If you are not getting great results from your digital marketing, it’s probably because you don’t have a strategy. When it comes to executing digital marketing strategies vs. tactics, businesses of all sizes often start with tactics.
In our recent survey of over 2000 marketers, results show that marketers answered questions about strategy incorrectly more often than tactical questions. For the
Tactical thinking is easier than strategic thinking. It’s easy to just reach inside your tool box and pull out a tool. In digital marketing, marketers are easily pulled towards the tactics that seem interesting or fun. The result is typically a lot of work without a lot of results.
To get better results from digital marketing, it’s much more effective to step back and think about the overall strategy and what you want to accomplish.
There are some key questions marketers can ask, that will help align to strategic thinking:
- Why are you creating that content? Why are you posting? Why are you sending that email?
- What action do you want your audience to take?
- Who is your audience and what is the type of content that would add value to them?
- Where is your audience in the buying journey?
When marketers ask these questions first, the tactics become obvious.
Instagram might be a fun platform, and with over a billion users, it might seem like a great idea for your business. But if your objective is to drive traffic to your website to convert to a sale of a service, then Instagram might not be the best fit because you can’t link to a website directly from an Instagram post.
Everything in a digital marketing plan must flow from strategy. When there is a clear strategy, there is a clear goal in mind of what you want to achieve, and an understanding of the audience. The choice of tactics then becomes much easier when you are aligned to strategy.
To build a digital marketing plan that actually works, and gets the results you want for your business or organization, think strategically. This means start with your main goal of what you want to achieve and know your audience and what they need before you reach into that toolbox and start pulling out your digital tools.
For the
