Digital marketing involves promoting your business online using various channels like websites, search engines, social media, online video, and paid ads. The goal is to reach your customers with the right message at the right time across these channels. Marketing often requires experimenting, forming hypotheses, testing, and using data to adjust strategies. Digital marketing leverages data to make powerful predictions about customer behavior and interests, enhancing the effectiveness of marketing efforts. Marketing is about persuading someone to take action, and the more data you have, the better you can achieve this.
The Digital Marketing Framework
The building blocks of digital marketing
- Three Types of Media: Digital marketing uses paid (e.g., pay-per-click ads), owned (e.g., your website), and earned (e.g., organic mentions) media.
- Overlap of Media: Social media can serve as paid, owned, or earned media, depending on how it’s used.
- Efficiency: Digital marketing allows for personalized targeting, making it more efficient than traditional ads by reaching people actively searching for your product.
The marketing funnel
Funnels represent the customer’s journey towards purchasing a product or service. The funnel has four phases: Awareness, Interest, Desire, and Action.
- Awareness: Customers become aware of their needs and your product.
- Interest: Customers explore product details.
- Desire: Customers consider making a purchase.
- Action: Customers make a purchase decision.
Marketing Focus: Tailor your marketing strategy based on where the customer is in the funnel (top, middle, or bottom).
The buyer journey
- Non-linear Path: The buyer’s journey is not always straightforward; buyers may move up and down the funnel, exit, and reenter.
- Multiple Variables: Many factors influence a buyer’s decision, such as where they found the product, price, label, ease of checkout, etc.
- Mapping Steps: Write down the steps you took in a recent purchase to understand the buyer’s journey.
- Common Paths: Identify the most common paths buyers take to navigate your funnel.
- Agile Approach: Be ready to iterate on your buyer’s journey map as you gather more data.
Create a buyer journey map
A buyer journey map helps understand what a buyer needs to hear and when. Use a spreadsheet with columns for funnel stages (awareness, interest, desire, action, loyalty) and rows for activities, goals, thoughts, emotional state, touchpoints and channels, and objectives. Steps:
- Activities: What is the consumer doing at each stage?
- Goals: What does the customer want to achieve?
- Thoughts: What questions or thoughts might they have?
- Emotional State: How are they feeling? (e.g., happy, frustrated)
- Touchpoints and Channels: Where will they interact with your brand?
- Objectives: What do you need to do to move them to the next stage?
Digital Marketing Basics
How to develop a marketing strategy
- Foundation: Understand what you’re selling and your unique value proposition.
- Target Market: Identify your target market accurately, understanding who they are, what motivates them, and how your product solves their problems.
- Flexibility: Keep your marketing strategy flexible to adapt to new ideas and iterations.
- Competition: Analyze your competition and market size to understand your position.
- Customer Journey: Align your marketing channels with the customer journey to persuade prospects effectively.
How to define your value proposition
- Definition: A value proposition is a clear, concise statement explaining why a customer should buy your product or service.
- Key Elements: It should be simple, jargon-free, and understandable within five seconds.
- Focus on Outcomes: Emphasize the results or experience of using the product, not just its features.
- Storytelling: Tell a story that connects with the customer’s pain points and desired outcomes.
- Example: Uber’s value proposition focuses on the smart, convenient way to get around, highlighting the benefits over traditional taxis.
How to identify your target market
- Customer Segmentation: Break down your broad target market into smaller groups with common characteristics.
- Attributes: Use demographics, geographics, psychographics, and technographics to refine your segments.
- Behavioral Attributes: Consider relevant behaviors, like purchase habits or media consumption.
- Needs-Based Segmentation: Identify customer needs and tailor your messaging accordingly.
- Actionable Segments: Create at least three specific consumer segments to target effectively.
How to create your customer persona
- Purpose: Personas help you understand and target your customer segments effectively.
- Definition: A persona is a fictitious person representing your target group.
- Key Questions: Answer these about your ideal customers:
- Who are they?
- What needs do they have?
- What barriers do they need to overcome?
- What motivates them?
