Digital marketing is a very important part of your business in this day and age. People will go to all sorts of online platforms to check out your business. Even if you’re fantastic at what you do, if your digital platforms aren’t up to scratch you’re likely to lose clients and ultimately, revenue.

Here’s an outline of the plan you can use to ensure everything is in place to create the best Digital Marketing strategy for your business.

1.       Introduction/Goals

Here you can write a little bit about your company background and services. Then type out what your goals are for your company. This is a good time to discuss what is most important to your company vision, and whether your company slogan is relevant, or to create a company slogan!

2.       Competitive analysis

List your major competitors and any trends you’ve seen they’ve adopted. Write down their strengths and weaknesses and how you can capitalize on those.

3.       SWOT analysis

What are the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of your business? Think carefully and note the prime areas and expand on them. Have about 4-5 main points.

4.       Target market

Who is your target market/audience? Create a 'buyer persona' for the particular buyers your company is selling its products to. Think of the buyers:

-          Motivations to buy

-          Pain points

-          Why they should choose your company over others

-          What their communication preferences are

-          What the personas each like or dislike about your product

5.       Buying cycle

How, when, where, and why does your target market buy? Discuss how you will create leads through each phase of the buying cycle.

6.       Unique Selling Proposition (USP)

Discuss what makes your brand unique and differentiates you from the competition. What do you have that your target market needs? It will pay to add your USP to your brand messaging to ensure you’re letting the buyers know.

7.       Brand

What is your brand? How will it be communicated, protected, perceived and criticized? Make notes of all of these to ensure you have a clear idea of your brand from an outsider's perspective.

8.       Website

How do you plan to improve/optimize your website to meet your target market's needs? Or do you have plans to build a new site? Discuss the steps you are going to take to ensure your website meets buyers expectations.

9.       Content marketing

Explain what platforms you are going to use and how they are beneficial to the attracting your target market.

10.   Social Media marketing

What social media platforms will you be using to reach your target audience? Check out how they like to be communicated with and pick the platforms that best work for them. Think about what content and posts will engage your audience and send them to your website.

11.   Email marketing

Is email marketing something you feel will attract more customers? Email marketing can be personalized and include lots of information directed at target audiences. Discuss your email marketing goals and how you will incorporate it into your overall campaigns.

12.   Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)

What are your overall goals for SEO? How will you incorporate it into your website, social media, and content marketing efforts?

13.   Measurement and KPIs

How will you measure your success? Discuss your goals and measurement tools to see how effective your marketing is. Ensure that your goals link back to your business objectives.

14.   Conclusion

Conclude your plan in a simple and structured layout so it is clear how your whole marketing strategy will play out.