Ignoring making an e-marketing plan is equivalent to making a marketing plan without an audience! Yes, this is a fact that we have to believe in light of the accelerated digital era we live in today.
Each of us now spends many hours every day using electronic media on the Internet, whether we are looking for entertainment, socializing, researching new products or even learning.
From this reality in which we live, you should note the extent of the impact of the Internet on people, and how strong this influence is on the minds of users of all ages and interests, and how these electronic media were able to shorten the roads between people and companies in an incredible way!
Thus, in order for businesses and service activities to compete effectively today, it is essential that they use e-marketing to support their business and marketing strategies.
As a result, achieving marketing success means, in the first place, making a successful e-marketing plan.
Imagine with me! Only at the time of the Covid-19 pandemic were some companies able to sell more online, despite the major economic threats that have emerged. Simply put, people are searching online for everything.
In an internet-based age where the majority of purchases are made online, companies around the world have taken a revolutionary leap from billboard advertising to electronic advertising.
So your online presence should be strong enough to show your business in the unlimited options available online.
Let's start the journey of the e-marketing plan and discover its secrets, believe me, it is very interesting because we are accustomed to the world of the Internet. But this time it wasn't really fun! Rather, acquiring e-marketing skills .
What is the e-marketing plan?
The marketing plan is where your marketing strategy comes to life! It's who, what, where, when, and how you'll reach your audience with the right message at the right time.
From it we can define e-marketing or digital, also called internet marketing, as the application of digital media, data and technology combined with traditional marketing plans to achieve marketing objectives.
With e-marketing, the size of your business is not a concern! While massive advertising on street billboards may be affordable only for large businesses, digital marketing channels are available for all budgets.
Even if you have nothing to spend on marketing, you can still use email marketing to generate leads and increase your revenue. Companies and brands that do not have the right digital marketing tactics of their own are missing out on many opportunities to influence consumers.
Email marketing is not just a popular marketing tool, it is the most effective form of marketing that has been discovered so far. And the results are very clear!
With the help of e-marketing plan, companies have bypassed the limitations of marketing, and discovered massive profits from online leads.
The business plan sets goals, financial expectations, and greater audience reach; It is a written guide to making decisions and charting the future of the company.
Understanding the goals, available resources, and timelines is essential to ensuring a successful e-marketing plan.
Components of an email marketing plan
1. Website
Your company website is a vital part of your online presence. It is a powerful tool to establish your credibility as a business or service business.
A good website should load quickly, in a matter of seconds. The design should be easy to understand and navigate. It is also important to note that almost half of all internet users browse their smartphones. So your website has to be mobile responsive in an excellent way.
So, whether you plan to update your existing website or create a new one, check out our article: How to Create a Website .
2. SEO
What do most people with access to the Internet do when they need any particular product or service? They simply search for it on search engines (such as Google).
If your business doesn't appear on the first page of results, most users won't be interested in moving to the second page.
Therefore, search engine optimization (SEO) is one of the most important parts of e-marketing. It means a long-term commitment, but it's the most cost-effective digital marketing strategy to follow.
Thus, SEO allows brands, products, and services to gain visibility online. In other words, SEO makes things "discoverable" online.
Once people find you online, you still need to convert them into paying customers. But hey! SEO is the key to reaching this business goal.
However, always remember that search engine algorithms are constantly improving. Your company must keep track of changes to stay on top of Google. Strong SEO ensures that online users interact with your website, this is where Search Engine Optimization comes into play.
SEO strategies are essential to improve your website's ranking on search engine results pages. A higher ranking will mean more leads and more revenue.
So start improving your company's visibility in search engines by reviewing the comprehensive guide we have prepared in Winners from the following link: SEO (Your Guide to Getting the First Result)
3. Blogging
A quality blog is an excellent way to establish authority in the content industry, in other words take on the role of king. So, add a blog to your website and share useful and interesting content with your visitors.
Instead of exclusively posting materials to directly promote your business, create blogs that offer users value and benefit. Blogs should also be shareable on multiple social media platforms.
Also Read : Best online earning blogs (20 Blogs That Will Make You Rich)
4. Social media marketing
This is the most important component of a successful email marketing plan. And the beautiful thing is, most of us have a prior understanding of social media and its tools. Thus, with a few tips, you will be able to market well on social media.
