When it comes to digital marketing, having a strategy is key to success. But what exactly is a digital marketing strategy? In short, it's a step-by-step, actionable process that works towards achieving the digital marketing goals of your company

With so much of our content consumption happening online today, marketing has adapted by shifting to meet our reliance on technology - which means that if you want your brand to be successful, you need to have a strong presence in the digital world.

But how do you create a winning digital presence for your brand? By having a comprehensive and effective digital marketing strategy, of course! Your strategy should include everything from Search Engine Optimization (SEO) to social media marketing to email marketing and more.

Why is it necessary ?

• Creating an effective digital marketing strategy involves a very deliberate decision-making process regarding your digital marketing goals and the most appropriate channels that will help you achieve them. With careful planning and execution, a well-thought-out digital marketing strategy can help you take your business to new heights online.
• Digital marketing is more important than ever. People are spending more time online, and marketing budgets are shifting toward digital. It is easy to get caught up in all of the opportunities that digital marketing provides. However, one of the best ways to see a return on your investment is to create a clear strategy. By doing this, you will reduce any wasted effort, add focus to your current campaigns and build upon what is already working. Having a plan will not only save you time and money, but it will also improve your overall results.

Set goals in place

Setting a goal is the first step to achieving success with your marketing strategy. You need to be very specific about what it is you hope to achieve - acquiring more views on your website is not a SMART goal.

SMART is a very helpful and commonly used mnemonic tool for setting objectives, and offers the following criteria for setting goals:

• Specific
• Measurable
• Attainable
• Relevant
• Timely goals.

By following these guidelines, you can be sure that your goals are achievable and relevant to your business.

Analyze your existing digital marketing efforts

Even if your progress seems small, it's still beneficial to understand what you have accomplished thus far. This understanding will help guide your focus on what steps to take next in order to achieve your current goals.

To begin, you should understand your main marketing channels and how effective each one has been:

-Your website

-Social media

-Email marketing

-Content marketing/SEO

-Pay per click advertising

Of these, which channels have been driving the most leads and traffic to you? Rank each channel and specific media outlet from most effective to least effective (thus far).

Grasp the digital sales funnel

The digital sales funnel is the customer journey from stranger to repeat or long term customer.

A brand that wants to increase its digital presence can use the funnel as a guide to determine what digital marketing tools to use at each stage. By addressing each step of the funnel with the appropriate tools, the brand can reach its digital marketing goals.

Understanding the digital sales funnel means understanding each stage of the funnel and the appropriate digital tools that complement it.

Here is a breakdown of the stages and the appropriate digital marketing responses:

Awareness: Make potential clients aware of your existence.

Interest: Create interest in your brand.

Solidify relationships: Sponsored posts on social media that address concerns the client could have or encourage them to ask questions is a great tool for this stage.

Action: Do business with the client. For example, incentivizing a purchase by offering discounts in ads or emails for the client through digital marketing agency

Develop buyer personas

The best way to understand your target audience is by constructing buyer personas. Buyer personas are detailed models that seek to represent your ideal customer. By building these personas, you will be able to more easily understand who your audience is and how to best reach out to them.

In order to create a marketable appeal to your customers, you have to understand them on a deeper level - almost as if you are that customer. Once you have a clear understanding of who they are, you can begin making assumptions about the things they would like and be open to. A great way to do this is by creating a narrative around your customer. For example: if your target customer is a 26-year-old male who doesn't own a car, it's safe to say that he values experiences over materialistic items. This information helps you understand what he might be interested in and how you can reach him through marketing channels he would actually pay attention to, as opposed to those he wouldn't even glance at. Furthermore, getting specific about their needs and preferences will help you either meet or exceed their expectations, making them more likely to use your service or product again in the future.

Consider customer need

You'll need to locate your customers throughout the entirety of the sales funnel - there's a good chance you'll find customers open to connecting with you at every stage.

For example, if you sell organic deodorants, your prospective customers may come from a variety of sources. For instance, they may find you through a Google search for organic deodorants, or they may see your sponsored Facebook post about how your deodorant is made of compostable packaging while they're looking for a zero waste option. No matter how they find you, though, you'll want to make sure that your marketing message is clear and consistent across all channels

Plan your content

After you've identified your target audience, you need to find out where they "hang out" online. Once you know where they are, you can begin working on creating connections with them.

Analyze the  results

It's important to have a strategy in place, and to practice it regularly. This way, you can monitor your progress and see if you're on track to reach your goals. By using analytics software, you can observe customer behavior and see how they interact with your content. This will help you correct the course if necessary, and learn from things that didn't work out as planned.