- Example: For eco-friendly organic diapers, the persona could be a woman aged 28-35, living in an urban area, working full-time, and interested in healthy living.
- Personalization: Add a picture and a name to make the persona feel real.
How to establish goals for digital marketing
- Marketing Objectives vs. Goals: Objectives like increasing traffic or sales need to be measurable to be effective goals.
- SMART Goals: Goals should be Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time-bound.
- OKR Framework: Use Objectives and Key Results (OKRs) to set goals.
- Objective: Where do we want to go?
- Key Results: How do we know we’ve got there?
- Example: Increase online sales for a coffee shop by selling 100 packages of coffee beans and 250 coffee mugs by the end of Q1 next year.
How to develop your digital marketing KPIs
- KPIs Definition: Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) measure the performance of specific marketing activities.
- Granular Metrics: Establish granular success metrics for each marketing objective.
- Examples:
- Online Ads: Track Cost Per Acquisition (CPA) to ensure spending is within acceptable levels.
- Email Campaigns: Monitor open rates and click-through rates.
- Common KPIs: Conversion rate, total revenue, new vs. returning visitors, and bounce rate.
- Focus: Choose KPIs that impact your bottom line and organize them in a shareable document.
How to draft a one page marketing plan
- Agile Template: Use a simple, one-page template that’s easy to update and distribute.
- Problem Box: List 1-3 high-priority customer problems and existing solutions.
- Customer Segments: Identify the personas you’re targeting.
- Solutions Box: List 1-3 ways your product/service solves customer problems.
- Value Proposition: Define your unique value proposition in the middle.
- Channels: Outline your communication channels to reach customers.
- Revenue Streams: Detail how you’ll make money and the lifetime value of a customer.
- Cost Structure: List operational costs, including customer acquisition and marketing expenses.
- Key Metrics: Identify metrics to monitor performance.
- Unfair Advantage: Highlight what sets you apart from competitors.
Digital Marketing Key Concepts
Digital marketing: Persuading with data
- Understand Your Audience: To persuade effectively, gather insights into your audience’s behavior and preferences.
- Ask Key Questions: Identify what information would help you be more persuasive, such as their current needs and interests.
- Use Data Strategically: Obtain relevant data through surveys, purchase history, or other means and use it to tailor your marketing campaigns.
- Segment Your Audience: Create segments based on the data to target your messages more effectively, such as happy mug owners vs. potential new buyers.
How analytics work in digital marketing
- Daily Data Review: Start each day by reviewing your metrics to familiarize yourself with the data and explore new ideas.
- Use Built-in Analytics: Most digital platforms have built-in analytics. Google Analytics is highly recommended for insights into customer behavior.
- Cookies and Pixels:
- Cookies: Small files stored on a user’s computer that track their interactions with your website.
- Tracking Pixels: Tiny images that log actions on a web server, helping track user interactions post-advertisement.
How to capture key insights in your digital marketing
- Data as a Map: Use data from your website, campaigns, and social media to guide your digital marketing efforts.
- Tools for Data Collection: Utilize tools like Google Analytics for tracking web data and reporting platforms for paid ads.
- Conversion Tracking: Set up conversion tracking for sales, phone calls, newsletter signups, etc.
- Earned Media: Track social media interactions, mentions, and video views to measure the impact of your earned media.
- Goal Setting: Establish specific goals and objectives to measure the effectiveness of your campaigns.
Digital Marketing Hub & Spokes
How to outline your online marketing presence
- Content Core: Your digital marketing strategy revolves around your website and various content channels.
- Hub and Spokes Model: Use this model to organize your content distribution. The hub is your owned media (e.g., blogs), and the spokes are the channels (e.g., social media) where you distribute your content.
- Owned Media: Control and manage your content on your platforms, such as blogs, to engage your target audience.
- Spokes Selection: Choose platforms where your target audience is active and where you can maintain a consistent presence.
- Resource Management: Focus on a few key channels if resources are limited to ensure effective management and engagement.
How to decide on a marketing channel
- Platform Understanding: Know the platforms available and how they benefit your business.
