The Ins and Outs of Digital Marketing Strategy

One of the most important marketing skills in today’s highly connected world is knowing how to create a digital marketing strategy. According to Statista, e-commerce revenue in the retail sector is forecasted to exceed 1.3 trillion dollars by 2025.¹ With 81% of shoppers researching a product online before buying, it’s essential for advertisers to reach and engage customers through digital marketing.²

Keep reading to learn why a digital marketing strategy is important, how you can create a robust plan that can readily adapt to a changing marketplace, and why you need top skills to excel in this high-tech environment.

Digital marketing is the backbone of most companies’ business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-consumer (B2C) marketing strategies. As of 2022, 89% of all businesses already have a digital-first strategy or are planning to implement it.³ In addition to this competition, McKinsey & Company reports that during inflationary times, consumers will reduce their discretionary spending, which means that companies must stand out even further when fighting for fewer consumer dollars.⁴

These ‘must do’s’ for business success point toward a comprehensive digital marketing strategy, rather than just disconnected digital marketing tactics.⁵ Research shows that companies wanting to achieve financial success in an uncertain marketplace must step up their game by:

Companies must respond to changes in customer spending habits using insights from analytics. They’re advised to create personalized customer communications and touch points—that is, varied means of connecting with customers, such as email marketing, social media posts, and mobile device ads.⁴

For greater returns, businesses must use their expanded knowledge of their customers to create individualized strategies for groups of consumers and product subcategories.⁴

Retailers must eliminate inefficient spending practices. Instead, they should reinvest ‘surgically’ in marketing and spend optimization that recognizes today’s complex omnichannel marketing and consumer expectations. They can do so by focusing on the touch points, channels, and strategies that provide the greatest value for their company’s brand. ^4,6

Since consumer behavior shifts with changing sentiments, companies must be able to make fast decisions, adapting their operations to a regularly changing marketplace.⁴

In 2011, Google coined the term ‘Zero Moment of Truth’ (ZMOT). It represents the key moment when a customer researches a product online, just before deciding to complete a purchase.⁷ Since nearly all Americans (97%) now own a smartphone—up 85% from just 35% in 2011—we can conduct product searches and make buying decisions within minutes, either from home or while in a brick-and-mortar store. This makes the ZMOT more widespread and instantaneous and, therefore, critically important for all businesses.⁸

One marketing tactic that has a tremendous impact on the ZMOT is paid search, which drives internet traffic to a company’s website through relevant advertising based on specific search terms (keywords). In the U.S., Google dominates the search engine market at nearly 87%, making the Google Ads and paid search platform the main game for digital marketers.^9,10,11

When creating a digital marketing strategy for your business, it’s important to be familiar with the large variety of tools at your disposal. These digital marketing tools fall under the category of MarTech, the abbreviated term for marketing technology. They include applications, tools, and software that help companies improve the efficacy of their marketing tactics. This group of tools is often referred to as a ‘marketing stack.’¹²

Examples of MarTech include content management systems such as WordPress, email marketing platforms such as Mail Chimp, and customer relationship management tools such as Salesforce. These programs help a company strengthen its relationship with its customers through communication, advertising, and reporting, and they create multiple touch points that allow the reciprocal relationship to flourish. It also helps companies personalize their marketing campaigns and better manage subsets of consumers, with specific marketing messages presented at certain times for a better customer experience.¹²

With so many tools out there, it’s important to choose the right ones that will integrate to form a complete digital marketing solution for your organization. Foundations of MarTech, one of the core marketing courses in the Santa Clara University Leavey School of Business Online Master of Science (MS) in Marketing , will introduce you to key technology platforms at the intersection of marketing and information systems. Popular software, such as Oracle’s Eloqua, Salesforce, and Adobe’s Marketo, allow businesses to drive success by engaging with their customers in meaningful ways.

Digital marketing strategies aren’t ‘one size fits all.’ Companies’ needs vary depending on their customers and the products or services they offer. In e-commerce marketing, for example, a clothing retailer might simply want people to click on a button to buy a shirt or a pair of jeans. In lead-generation marketing, a company demonstrates value in exchange for obtaining personal information (e.g., special content in return for a customer’s email address). A web design firm that sells various services, for instance, must help customers learn the details about what’s being offered and how each service can benefit them. This is a much longer process.¹³

Each of these marketing objectives requires different strategies. Typically, lead generation marketing involves a larger purchase, such as buying a service and paying an ongoing subscription cost.¹³

