Are you a business owner who likes to do things by himself, including managing your own digital marketing strategy, or are you hesitant to invest in hiring a qualified social media manager?
To make a sound choice about whether you DIY or not, it may help to know precisely what it entails. I learned the hard way that creating a website, crafting blog posts, and updating social media profiles do not bring the desired results if not backed by key concepts, proven processes, and strategies. You can’t afford to lose time and money navigating randomly through this.
I’m not saying taking over your digital marketing strategy is a bad choice; far from it. Figuring out ways to make a business shine and bloom on social media is a passion of mine. I would understand why you’d choose that. However, if you do decide to be independent, here are a few things you must equip yourself with first:
Build Your Knowledge
Read books, and watch online courses and webinars to grasp essential concepts, such as social media marketing, email or ads campaigns, search engine optimization (SEO), and content marketing, including newsletters and blogs. It is not a random process; knowing the dos and don’ts can save you time, effort, and money.
Define Clear Goals for Your Campaign
Establish SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-bound) objectives for your digital marketing efforts. What are you hoping to achieve? Brand awareness? Increased sales? A bigger audience? It will allow you to chart a course and measure your progress effectively. You’ll never know if you got results if you don’t measure or if you don’t know what you’re measuring. Opt for the Small Step Theory. Setting attainable goals and celebrating small successes is better than setting yourself up for failure with grand majestic ones that are unlikely to be achieved.
Know Your Target Audience
Your digital marketing success hinges on understanding your audience’s preferences, habits, and desires. Conduct in-depth market research, develop buyer personas, and engage in social media platforms to uncover valuable insights about your target audience. These will help you craft a compelling message tailored to your ideal customers. For example, you would not target teenagers like you would mature professionals.
Choose the Right Channels and Tactics
Select platforms and strategies that align with your goals and target audience. Test and experiment with various approaches, such as social media advertising, email campaigns, and content marketing. You don’t have to be on all the platforms. Choose the ones that will be compelling for your target audience.
Monitor and Optimize Your Strategy
Continuously assess and adjust your digital marketing efforts. Use Google Analytics and social media insights to track your campaign's performance. Identify areas of improvement, and optimize your efforts for maximum impact. To understand the prime differences between Universal Analytics and G4, I recommend the article on LinkedIn by Andy Crestodina. He sums it up nicely.
While, there is a lot of information to be aware of in conjunction with mastering the techniques, it’s gratifying once you see tangible results. I will not lie, though. It takes time, precious time, to master this.
MelCo Design can mentor and coach your team through the planning and implementation. We can also manage your whole digital marketing campaign and strategy for you so that you can focus on your business.
We pride ourselves in being able to work with businesses of all sizes but predominantly like to focus on small to medium size ones. Please feel free to reach out to us, we would be happy to hear from you and will do our best to assemble a package, budget, and payment plan that works best for you.