Wondering which digital marketing avenue your business should pursue next? Here's our handy guide!
Any business owner will know that digital marketing is a massive space. The sheer number of channels and techniques you could use can get a little overwhelming! With limited time and resources, businesses must prioritise where they focus their marketing efforts. But how do you know what the next strategy should be? Should you invest in Instagram, Email Marketing, LinkedIn, YouTube, all of the above, or none of them at all? It’s hard to determine which digital marketing methods will bring the most value to your business at any given time. That’s why we’ve written this guide to help you decide what to do next.
We find it helpful to consider digital marketing strategies regarding where they fit in the customer journey. Each channel has particular strengths that can (and should) be used for specific purposes. In other words, having a specific reason or objective behind every marketing action is important. When you combine all of these different objectives, they should resemble a sales funnel your customers might go through as they interact with your business.
For the purpose of this exercise, we will divide our funnel into five different stages or objectives: Awareness, Interest, Consideration, Conversion, and Retention. You’ll find each of these explained in a little more detail below. We’ve also included a few digital marketing channels and techniques that can contribute to these objectives. Remember that in 2023, the customer journey is less predictable than ever, and just about every single one is unique. Therefore, instead of trying to control your customers, it is your job to cover each stage.
Awareness
People in the Awareness stage don’t really know that they could benefit from your product or service. They might not even know you exist! It’s all about getting your name out there and letting potential customers know about the value or solutions you could provide. It’s likely that they haven’t considered your brand or offering as an option before.
Marketing to people in this stage usually involves running ads to various target audiences. Things like demographics and interests typically define these.
Potential Tools, Social Media Ads, Google Display Ads, YouTube Ads
Social Media Ads
Google Display Ads
YouTube Ads
Interest
People in the Interest stage have become aware of a specific need or how their life could improve. This could be a problem needing to be solved or an experience that they’re missing out on. Whatever it might be, they’re now interested in products or services that could potentially make this a reality.
Marketing to people in this stage usually involves appearing in search engines, as they will actively look for something to meet their needs.
Potential Tools: Search Engine Optimisation, Google Search Ads, Google Business Profile
Search Engine Optimisation
Google Search Ads
Google Business Profile
Consideration
People in the Consideration stage have identified a type of product or service they want. Now, it’s all about research! They want to know what the options are and which one will best meet their needs. Consumers can spend a lot of time here, as they want to make sure that their money is well spent.
Marketing to people in this stage usually involves making relevant information easily accessible to them so that they can make informed decisions.
Potential Tools: Landing Pages, Blog Articles, Online Reviews, Remarketing Ads
Landing Pages
Blog Articles
Online Reviews
Remarketing Ads
Conversion
People in the Conversion stage are ready to do business. They’ve decided what they want; all that remains is deciding who to get it from. While this decision can be based on various factors, the most influential considerations are trust and price.
Marketing to people in this stage usually involves removing potential obstacles and making buying from you as easy as possible.
Potential Tools: E-commerce, Lead Forms, Promotions, User Experience
E-commerce
Lead Forms
Promotions
User Experience
Retention
People in the Retention stage have already done business with you in the past. It’s now your job to keep them coming back! After all, it’s easier and cheaper to retain existing customers than it is to gain new ones. Your most loyal customers are ultimately your most valuable and the most likely to recommend you to others.
Marketing to people in this stage usually involves building relationships, staying top of mind, and offering added value or perks.
Potential Tools: Email Marketing, Social Media
Email Marketing
Social Media
How Is Your Business Doing?
Now that we’ve defined the five stages of the journey, it’s time to find out how well your business is doing for each of them. First, create a table with five columns, one for each stage. Then, for each column, write down every relevant digital marketing strategy you currently use. You might end up with something like this:
Awareness
Social Media Ads
Interest
Google Business Profile
Consideration
Landing Pages
Blog Articles
Google Reviews
Conversion
Lead Form
Promotion
Retention
Email Marketing
Social Media
Plan Your Next Move
Now that you’ve got to this point, you can identify which stages of your funnel look a little bit light. These should obviously be your first priorities when choosing your next digital marketing steps. When you are drawing insights from your table, it’s important to remember that not all marketing strategies are created equal. Some will produce more value for your business than others, so try to remember this when deciding which stages need the most work.
Here are a few insights we could observe from our above example:
- Google Business Profile is the only item listed in the Interest column. While this is a good start, there’s a lot of room to improve! It’s probably time to invest in some Search Engine Optimisation or Google Search Ads.
- Looking over at the Conversion column, we can see a lead form set up and promotions running. However, something fairly crucial is missing: the website’s user experience has been neglected. There could be a lot of potential customers going elsewhere because the website is difficult to use!
- The Consideration column is looking fairly strong. There are plenty of landing pages and blogs with useful information and a decent number of Google reviews for potential customers to read. Therefore, while there is more you could do here, it’s probably best to prioritise other areas of the funnel first.
This exercise should give you more direction on which digital marketing avenues your business should pursue next. All that’s left to do now is put it into action! If you still have questions about which techniques would provide the best value for your business, contact Dubzz Digital Marketing. We have a team of in-house experts who can provide customised advice or assistance based on your specific situation.
