Preparing a digital marketing strategy for your business is not unlike preparing for a cross-country marathon.
Suppose you want to win the marathon. What is the record for the fastest time on the track? How long should it take you to reach the first mile marker for you to remain on track to win? This is important information, but only if your purpose for competing is to win the race.
If your purpose for competing is to merely complete the race, your measurement for success throughout the actual race is going to be vastly different than that of the former participant. You are not concerned with your time throughout the contest. You are more concerned with the level of fatigue you are experiencing. Your goals throughout the race are different. Your purpose is to complete the race.
With this analogy in mind, it is puzzling to see businesses enact digital marketing strategies without first creating identifiers that can indicate whether or not their efforts are paying off.
Identify an overall purpose
What is your primary purpose? Identify one overall determinant for success so that you can then build a set of landmarks that are steps towards that larger effort. By creating a general purpose, such as raising awareness about a new product, you are allowing each step of the process to be more concise.
Make smaller, measurable goals that contribute to the overall purpose
By creating a set of smaller, trackable goals that supplement your overall purpose, you are putting a measurable success grid and timeline in place. Much like the individual attempting to win the cross-country race, you will know that your training regimen (or marketing strategy) needs to be reworked if goals aren’t accomplished by a certain time.
Suppose you want to increase general awareness about your business. You may want to reach a certain number of Facebook mentions within a particular period of time or reach a specific number of fans. These are examples of smaller achievable goals that you can reference and use as checkpoints to achieving your purpose.
Keep your eye on the ball
It is easy to allow metrics that aren’t pertinent to your overall purpose to interrupt your concentration. After all, you want all facets of your business to be successful! But it is important not to spend too much time on such concerns if they aren’t relevant to what you are trying to achieve.
For example, if you are focusing on increasing conversion rates in the next quarter, you should not completely scrap your strategy and start from scratch if your page likes remain stagnant.
It is important to remember that the digital marketing goals of every business are going to be different. That is why it is beneficial to set your own goals and measure your success based on needs that you identify yourself. It also explains why dwelling on the accomplishments of competitors is often an unworthy pursuit. You know what is best for your business, so only you can define success.
