With the start of: school, leaves changing colors, the weather changing, and football season—it is time to get your digital marketing plan in gear! You want to have your starting line up picked and your game plan ready so that you can carry out your strategy and score big this season!
Huddle–> Establish Goals.
If you go into digital marketing with no game plan you will have a tough time seeing the fruits of your labor. You want to establish some clear goals as to what you want to accomplish in a certain amount of time. You will have to be flexible with the way you carry it out, and everything may not go according to plan; but you have something to strive towards. What do you want to accomplish, more brand exposure or more followers? What do you want to talk about? What content do you want to create? What do you want to highlight? These are all things you should start thinking about while constructing your game plan. Also having several ways to carry out your goal is not a bad idea either in case Plan A does not work.
First Down–> Beware of the Bandwagon.
Just because everyone is doing it does not mean it is a good thing. Take for example news hijacking; it was fun and creative at first with the Super Bowl, but got out of hand with the Royal Baby. There are better ways to get your content and brand seen then creating something centered around the media. It comes across as trying too hard and consumers know it is just a marketing attempt. This is one of those things that needs to be done extremely well or not at all. Proceed with caution on this one.
Second Down–> Don’t Market; Personalize.
Everything is not always about you and your brand. You want to put your customer’s needs first. If you think this is backwards, look at it this way: without them you would not be in business. Take note and study the brands that are personalizing right like Honda and Coca-Cola. Technology can help you connect with your audience in a whole new way, and it is much easier to personalize messages and content now.
Third Down–> Be Ready for an Audible.
Things change extremely fast in the digital world, and you have to be willing to adapt. New social sites are created, changed, and updated almost every day. You have to be on top of these changes soon as they happen so that your customers know you are up to date with your online presence. You also need to be aware of things happening in your industry to publish relevant and timely content.
Touchdown–> Analyze Your Results.
Any time you had a post commented on, shared, and liked it means you did something right! If there is not any customer interaction on it, it does not necessarily mean the content was bad. Sometimes it is just timing or where you shared the link. Rule of thumb is to analyze and pay attention to what your customers do react to and post more content similar to that. You are determining their wants and needs and the better you get at it the more interaction you will receive back.
Go for Two–> Repeat.
Take risks if you are feeling lucky. If it makes sense for your brand, it reflects your core values, and your customers would enjoy it—then try it! Who cares if no one else is doing it, that is a huge advantage for you if it works!
The best piece of advice is to keep playing the game and stay one step ahead of your competition. If you fall, get back up and figure out what you did wrong so you do not make that mistake again. Follow these steps and be quick on your feet and you will have a successful year!