Most Internet users actively use some form of social media. So your business should be where your target audience spends a lot of time.
Subscribe to the social media platforms most used by your target audience and start creating valuable and engaging content. Social media also gives you a chance to interact with customers and build long-term relationships.
Read also: 8 ways to make money from social media followers you should use
5. Pay-per-click | PPC
While SEO takes time to start showing results, PPC marketing is a way to improve leads faster.
PPC allows you to target customers from a specific demographic, location, interests related to the products you offer, etc. You can do this, by subscribing to the most important of them:
Google Ads
Facebook Ads
Instagram Ads
LinkedIn Ads
BuySellAds
6. Content Marketing
In addition to a valuable blog, creating a wide range of useful content is a reliable way to attract and retain customers.
Create e-books, videos, educational articles, etc. based on the interests of your target audience rather than directly promoting your business.
Quality content that includes relevant keywords helps generate leads.
Read also: What is Content Locker and how do you earn from it?
7. Email Marketing
In the age of social media, email marketing may seem outdated, but it isn't. It is still an effective way to interact with your customers on a regular basis.
It is essential to strike the right balance of email marketing. Send high quality content and avoid spamming subscribers.
Steps to create an e-marketing plan
After understanding the e-marketing mechanism and the most important elements determining its success, we are ready to start the steps of creating an e-marketing plan:
First, set the goals you want to achieve
It is very important to set goals to create an effective plan. Without it, you won't know where to go, so your marketing plan will be haphazard without results.
The goals are crucial, but what do the goals of e-marketing look like? And how do you define it for your business?
Remember that the most important thing in goal setting is to align your digital marketing goals with your business goals. That is why you must first define your business goals before arriving at the goals of your e-marketing plan, which include:
Increase Sales
increase profits
Increase brand awareness
Reach new audiences
financing insurance
Targeting new markets
Develop stronger relationships with stakeholders
Expand your market share
These are the most important goals desired from making marketing plans in general, but to achieve these goals through making an e-marketing plan, you should read things as follows:
Improve search rates.
Attract more clicks on paid ads.
Increase site traffic.
Get more engagement on social media.
Email list development.
Gain more followers on social media.
In this way, you can define the goals of your e-marketing plan, but you need to follow a smarter strategy to keep up with the work of the e-marketing plan; It is a SMART strategy.
The word SMART is an acronym for five different terms that you must have in your plan. Each letter stands for a specific term. Here is an explanation of how to take advantage of SMART goals in your e-marketing plan.
1- Specific goals : Be specific to make your goals clear to anyone with basic knowledge of the campaign. For example: I want to increase our brand awareness by following our Facebook and Instagram pages.
2- Measurable goals : The success of the goal must be measurable in numbers. For example: I want to double the number of followers on our Facebook page, or I want to increase followers by 30%.
3- Achievable goals : Your goals should be realistic, not imaginary goals that are too high or too low. That is, make sure you have all the resources to achieve your goals so that you don't fail on the first try.
For example: I want to get more followers by allocating a budget on Facebook sponsored posts.
4- Interrelated goals : Your e-marketing goals should support the overall goals of your business. Example: I want to increase traffic on my website by building our presence on Facebook, because that is where our target audience is.
5- Time-bound goals : Deadlines are critical, so you won't end up making aimless efforts without an idea of when you should stop. Determine how long you need to achieve your goals. Example: I want to run a Facebook sponsored post for two months to double the following.
A SMART business strategy works best in e-marketing for the following reasons:
Give you a clear direction.
They allow you to use time and resources productively.
focus efforts.
Ensure that the objectives are related to the work.
Confirm the role of outcome measurement.
Thus, having SMART goals can increase your chances of achieving the desired result, in record time.
Second: Understand your target audience
One of the most important steps in creating an e-marketing plan is understanding the audience. Knowing who they are, what their environment is, what their needs and problems are, and other vital information can help you craft an effective strategy.
Let's put it this way: if you don't know who you're talking to, you won't even know what message to send them. You won't know which media to use or where to find them.
That's why it's essential to understand your audience. But what kind of information should you collect about your target audience? There are two types of information to make an informed digital marketing strategy.
