world of digital marketing without having to spend a lot of time searching for information yourself.

Attend industry events

Attending industry events is another excellent way to stay current on the latest trends. You'll get to hear from experts directly and see first-hand what tools and strategies work for other marketers.

Subscribe to social media sites that matter most to your business

Finally, suppose you're going to focus on digital marketing. In that case, it's also important to subscribe to the social media sites that matter most to your business and make sure you're staying up-to-date on changes by checking in regularly. Please don't post something that you'll regret later because it will be hard or impossible to delete a post once it's been published.

How To Find A Digital Marketing Agency That Gets It Right For Your Business

When it comes to finding a digital marketing agency that's right for your business, it can be challenging to know where to start. After all, there are now so many options available, and not all of them are created equal. So how do you find an agency that understands your business and can help you achieve your goals?

Here are four tips to get you started:

Do your research

It's essential to do your research before hiring any agency. This means reading reviews, checking out their portfolio, and speaking to past clients. This will give you a good idea of whether or not they're the right fit for your business.

Interview several agencies

Don't limit yourself to just one or two agencies. Keep in mind that it can be difficult for anyone agency to provide you with all the digital marketing services that your business might need. Because of this, you may want to hire more than one digital marketing agency so they can fill in the gaps where needed.

Ask about their experience

When meeting with an agency, it's essential to ask them about their experience. What types of clients have they worked with in the past? Who are their ideal customers? Would they be working on your project, or would you instead be assigned an account manager?

Determine how to measure ROI

Digital marketers are often good at getting you to buy into the services they offer, but you must ask how they can help your business. Determine what results would demonstrate that the money you are spending on digital marketing is being well-spent by paying close attention to ROI.

How to set achievable goals and measure progress

When it comes to goal setting, it's essential to set achievable and measurable goals. This way, you can track your progress and ensure that you're making the right amount of progress towards your ultimate goal.

How to set achievable goals:

Set specific, measurable, and time-based goals

One of the best ways to set achievable goals is by setting specific, measurable, and time-based goals. This way, you'll know exactly what you're aiming for and when you need to achieve it.

Make sure your goals are challenging

While it's important to set achievable goals, you also want to make sure they're challenging enough that you'll be able to push yourself. If your goals are too easy, you'll lose motivation.

Write down your goals

It's also helpful to write down your goals so that you can refer to them regularly and see how much progress you've made towards achieving them. This will help keep you motivated and ensure that you stay on track with achieving what you set out to do.

Ask yourself why you want to achieve this goal

Sometimes it's easy to lose motivation and slip back into old habits, which is why it's essential to ask yourself why you want to achieve a particular goal. This will help keep you motivated and focused on achieving what you set out to do in the first place.

Make yourself accountable to someone else

You can also ask a friend, coworker, or family member to help keep you accountable by asking you how your goal-related progress is coming along regularly. Knowing that someone is expecting an update from you will help motivate you to stay focused and push through any obstacles that may come your way.

Conclusion

Digital marketing promotes a brand, products, or services through digital channels. This can include websites, social media, email campaigns, and more.

There are many different types of digital marketing, so it's crucial to find an agency that understands your business and can help you achieve your goals.

When creating a digital marketing plan, there are four steps you should follow:

1. Do your research.
2. Interview several agencies.
3. Ask about their experience.
4. Determine how to measure ROI.

You also need to set achievable goals that are challenging yet still attainable. And finally, make sure you're held accountable by someone else to stay motivated and on track!

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Brian Keltner, Founder