- Audience Alignment: Choose channels where your target audience is active and engaged.
- Customer Mindset: Consider the mindset of your customers on each channel.
- Investment Caution: Avoid over-investing in popular channels that don’t fit your business.
- Exploration: Explore new channels as an observer to understand their potential.
How to prioritize in marketing
- Marketing Channels: Identify which channels to focus on and which to exclude, as you can’t be everywhere at once.
- ICE Scoring Model: Use the ICE model (Impact, Confidence, Ease) to prioritize channels.
- Impact: Estimate how significantly the channel will contribute to your marketing goals (1-10 scale).
- Confidence: Gauge your confidence in the impact estimate (0-10 scale).
- Ease: Assess the effort required to use the channel (0-10 scale).
- Scoring and Ranking: Multiply the scores for Impact, Confidence, and Ease to get a total score, then rank channels by these scores to determine priorities.
How to create powerful marketing messaging
- Consistency: Ensure your messaging is simple, consistent, and aligns with how your customers describe your business.
- Strategic Thinking: Think through your messaging strategically before developing content.
- Feedback Exercise: Ask your team and close customers to describe what you do, the problem you solve, how you’re different, and why customers should buy from you.
- Best Practices:
- Tell a Convincing Story: Make your product or brand appear trustworthy, confident, empathetic, and composed.
- Appeal to Emotion: Focus on outcomes that are inspirational or aspirational.
- Be Consistent: Repeat a simple message consistently.
- Be Clear: Use conventional language and avoid fancy words.
- Be Obvious: Define any terms that might not be obvious to your audience.
How to create lean messaging in marketing copy
- Keep It Simple: Your marketing copy should be short, concise, and to the point. Avoid complex jargon and big words.
- Accessible Content: Ensure your content is easy to understand and doesn’t make assumptions about the audience’s knowledge.
- Address Assumptions: Identify and address any preconceived notions your audience might have about your product.
- Complete Picture: Provide a complete and clear message to fill in any gaps and prevent misunderstandings.
Digital Marketing With Your Website
How to optimize your website
- Mobile-Friendly: Ensure your site is mobile-friendly as this is a non-negotiable aspect of modern digital marketing.
- Answer Visitor Questions: Make sure the site answers common questions visitors might have.
- Reflect Your Brand: The site should reflect your brand consistently through logos, taglines, and color schemes.
- Logical Flow: Present information in a logical flow that guides visitors through the stages of the marketing funnel.
- Up-to-Date Content: Keep the site content up-to-date to maintain credibility.
How to use copywriting in your marketing
- Platfo
- Less is More: People scan rather than read, so keep your copy concise and impactful.
- Know Your Audience: Write specifically for your audience to meet their needs quickly.
- Engaging Copy: Focus on great copy that connects emotionally, not just great content.
- Clear and Concise: Use clear, concise, and engaging headings and bullet points.
- Captivating Headlines: Avoid generic headings like “About Us”; use attention-grabbing headlines.
- Important Points First: Deliver the most important information first.
- Refine Your Copy: Write your draft, then cut it down to half the length.
- Consider Professional Help: Hiring a professional copywriter can be a worthwhile investment if needed
- rm Understanding: Know the platforms available and how they benefit your business.
- Audience Alignment: Choose channels where your target audience is active and engaged.
- Customer Mindset: Consider the mindset of your customers on each channel.
- Investment Caution: Avoid over-investing in popular channels that don’t fit your business.
- Exploration: Explore new channels as an observer to understand their potential.
How to build landing pages that convert
- Specific Landing Pages: Drive traffic to specific landing pages rather than the homepage.
- Attention-Grabbing Elements: Use compelling visuals and headlines to capture attention within the first few seconds.
- Above the Fold: Place the most important information where it’s visible without scrolling.
- Clear Messaging: Ensure the landing page messaging aligns with the ad or link that brought the visitor.
- Essential Elements: Include your logo, offer explanation, strong headline, testimonials, reviews, and a clear call to action.
- Minimize Friction: Only ask for essential information to move the visitor to the next stage of the funnel.
