Also see,
Introduction to Search Engine Optimisation
Beyond SEO – The right traffic to your site
An Introduction to Google Webmaster Tools
Introduction to Google Analytics and other website analytical tools
Introduction to Pay Per Click Campaigns
PPC Pay Per Click Marketing and purchase process
Integrating online video into your digital marketing strategy

One of the biggest issues companies face with their marketing at the moment is the “because I can” attitude. Social media platforms has made it very easy for Joe Bloggs to set up a Facebook Page, Start a Twitter account etc without first considering what you are setting out to achieve or does it really fit into the marketing strategy for that particular brand, product, service or industry.

The aim of this post is to encourage you to stop and think before leaping head first into an arena that is far more complicated than copying and pasting content into online spaces.

I’ll firstly start by simplifying how I see Digital Marketing and please bare in mind this is not taking into account traditional Marketing metrics or an individual companies Marketing strategy which also should be taken into consideration when addressing that should I, shouldn’t I? question.

The above shows my idea of a rough guide to the nuts and bolts that build up your Digital Marketing Strategy. Note, one is nothing without the other supporting it.

A video is merely a file sitting on your computer until you give it a platform and a means to be spread by it’s viewers and this is the case with all your content be it news articles, data or PR. As I mentioned it has become increasingly easy for Joe Bloggs to set up a Facebook page, start a Twitter account or post something to YouTube but pause for a second and ask yourself does this “because I can” attitude to marketing really satisfy your marketing objectives? Ask yourself a few key questions and at the same time refer back to the marketing and branding strategy, business development objectives, PR efforts etc does setting up numerous social media accounts that remain dormant really let your clients know you understand social media? No, not really! Does multiple versions of you companies graphics and variations on messages increase and improve you brand awareness amongst your clients? No, it probably damages your brand!

The message is, understand what it is you are doing and choose the right nuts and bolts that support your pre existing strategies, don’t do things because it’s easy, you can or because everyone else is doing it!

4 Responses to “Digital Marketing Strategy – What should and shouldn’t you be doing”

  1. Stuart says:

    Hi Glenn,

    Thanks for posting that. This was a much needed reminder for a lot of companies! There is nothing more annoying than trying to interact with a company through a social media platform and they have two tweets all which are two years old. If they are going to use social media it needs to become a weekly task to maintain and build interaction with their customers, otherwise it becomes another annoyance!

    Stu

  2. Emily Knight says:

    Think the other thing to bear in mind is the way in which each is used. At my new company, for our mystery shoppers, we’ve got a community website, emails to members, a Facebook page, plus a Twitter account. It’s proving hard to get the balance between sharing all information with everyone, and making sure that the different platforms do different things…

  3. [...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Glenn Ward. Glenn Ward said: New blog post: Digital Marketing Stratergy – What should and shouldn't you be doing http://bit.ly/bJY5yx [...]

  4. [...] So, it is an extremely large subject and some might say its an art to perfect pay per click for a particular industry, product or brand. For more specifics on keywords and your campaigns see this article. If you break it down to it’s absolute basics and suggest some theory that could be applied to any campaign and in fact could be used to refine or revisit your existing campaign. The aim is to pick up your potential customer from an online space where you know they are specifically looking for something. Your advert should then suggest to them that you have what they are looking for, in as few steps as possible the customer will arrive in front of your product where they will find the right price and enough information to make a purchase decision. Of course it’s not that simple, product awareness often happens way before the online experience, the competing ads on the search engine may grab their attention more, they might feel you have the right price but not enough information to make an informed purchase decision or visa versa, they might research the product on your site but purchase from the cheapest vendor, they might even drop out during the checkout process. The point is that the drop out could occur at any point in the purchase process and so they are many important aspects to consider when designing your pay per click adverting and it’s not just about cleverly chosen key words and advert. You should also be looking at your SEO, landing pages, website content, price reviews, targeting, the list goes on! One is not successful without the other so think of PPC as a small part of your Digital Marketing Strategy. [...]