An effective digital marketing strategy empowers businesses to connect with their audience, generate leads, and convert prospects into loyal customers. For B2B companies, it’s the foundation for building relationships, showcasing industry expertise, and positioning their products or services as essential solutions.
In this guide:
- What is a digital marketing strategy?
- How does a marketing strategy differ from campaigns or tactics?
- What does a digital marketing strategy look like?
- Levers of a digital marketing strategy
- How to build a digital marketing strategy
What is a digital marketing strategy?
A digital marketing strategy is a long-term, high-level plan designed to achieve specific business goals. It defines objectives, identifies target audiences, and provides a framework for all marketing activities across digital channels like websites, social media, email, and search engines.
At its core, a strategy answers these fundamental questions:
- What are we trying to achieve?
- Why does this matter?
A strategy acts as the foundation, but its success depends on the campaigns and tactics that bring it to life:
- Strategy: Establishes the overarching goals and priorities aligned with business objectives.
- Campaigns: Time-bound initiatives focused on achieving specific goals within the strategy.
- Tactics: Granular, actionable steps executed within campaigns, such as creating social media posts or running a paid ad.
This layered approach ensures that every marketing effort works cohesively toward shared business objectives.
How does a marketing strategy differ from campaigns or tactics?
To avoid confusion, it’s essential to distinguish between a strategy, its campaigns, and the tactics used to execute them.
How they work together:
- A strategy defines the long-term vision and goals, such as increasing market share by 20% in a year.
- Campaigns activate the strategy through initiatives like launching a social media series or a seasonal email campaign.
- Tactics execute the granular steps needed, such as designing social posts, writing emails, or creating landing pages.
By aligning these elements, businesses avoid isolated efforts and ensure every activity contributes to the bigger picture.
What does a digital marketing strategy look like?
A successful digital marketing strategy is built around 4 key components:
- Goals: Define clear targets that align with broader business objectives.
Example: Coca-Cola’s goal to increase brand engagement by 25% provides a measurable benchmark.
- Audience: Gain insights to tailor messaging effectively.
Example: Coca-Cola focuses on Gen Z globally, using social media campaigns and video storytelling to engage this audience.
- Budget: Allocate resources to high-impact channels.
Example: Coca-Cola dedicates $5M to influencer partnerships and digital ads to maximize reach.
- Metrics: Track performance and refine tactics.
Example: Coca-Cola monitors engagement rates, reach, and brand sentiment to gauge campaign success and inform future decisions.
Together, these components illustrate how companies like Coca-Cola maintain global relevance while adapting to consumer trends.
Levers of digital marketing strategies.
To execute a strategy effectively, marketers rely on levers — tools, channels, and methods that bring campaigns and tactics to life. These levers ensure strategies translate into measurable outcomes.
Common levers.
- Inbound marketing
Inbound marketing is a methodology that draws customers in through valuable content and personalized experiences. It combines levers like content marketing, search engine optimization (SEO), and lead nurturing to guide prospects through the funnel.
How it supports strategy: Inbound marketing aligns with goals like increasing brand trust or generating qualified leads.
- Content marketing
Content marketing leverages blogs, videos, infographics, reports, and guides to engage audiences and establish thought leadership. It is often paired with other levers like SEO or social media to maximize reach.
How it supports strategy: Drives awareness, educates audiences, and supports lead nurturing within campaigns.
- SEO (Search engine optimization)
SEO improves visibility by optimizing websites and content for search engines. This lever ensures content reaches the right audience organically.
How it supports strategy: Builds long-term brand visibility and drives cost-effective traffic.
- Social media marketing
Social media platforms like LinkedIn, Instagram, and Twitter act as channels for building brand awareness, engaging audiences, and driving traffic.
How it supports strategy: Engages specific audience segments and supports campaigns with direct interaction and paid promotions.
- Email marketing
Email marketing delivers personalized communication directly to users’ inboxes, nurturing relationships and driving conversions.
How it supports strategy: Plays a key role in retention and upselling campaigns by delivering targeted messages to existing customers.
- PPC (Pay-per-click) advertising
PPC is a paid strategy to quickly capture attention through search engines or social platforms, driving users to targeted landing pages.
How it supports strategy: Used in time-sensitive campaigns like product launches to deliver immediate results.
- Video marketing
Video content captures attention and drives engagement, from product demos to behind-the-scenes brand stories.
How it supports strategy: Enhances campaigns aimed at building emotional connections and improving conversion rates.
- Earned media
Earned media, like PR mentions or customer reviews, provide credibility and enhance brand perception.
How it supports strategy: Amplifies campaigns by leveraging third-party validation and generating organic buzz.
- Chatbots, AI agents, and live chats
Chatbots and AI-driven live chats are powerful tools for improving customer interactions and providing instant support. By automating responses and guiding customers through their journey, they serve both marketing and customer service purposes.
How it supports strategy: Enhances user experience by providing quick solutions, nurtures leads through real-time engagement and qualification, and improves brand sentiment and loyalty with seamless, timely assistance.
How levers fit into strategy execution.
Example: A strategy to increase brand awareness could lead to a campaign focused on thought leadership. Within this campaign, levers like content marketing and social media combine with tactics like blog publishing and targeted social posts to engage audiences effectively.
How to build a digital marketing strategy.
Crafting a digital marketing strategy involves structured steps to align with business objectives and ensure measurable success:
1. Set goals and objectives.
Begin by defining your goals and objectives. These should align with broader business targets and serve as benchmarks for success. Use the SMART framework to ensure goals are specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and timely.
Example:
- Goal: “Increase awareness of our widgets among our target audience.”
- Strategy: “Use content marketing to create content for two buyer personas at every stage of the sales funnel.”
- Objective: “Achieve a 25% increase in downloads of widget guides each quarter and boost email subscribers by 50% in six months.”
2. Consider buyer personas.
Understanding your audience is critical. Create detailed buyer personas based on data and research to tailor your marketing efforts effectively.
Key persona elements:
- Location: Use analytics to identify where customers are shopping.
- Income/occupation: Gather insights through surveys or forms.
- Interests/goals: Explore their hobbies, aspirations, and pain points via focus groups or existing reports.
3. Audit your assets.
Evaluate your existing digital assets to identify strengths, gaps, and areas for improvement. Document all relevant content and rank its effectiveness.
Key steps:
- Crawl your site: Gather URLs across blogs, category pages, and other assets.
- Identify gaps: Look for content or functionality missing for your target audience or campaigns.
- SEO insights: Analyze performance using keyword data and identify opportunities for optimization.
4. Plan your content creation resources.
Effective campaigns require well-executed content. Plan how you’ll create, deliver, and manage this content:
- Budget: Determine financial resources available for production.
- Resource allocation: Identify whether tasks can be handled in-house or need outsourcing.
- Technology: Ensure you have the necessary tools, like project management software or design platforms.
- Deadlines: Set realistic timelines to keep the campaign on track.
5. Pinpoint your KPIs.
Track measurable outcomes to evaluate the success of your strategy. Identify key performance indicators (KPIs) that align with your objectives.
Examples of KPIs:
- Digital conversion rates
- Cost per lead
- Returning website visitors
- Engaged visit rates
- Click-through rates
- Marketing qualified leads (MQLs), sales qualified leads (SQLs), and bookings
- Customer lifetime value
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