- Continuous Improvement: Regularly update and improve your landing pages.
Digital Marketing With Paid Channels
Introduction to paid advertising
- Pay to Play: Organic reach is limited; paid advertising is essential to reach more people.
- Bidding Models: Common models include pay per click (PPC), pay per impression (CPM), pay per action, pay per engagement, and pay per install.
- Search Advertising: Primarily uses cost per click or cost per action models. Google Ads is the most popular platform.
- Display Advertising: Involves placing text or image ads on websites or mobile apps. Effective for remarketing and brand awareness.
- Video Advertising: Ads can appear before, during, or after videos. YouTube is the most popular platform.
- Social Media Advertising: Can boost posts or run separate ads. Known for low costs and amplifying organic reach.
How to identify the value of a customer
- Customer Lifetime Value (CLV): Also known as LTV, it measures the total profit a customer brings over their entire relationship with your business.
- Importance of CLV: Helps determine how much you can spend on acquiring a customer.
- Basic Calculation:
- Average annual purchases per customer.
- Average order value.
- Average markup.
- Example: If a customer makes 2 purchases a year at $80 each, with a 25% markup, the CLV is $32.
- Using CLV: Helps in budgeting for advertising and optimizing customer acquisition costs.
How to budget for paid marketing
- Adaptable Approach: Develop a forecast and revise it as you collect data.
- Cost-Per-Click Model: Start with a target cost per acquisition and adjust based on conversion rates.
- Conversion Rate: Use your current conversion rate to estimate the number of clicks needed for a sale.
- Max Cost Per Click: Calculate by multiplying the target cost per acquisition by the estimated conversion rate.
- Experimentation: Be prepared to spend money to gather data and refine your strategy.
- Budget Evaluation: Determine how much you’re comfortable spending and how many sales you need to achieve your goals.
How to create your first paid campaign
- Text Ads: Start with text ads as they are the easiest to experiment with.
- Ad Groups: Create tightly themed ad groups targeting specific keywords or audience attributes.
- Unique Selling Points: Highlight what makes you unique (e.g., free shipping, eco-friendly).
- Call to Action: Always include a clear call to action (e.g., book now, sign up).
- Sales Terms: Use promotions or pricing information to help customers make decisions.
- Experimentation: Create multiple ads with different messages and test their performance.
Digital Marketing With Social Media
Social media marketing: First steps
- Customer Interaction: Social media allows you to hear directly from customers and participate in real-time conversations.
- Credibility: An active social media presence helps establish credibility through customer interactions and positive reviews.
- Community Building: Develops a sense of community, driving awareness and word-of-mouth marketing.
- Brand Advocacy: Customers can become advocates by sharing positive experiences and engaging with your content.
- Dynamic Space: Social media is constantly evolving, requiring an understanding of your audience and landscape.
How to decide on a social media platform
- Select Relevant Platforms: Focus on social media channels that make the most sense for your business.
- Platform Categories: Social media platforms can be categorized into networking, publishing, sharing, messaging, discussing, and collaborating.
- Audience Demographics: Different platforms appeal to different age groups (e.g., LinkedIn for professionals, Snapchat for younger users).
- Platform Volatility: Social media is dynamic; new platforms can rise quickly (e.g., TikTok).
- Evaluate Reach and Goals: Consider the reach and nature of each platform to ensure your message lands with the right audience.
How to build and leverage followers
- Start Small: Begin by inviting colleagues, coworkers, friends, and your extended network to follow your brand.
- Include Links: Add your social media links to your website, blog, emails, and newsletters.
- Valuable Content: Post content that is useful and interesting to encourage sharing.
- Use Hashtags: Utilize popular and trending hashtags to increase visibility.
- @Mentions: Mention other users to get their attention and potentially gain new followers.
- Influencers: Consider collaborating with influencers for greater exposure.
- Ad Campaigns: Create advertising campaigns focused on building authentic followers.
Digital Marketing With Email
The power of email marketing
- Opt-In Lists: Focus on emailing those who have opted into your list.
- Customer Engagement: Use email to inform customers about new products, upsell, and encourage sharing.