1- Demographics: Demographics, which is the quantitative data of your target audience. These are measurable characteristics that can be useful insight when formulating your strategy.
Location
the age
sex
income
2- Psychographic information: It takes more than just knowing your demographics to better understand your audience. You also have to take into account their psychographic information to come up with an effective email marketing plan.
It relies on psychology that provides qualitative data that predicts consumer behavior. These less measurable characteristics define the following:
Objectives
Personality traits
Hobbies and interests
values and traditions
lifestyles
Priorities
opinions
Now you're wondering, "So, how do I know my audience better?"
There are some basic steps to understanding your audience so that your digital marketing plan can reach them:
1. Conduct market research
Nothing beats good market research for demographics and audience. Market research allows you to get as much detail as possible about your prospects.
But most importantly, you can have this acquired information to build buyer personas.
Here are some ways to collect the information you need:
Contact the sales team.
Collect data using some online tools.
Be a good listener to your audience.
Create a quantitative survey (quantitative research).
Conducting interviews (qualitative research).
2. Build your ideal customer personality
Building and using the ideal customer persona (Buyer Persona) is an indispensable technique in e-marketing in particular. In fact, research shows that marketers who use them achieve 73% higher conversions than those who don't.
But what does the personality of the ideal buyer or ideal customer mean? What is it exactly?
Your buyer persona is your ideal customer. But it's not just a simple buyer profile. This information is based on real data to ensure that your marketing plan is in the right direction.
This is why it is necessary to do market research first to come up with the closest representation of your target audience. This will evolve over time, and should continue to be updated as you learn more about your audience.
3. Identify the right influencers
Influencers can, without a doubt, help build awareness and sales for your brand. To put this to your mind more in numbers, 8 out of 10 consumers buy something after seeing a recommendation from an influencer.
But in order for influencers to be effective, you must choose one that is suitable for your target audience. For example, if your audience leads a healthy and active lifestyle, you may want to find and reach a popular fitness blogger.
Now once you have created your list of influencers in your industry, narrow it down by getting to know the potential influencers. Take the time to check his posts before reaching out to her. And don't forget to communicate your brand goals and expectations when you talk to them.
In the end, how does knowing your demographics and target audience help you with such accuracy?
Create an accurate list of content topics.
Finding the right keywords to target and thus improving the content.
Deliver a message that resonates with your audience.
Prepare your pages for more effective impact.
Provide a great user experience.
Finding the main influencers in your field.
Third: Analyze your current online presence
How is your online presence at the moment? Do your potential customers find you on search engines like Google or on social media more? Are you getting enough leads without paying for advertising?
A thorough review of your online presence (e.g. website, editorial content, social media accounts, etc.) will give you a clear picture of where you stand now.
It identifies and corrects potential issues that are weighing down your work performance.
Constantly ask yourself:
What worked?
What did you do?
What are the best performing platforms?
Analyzing your current online presence plays a major role in a successful e-marketing plan. A good place to start is to look at the types of email marketing channels you have available.
Classifying your digital assets as owned, earned or paid media allows you to determine how your content will reach your target audience. Let's take a look at the media framework you might already be using:
1. Owned media
Owned media refers to the digital assets that your business fully owns and controls. This could be your website, blog posts, and your social media accounts, among others.
Owned media always takes the form of content. You may also be blogs within or outside of the sites you own. It is essential that you audit and plan your media outlets to build a more effective digital marketing plan, which we will discuss further in the next step.
2. Acquired media
When people talk about your brand through media mentions, social shares, and reviews, these are “earned” media.
The great thing about earned media is that it reaches a new set of audience, and you don't have to pay to get it. It also enhances trust and loyalty with the public.
In other words, it is only natural to describe your company in great terms. But when it is also echoed by third parties, it helps your brand and increases sales as a result of boosting trust in the audience.
3. Paid Media
Paid media also puts you in front of your audience, but it comes at a price. In this type you have to pay for media placements to reach more people.
This can be in the form of ads on Facebook or Google or through pay-per-click (PPC) as mentioned in the previous lines, among others.
But to make a literally perfect digital marketing plan, you need to mix two or more types and not just be satisfied with one!
