Planning is essential in marketing – especially in the digital era. Users of the internet and social media have the luxury of browsing at leisure, perhaps looking for nothing in particular. You, on the other hand, don’t have that luxury. While visitors may stumble upon your website by chance, you need to make sure you have a calculated marketing strategy that’ll keep them on your website and eventually turn them into customers. Luckily, Rich Brooks gave his audience at Social Media Marketing World the skills they need to build this strategic marketing plan. Here, you’ll learn those same skills.
Brooks emphasized that before you create a plan and begin executing it step by step, you must have a clear understanding of your goals. If you don’t know where you want to end, it’ll be nearly impossible to start. Think carefully about what you really want to achieve and who you want to target. Nail down what your key performance indicators will be. Do some competitive analysis and research. Essentially, you want to start with as much knowledge as possible about the endeavor you’re undertaking.
In terms of actually crafting this marketing plan, Brooks provided his audience with an acronym: BARE. B stands for build, because you should build a platform that makes it easy for visitors to convert to customers. A stands for attract, as your website and plan should inherently draw in people. R stands for retain, since you should be maintaining good relationships with your customers to keep them coming back. Finally, E stands for evaluate, because you should always be looking for places to improve.
It’s difficult to get incredibly specific with explaining how using the BARE model will look for you, because everyone’s plan must be tailored to their goals, their audience, and what they’re trying to sell. However, these four points are going to be the pillars of your plan. Refer back to them often, and keep in mind the following tips from Brooks.
When it comes to building a platform that converts an internet browser to a loyal customer, your first step is quite simple. Just take a look at your website organization and see if it makes sense. Make it easy for anyone to find what they need, make sure you have a separate page for every offering, ensure that the pages load quickly, and make your contact information available. The better your site looks, the more likely a customer is to trust your business and continue browsing.
Establishing that trust off the bat is critical. Not only will it help you in the first step of the BARE plan, but it’ll allow you to segway straight into retaining those visitors. This is assuming, of course, you do a good job of attracting them in the first place.
For step two of the BARE model, Brooks emphasized the importance of search engine optimization, social media, and ad placement. Which of these three will be the most useful and important for you depends on what you’re selling and who you’re targeting. However, critical to all three of these is the use of keywords. Think about what you want to be found for, what your target audience is searching for, and test these keywords out. It may take a few rounds of brainstorming, but a matrix of useful keywords will be vital in attracting visitors.
As previously noted, trust will help you retain customers. However, trust alone won’t get the job done. Give attention to loyal customers, while also using them to your advantage. Perhaps up-sell a product, or ask them for a testimonial. Having loyal customers is critical, no matter your industry.
Finally, Brooks told his audience to evaluate. For this step, Google Analytics or Google Data Studio will be your best friend. See how long people are sticking around, what they’re doing on your site, and analyze your conversions. These evaluations will be the major indicator of whether or not your marketing plan is doing its job.
Creating a good plan will take time. It’ll take hard work. Most notably, it will take a lot of customization. Everyone’s goals, services, and audiences are different. Take the advice Brooks offers and use it to help you mold your plan. Don’t be afraid to take what works and leave behind what seemingly doesn’t. At the end of the day, the only person who can create a perfect digital marketing plan for your business is you!