Implementing 360-degree digital performance marketing without having a strategic plan guiding the whole mission is akin to taking a shot in the dark.
Chances are bleak for the arrow to hit the bull’s eye.
Meet the target. Create the impact.
Clearly, not having a game plan might end up diluting your marketing efforts!
But why is strategy so important?
Understanding the Strategic Perspective:
Digital performance marketing focuses on maximizing measurable results and return on investment (ROI) by leveraging various online channels and techniques.
It encompasses a range of activities such as search engine optimization (SEO), social media marketing, email marketing, and more.
Often, marketers get caught up in the tactical aspects of these activities, such as optimizing keywords, creating compelling ad copies, or running A/B tests.
While the tactical execution of digital campaigns is crucial, it is equally important to bolster your marketing moves with a strategic plan.
Otherwise, your whole digital campaign can come crumbling down like a house of cards.
Below are marketing activities that relate to the 5Ds that should be reviewed as part of a strategic approach to digital marketing are:
1. Digital Goals
This essentially translates into defining clear and measurable goals for your digital performance marketing campaigns.
These goals should align with your overall business objectives and be specific, attainable, relevant, and time-bound.
This can be done by curating a manifestation plan, complete with themes and hashtag bank. This is like a lighthouse that directs the course, tone, and market positioning of your campaign.
Not only this, putting together a Social Media Calendar also helps marketers find the head and tail of the ongoing campaign. It helps keep a track of social media assets, type of content and the frequency with which they are being uploaded, important dates and days of posting, etc.
Having well-defined goals will guide your strategies and help you measure your success accurately.
2. Digital audiences:
Take the time to thoroughly understand your target audience, their needs, preferences, and online behaviors.
Conduct market research, analyze customer data, and develop buyer personas to create highly targeted and personalized campaigns.
A study by Hubspot revealed that 30% of the marketers who participated in it used market segmentation techniques to improve email engagement.
Segmented campaigns had 14.31% higher open rates and saw 101% more clicks than non-segmented campaigns.
Thus, tailoring your messaging and content to resonate with your audience surely helps grab more eyeballs.
Coca-Cola’s “Share a Coke” campaign also went by this principle.
The strategic perspective behind this campaign was to personalize the Coca-Cola experience and strengthen the emotional connection with consumers. By printing popular names on their bottles, Coca-Cola aimed to create a sense of personalization and encourage social sharing.
Airbnb’s localization strategy also testifies to the concept of niche marketing.
Airbnb’s success can be attributed, in part, to its strategic localization efforts in different markets. Instead of taking a one-size-fits-all approach, Airbnb tailors its digital performance marketing strategies to meet the unique needs of each local market.
They invest in localized content, translations, and targeted advertising to resonate with specific cultural nuances and preferences.
This strategic perspective allows Airbnb to connect with their target audience effectively, build trust, and drive user adoption in diverse markets worldwide.
3. Digital devices:
Understand how audiences interact with businesses as part of the buying process using a combination of smartphones, tablets, laptops, desktop computers, TVs, gaming devices, smart speakers and other connected devices forming the Internet of Things (IoT).
Thanks to the growing popularity of smart speakers, podcasts and audiobooks are being consumed more than paperbacks. Since this form of content can be effortlessly heard on smart speakers, an estimated 104 million people in the US alone are listening to podcasts regularly due to their viable packaging medium.
An insightful poll from the American Audiobook Publishers Association found that 60% of respondents own a smart speaker such as Amazon Echo, Google Home or Apple HomePod, and 46% of smart speaker owners have used it to listen to an audiobook, which is up 31% from 2020.
4. Digital Media & Channels:
A 360-degree digital performance marketing strategy should include various aspects, including search engine optimization (SEO), paid advertising, content marketing, social media, email marketing, and more.
Each channel needs synergistically work to create a cohesive customer journey and maximize the Return of Investment (ROI).
For this purpose, the armada of content and social media assets can be repurposed depending on the communication channel in question.
Nike’s iconic “Just Do It” campaign did exactly that. It did not put all its eggs in one basket and left no channel unturned to market its product.
The campaign’s focus was not solely on promoting Nike’s products but on inspiring and empowering individuals to embrace an active lifestyle. To trumpet this message proactively, Nike went the extra mile and used a cocktail of channels to convince people in favour of their athletic cause.
Not out of sight, not out of mind!
By leveraging digital channels, Nike created compelling content and storytelling that resonated with their target audience. They utilized social media, influencer marketing, and user-generated content to amplify the campaign’s reach and engage their customers.
And the tactic worked!
The campaign was so successful in its approach that till this day, Nike is synonymous with the tagline – “Just do it!” Thanks to multiple channels chanting the same message, the catchphrase has been indoctrinated into the subconscious of the consumers.
5. Digital Data:
This game-plan relies heavily on data and analytics to predict the customer’s next move. This allows business to stay one step ahead and act in accordance to “the inside dope.”
Robust tracking and analytics tools monitor the performance of campaigns continuously. Plus, analyzing the data helps fetch insights into what’s working and what isn’t.
Regularly optimizing campaigns based on such evolving insights steers the business towards effectiveness.
This iterative process of testing, measuring, and refining will help you achieve better results over time.
Amazon’s recommendation engine is a prime example of how customer data can change the course of digital performance marketing.
By analyzing customer behavior, purchase history, and preferences, Amazon delivers personalized product recommendations to its users.
This strategic approach helps Amazon increase cross-selling and upselling opportunities, improving customer satisfaction and driving repeat purchases.
Not just this, by continuously optimizing their recommendation algorithms and incorporating machine learning, Amazon enhances the overall customer experience, leading to increased sales and customer loyalty.
These examples demonstrate how a strategic perspective in digital performance marketing can drive successful outcomes. By aligning marketing initiatives with overall business goals, understanding the target audience, personalizing experiences, and utilizing digital channels effectively, companies can achieve significant results in terms of brand awareness, customer engagement, and revenue growth.