- Strategic Crafting: Each email should be carefully crafted with a strong call to action and sent at the right moment.
- Customer Segmentation: Segment your email lists based on customer behavior and demographics.
- Drip Campaigns: Implement automated drip campaigns to nurture leads (e.g., follow-up emails for abandoned carts).
- Email Marketing Tools: Use tools like MailChimp or Constant Contact for list management, automation, and tracking.
How to develop an email marketing plan
- Capture Emails: Use lead generation landing pages and website prompts to collect email addresses.
- Identify Goals: Define your email marketing goals (e.g., generate sales, reactivate customers).
- Segment Audience: Target specific customer segments with tailored campaigns.
- Nurture Campaigns: Use drip campaigns to nurture leads and recapture revenue from abandoned customers.
- Customer Perspective: Design emails from the customer’s perspective to motivate action.
- Content: Keep emails short, engaging, and mobile-friendly with clear calls to action.
- Timing: Use data to determine the best timing and frequency for your emails.
How to measure the success of email
- Open Rate: Indicates how many subscribers opened your email. A good open rate is around 20%.
- Click-Through Rate (CTR): Measures the percentage of recipients who clicked on links within the email. Typical CTR is 2-4%.
- Conversion Rate: Tracks how many recipients completed a desired action (e.g., making a purchase) after clicking a link in the email.
- Bounce Rate: Shows the percentage of undelivered emails, often due to invalid addresses. Regularly clean your email list to reduce this.
- Unsubscribes: Monitor spikes in unsubscribes to identify potential issues with your content or offers.
- Device Makeup: Check the devices used to open your emails to ensure your content is mobile-friendly.
How to launch successful campaigns: Email tools
- Tool Selection: Choose tools based on budget, business size, and email marketing needs.
- Top Platforms: MailChimp, Constant Contact, and Sendinblue are highly rated for their comprehensive features.
- Features to Look For: Consider tools with CRM, prebuilt templates, extensive reporting, and integrations with platforms like WordPress and Shopify.
- Peer Reviews: Use resources like g2.com for peer-to-peer reviews to find the best fit.
- Free Trials: Sign up for free trials to test usability and alignment with your objectives.
- Usability and Price: Most tools will meet basic needs, so focus on ease of use and cost.
Marketing Analytics
How to decide what to track in marketing analytics
- Focus on Key Metrics: Avoid information overload by focusing on metrics that align with your marketing vision, customer needs, and company goals.
- Five Critical Areas: Track metrics in Acquisition, Activation, Retention, Referral, and Revenue.
- Pirate Metrics: Use the AARRR framework (Acquisition, Activation, Retention, Referral, Revenue) to identify key metrics.
- Examples of Metrics:
- Acquisition: Number of conversions, conversion rate, cost per acquisition.
- Activation: Time on site, customer support ticket volume, customer lifetime value.
- Retention: Churn rate, email open rate.
- Referral: Number of conversions from referrals, affiliate program growth rate.
- Revenue: Monthly revenue, compound monthly/annual growth rates.
- Daily Review: Regularly review these metrics to understand the overall health of your marketing strategy and make informed decisions.
How to generate reports for marketing analytics
- Purposeful Reports: Ensure every report has an actionable outcome and influences change.
- Key Takeaways: Focus on what you want the key takeaway to be.
- Contextual Data: Layer in context to explain data trends (e.g., decreased ad spend leading to traffic drop).
- Storytelling: Always tell a story with your data and have a clear takeaway.
- Simplification: Include only the most actionable data to avoid overwhelming your audience.
These notes are from the LinkedIn Learning course ‘Digital Marketing Foundations‘ by Brad Batesole. I highly recommend this course to anyone aspiring to become an Digital Marketing Expert. To access this course and learn from industry experts, consider upgrading to LinkedIn Premium.
Please note that these notes were generated using LinkedIn’s AI tool, and I don’t claim ownership of the content. I’m sharing these notes solely for educational purposes and personal revision. If you have any concerns, please contact me at marketing@youthnet.in.