We’ve just entered 2017 -- a new year, a new era. Your business is eagerly looking at a new year's digital strategy and business plan. The best way of growth is to have a better digital strategy, whether you have a strategy that needs a little more work or are starting completely from scratch. Here, I will try to cover a few things based on my knowledge, which you have to know before developing your digital strategy:
- Know about your brand
Your vision needs to be defined clearly in your own brain before pitching to the customers. Figure out and find out the things which make you different from your competitors. Your business messaging tone also matters.
- Find out the right channels
Facebook, Google, Email SMS, Twitter, Instagram, SEO, Affiliate, Blogging, Digital PR, and Offline Banners are many different online/ offline communication channels to attract customers, and not all of them are right for your kind of business. Facebook does better than Google for some businesses, for others, maybe Offline Channels work better or may beeEmail marketing works better. Hence, find out the right channel for better conversion; i.e., for better ROI. Here, you need to be clear about your objectives.
- Engage Your Customers
If you’re actively putting content across all your digital channels, you need to be prepared to respond to the reaction from your customers. Take time to engage and build subscribers/ followers, which ensures your content and comments are all in-line with your brand tone and also remember – you have to respond to all kind of response s(positive or negative).
- Do a study on you competitors
Always have an overview and your eye on your competitors. What are they doing? Is your vision getting left behind? Don’t forget that any channel that they’re not utilizing is also a chance to carve out a niche.
- Think like a customer
What is your customer looking for? What kind of communication attracts them? What motivates them to use your product? What are the challenges they are facing, when using your product? You should think like a customer to solve these problems; you will get the right answer.
- Draw your customers journey
Why is that person coming to your business? What problems would drive them to find you? How would they find you? How many times would they need to visit you? Mapping out this journey allows you to identify the optimal times, you can reach out to them.
- Budget Plan
Some digital channels are more expensive than others and some may have a stronger provable ROI. Find out the best channels and decide a budget for those channels of priority. There’s no point paying an agency to manage your PPC, if you can’t afford it. Similarly, it’s not worth investing in SEO, if you can only afford to do so for a month or two.