Unfortunately, it is a common misconception that you only need owned media in your marketing work. While it is true that owned media is indispensable, it is not sufficient. A great e-marketing plan combines these categories to get better results.
I'll help you think a little; For example, getting your audience to read your blog post (owned media) can be a challenge with so much online content vying for attention these days.
If this is the case, you can consider tapping into influencers (paid media) who may be interested in your blog.
If your content is relevant and good enough, people can share it on their social media profiles (earned media).
Thus, all these channels are now working together to significantly grow your visibility, and thus the success of your digital marketing plan goals.
Fourth: Create high-quality content
Now that you've got a better look at your channels, it's time to take stock of your existing content to create an informed editorial calendar.
There are a lot of considerations before one can create quality content. I advise you to start by analyzing the content gaps; They are areas of content that can be improved.
For example, if you are writing a post about web design, you may find that the content on the first page of Google may be outdated, lack examples, or difficult to understand.
These are gaps that you can fill with your content. And because you improve on these gaps, you can create better content.
Some of the best practices for finding content gaps include:
Google First Page Rating.
Use gap analysis tools like SEMrush to scale the process.
With these content gaps in mind, you can now fill your editorial calendar with valuable content and important publications.
Now you are wondering: What kind of content supports today's digital marketing plan and helps it succeed the most?
1. Short videos
Tik Tok has shifted the social media landscape away from status updates and curated photo grids in favor of short video posts.
It didn't take long for other platforms to join the short video marketing bandwagon, as Meta launched Reels on Instagram and Facebook , and YouTube turned to Shorts.
The short videos emphasize the rapid way in which we consume content and highlight the need for simple, concise messages or engaging content that asks us to engage, thus marketing and spreading very quickly.
2. Cryptocurrencies and NFTs
Even if you don't invest in cryptocurrencies yourself, the rise of cryptocurrencies and the NFT has been nearly impossible to miss over the past few years.
On the surface, it may not seem like a trend affecting your marketing plan, but that's not the kind of negative thinking we're here for in 2022!
As social media platforms like Twitter are taking steps to integrate cryptocurrency payments, and a growing trend of display widgets featuring in-app NFT purchases, now is the time to consider how your brand can jump in that shopping cart.
Facebook is already promoting the use of NFT display options and avatars, and we expect to see more and more companies take a step in that direction.
The focus now with NFTs and cryptocurrencies is to think about how to sell the brand beyond products and services, and perhaps the brand itself and the spirit it carries. Therefore, follow these developments in your e-marketing plan!
Fifth: Important tips for the success of your e-marketing plan
It's the moment we've all been preparing for. When you have completed all the above steps, it is time to finally implement your plan.
But hey, giving yourself enough time to prepare before launching a campaign greatly increases your chance of achieving your goals. With all these goals, planning and organization, you are one step closer to success. Just focus on the following tips:
1. Be different
Based on the data you collected from the campaign duration, adjust your plan to make it unique. With so many competitors vying for your audience's attention, you have to stand out.
For example, find out what your competitors are saying. Next, change your brand logos in such a way that only you can say them. This can make your brand stand out from all the noise.
2. Provide more value
People always want something of value in return. Whether it's an affordable product, discounts, free gifts, or more useful content, they are more likely to notice your business based on your offers.
If your campaign is not getting enough engagement, it may mean that you should consider increasing the value of your offer. Motivate and win some clients.
3. Retarget to fit your audience
Let's say your ads are not getting enough clicks from your target audience. This may mean that your message or slogan does not resonate enough with that group of people.
If so, revisit your buyer personas and do some new research on your demographics. You may be targeting the wrong group for which you may have to retarget your ads.
4. Take more time
Some online plans start working immediately like PPC, while others take a long time to pay off like SEO.
Short-term strategies should improve over time as adjustments are made based on the information available. So for a long-term strategy, give your plan more time. And wait for the results!
Email marketing is much more than meets the eye. It is the miracle of advanced technology that has helped companies all over the world to develop, prosper and reach quickly.
And remember that digital marketing strategies are not complete successes or complete failures. Whether your campaign is doing well or poorly, there are always opportunities to learn, and then start over. No marketer has a perfect first marketing campaign.
