So as a business, how can you successfully create a digital marketing plan?
A digital marketing plan is a document that outlines and communicates the details of your digital marketing campaigns or actions. It should include the following:
- Business Goals: SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Timely) objectives
- Strategies: Approaches to achieve the goals at the digital level
- Marketing Channels: Platforms and mediums to be utilized
- Action and Development Plans: Steps and processes to execute the strategy
- Investment and Budget: Financial allocation for marketing activities
- Roadmap/Schedule: Timeline to achieve the defined goals
Created in the 1990s, the SOSTAC® planning model, originally developed by PR Smith, is widely used by marketers around the world as the framework of choice for businesses of varying scales. It covers six key areas, which will be discussed in this post:
- Situation Analysis: Analyzing where the business is now
- Objectives: Identifying where the business would like to be
- Strategy: Choosing the best methods to achieve these objectives
- Tactics: The tools used to ensure the business achieves its objectives
- Action: How the plan will be implemented
- Control: Methods to assess if objectives have been met and marketing activities have been successful
Stage 1 - Situation Analysis
Stage 1 of implementing this digital marketing planning framework involves conducting a situation analysis. This should provide an overview of your business – who you are, what you do, and how you currently engage or trade online. A marketing audit of your existing activities should form part of this analysis. Many companies neglect this crucial step when creating digital marketing campaigns, which can lead to unrealistic objectives or the adoption of ineffective tactics. By performing a thorough analysis, a business can gain insight into market trends, understand its current customer base, assess available resources, and evaluate competitor activities.
-
At a basic level, be prepared to examine who your customers currently are, how they interact with you online, the platforms they prefer, and their demographic breakdown.
- Carry out a SWOT Analysis: This useful framework allows you to evaluate the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats facing your business and the broader market.
-
Analyse your competitors: Identify who they are and how they compete. Is it through price points, the dishes they serve, customer service, reputation, or concept? What are their key differentiators?
- Identify your key digital channels: Assess what is working well and what isn’t. Is your website customer-oriented? How is its usability and browsing experience? Do you update your blog periodically? Where do you rank in search engines? What is your social media presence – are you even present?
Stage 2 - Objectives
The objectives stage is crucial, as this is where you establish your marketing plan goals based on the findings from the situation analysis. Everything you plan should work toward achieving these objectives.
Developing this part of your digital marketing plan can benefit from using the SMART goals framework. Each objective should be specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and timely. For example, at a social media level, an objective could be to firmly position your restaurant at the forefront of your target audience’s minds, encourage engagement, and drive reservations by increasing your Facebook followers by 1,000 within six months.
Stage 3 - Strategy
The strategy stage involves defining the best methods to achieve your aims and objectives. For example, if you want to improve website performance and audience engagement, implementing a content strategy is advisable. Conversely, if a restaurant seeks to acquire new customers or retain regular diners, a customer acquisition or retention strategy would be recommended. Effective strategies should consider elements such as audience segmentation, personalisation, and communicating your unique value proposition.
Once the appropriate strategy to achieve the objectives is in place, you can begin deciding on the best tactics to implement.
Step 4 - Tactics
Tactics refer to the specific tools within the digital mix that you plan to use to achieve the objectives of your digital marketing plan. Unfortunately, this is often the stage where many businesses jump in too quickly. This can cause more harm than good, as it’s easy to waste money on pay-per-click advertising, especially if you don’t have a way to track whether your campaign is working or if you’re receiving a return on your investment.
To help achieve the objectives you have identified above, it’s best to use the 7Ps of the Marketing Mix to focus on the key attributes to consider. These could include, but are not limited to, the following key areas:
- Product: The produce being used, quality, location, seasonality, and positioning in the marketplace.
- Price: Quality, value proposition, customer perception, and how much people are willing to pay for a dish.
- Place: Location, destination vs. passing trade, takeaway, and competition within the area.
- Promotion: Integrated online and offline marketing activities. Will you be using third-party platforms?
- People: Front of house, management, chefs, skills, training, and knowledge. A customer’s experience with your brand should be at the forefront of everything you do.
- Physical Evidence: Ambience, concept, quality of produce, experience received, and how you want people to feel when leaving your restaurant.
- Process: Overall processes, management, customer service, reservation system, covers, and turnover rate.
Step 5 - Actions
The actions stage is where your digital marketing plan is implemented. Many companies create a schedule or timeline indicating when specific tactics will be deployed and for how long. This may take into account factors such as opening hours, special events, and seasonality.
Step 6 - Control
As with most plans, the work doesn’t stop after designing and implementing your digital marketing strategy. The next step is one of the most important: analysing the results. Analytics is critical for successfully optimising digital marketing performance and spending. Key performance indicators should be set for each tactic to track on a weekly or monthly basis whether objectives are being met.
If your plan is created with sound knowledge, control procedures should indicate whether the marketing campaign is working effectively. Depending on the tactics utilised, a variety of tools can help monitor your Key Performance Indicators, including Google Analytics and Instagram and Facebook Insights. This data can then inform adjustments to improve procedures.
The control element is essential for identifying what worked, what didn’t, and what can be improved going forward. For example, if your restaurant’s goal was to increase the number of diners booking through your website, Google Analytics can track this data and display the results. If the goals are being met, procedures can be fine-tuned for greater success. If not, Google Analytics can help identify the reasons and guide the implementation of changes to achieve your objectives.
Additionally, effective communication is vital. When implementing changes, always discuss your concerns with the wider team to ensure alignment and buy-in for the plan.
This guide provides an overview of how to develop a digital marketing plan for your business. If you need further advice, feel free to drop us a message. We’d love to chat and explore how we can assist you.