To be successful, a company needs a robust and agile digital marketing plan that can quickly be adjusted to meet the demands of changing market conditions and customer expectations. It’s also essential to have a good return on investment (ROI). ROI measures the profit or loss a company generates from each of its digital marketing campaigns.¹⁴

Every digital marketing channel, such as email campaigns and social media, will have its own ROI metrics. To calculate ROI, use this formula: ROI = (net profit / total cost) x 100.¹⁵ Marketers will often represent the ROI calculation as a ratio, such as a common ROI of 5:1, which means that for every dollar spent, the company is making $5.¹⁵

Calculating ROI for your digital marketing campaigns will tell you which are working and which aren’t. Some of the digital marketing channels for which you can calculate ROI include:

• Regularly updated blogs
• Email marketing campaigns
• Landing pages on websites
• Native advertising (conforms to the style of the website)
• Programmatic advertising (targeted ads such as website banners)
• Mobile video ads
• Social media channels¹⁵

Take the following steps to measure and improve your company’s digital marketing ROI:

You may choose to use the SMART method, in which you set goals that are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Timely.¹⁵

KPIs are measurable values or statistics.¹⁵

This is the percentage of site visitors or email recipients that take the desired action (such as clicking on a link to buy a product).^15,16

How much are you spending to generate each new customer?¹⁵

This is used to monitor profit increases or customer retention. ¹⁵

This metric tells you which channel is most popular.¹⁵

The click-through rate (CTR) measures the number of visitors who come to your website or app through a link that was posted elsewhere, such as an email or ad on a different channel.¹⁵

Your site’s ranking in the search engine result pages (SERPs) affects your website’s traffic.¹⁵

This will show you which campaigns achieve the best results.¹⁵

Adjust future marketing campaigns and budgets as needed, based on the current data.¹⁵

Just as needs vary from company to company, so do results. Some companies will be able to leverage search engine optimization (SEO) more than pay-per-click (PPC) and others may have greater success with email marketing campaigns than SEO.

Digital marketing is a huge industry with many different specifications. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, opportunities in the marketing field are projected to grow by 10% through 2031, with median pay of $133,380 annually.¹⁷

If you’re interested in exploring this exciting industry, take a look at some of the top specializations in digital marketing:¹⁸

As an analytics specialist, you will collect and evaluate marketing data from revenue and customer reviews. You will track data trends, record data history, and test data validity to find areas where digital marketing strategies can be improved. ¹⁸

A content manager produces content that engages readers. Skills include copywriting, SEO, and social media marketing. They understand how to optimize a company’s digital marketing endeavors. This includes analysis to create strategies that optimize resources. ¹⁸

An email marketer recruits, converts, and manages a company’s customer base. They also analyze data from clicks, conversions, and subscription rates to create engaging emails, as well as drafting and scheduling emails to boost subscribers.¹⁸

A PPC specialist monitors digital traffic to determine ROI. They might also analyze clicks for quantity and origin to measure a marketing campaign’s success. These professionals examine how successful a digital marketing strategy is through advanced analytics and conversion optimization. ¹⁸

As an SEO expert, you work to improve a company’s web pages and brand visibility. It is your mission to get your company or client a top SERP position to help improve engagement and customer retention. ¹⁸

A social media specialist uses different platforms to reach target audiences. This includes researching user demographics for each platform to customize the organization’s marketing strategies to reach a wide audience. They also engage with users to provide support and information, ideally gaining positive reviews. ¹⁸

This involves researching customer demographics to help inform advertising campaigns for targeting and retention. They work with others in the digital marketing department to develop campaigns and marketing materials. These displays (text, images and video or animation) can be delivered on various devices like smartphones and computers. ^18,19

A UX design expert is concerned with the function, readability, and aesthetics of a company’s website and application interfaces. UX designers play an important role in digital marketing, as they help ensure that customers will want to browse the company’s website and make purchases.¹⁸

Chief marketing officers (CMOs) and other team leaders can use digital marketing to communicate directly with their customers. For a small business, digital marketing is a way to have a larger online presence that’s on equal footing with more established competitors. It’s cost-effective and personalized, with a global reach that lets you communicate with prospects at every stage of the purchasing process.²⁰

Earning your Master’s in Marketing is a guaranteed way to stand out from your competition. In SCU’s Online MSM degree program, you’ll receive the training and expertise you need to become a leader in digital marketing. In as little as a year, you can gain a strong and diverse background in everything from marketing trends, MarTech, and analytics to brand management, channel marketing, and digital advertising.

Download a program brochure to learn more.