Creating a Digital Advertising Strategy

The other day I was doing some basic maintenance on my lawn mower. Everything was going smoothly until I needed to remove a few pieces of hardware that were difficult to reach. Being stubborn, I wedged my pliers in there and tried to remove them. After a lot of time and effort, all I had to show for it was a couple turns of a bolt and a bruised knuckle. I finally gave up and went back to the toolbox to find the right wrench. I went back out there and removed all the hardware with ease in just a few moments. All it took to get my lawn mower back to its peak efficiency was the right tools at the right time.

A very similar situation frequently occurs in digital marketing. The wrong advertising method is used on a difficult to reach audience. The results are minimal but plenty of time, effort and money were invested. However, selecting the proper methods and building an effective digital advertising strategy can save you plenty of time and resources by improving efficiency that will give you a better return on investment, much like a well maintained machine.

Developing a Digital Strategy Using the Marketing Campaign Funnel

So how do you build a digital advertising strategy? This is where the marketing campaign or sales funnel comes into play. By using a marketing funnel, we can identify the best advertising methods and platforms to reach an audience and achieve a specific goal.

There are many different variations of the marketing funnel and some only work for specific business models. We, however, have created a marketing funnel or digital advertising process that will work for most any business.

Marketing Funnel Stage 1: Find Your Audience

This step is frequently skipped or the audience is assumed. That can become a critical mistake. An audience can frequently change specific interests, only be active on certain platforms or be quite a bit different than what was assumed. Validating the demographics, interests and activities of your audience may be the most important step in forming a digital advertising strategy. Some of the ways to find your audience are listed below.

Potential Methods for Finding Your Audience:

• Surveys
• Focus Groups
• Discovery Sessions
• Trend Research
• Digital Analysis

Marketing Funnel Stage 2: Build Awareness

Here, the key is getting your brand in front of the target audience so that they know who you are, what you stand for and what you do. It is all about building both service and brand awareness so that consumers will think of you later on down the road.

Potential Methods for Building Awareness:

• Programmatic Advertising
• Native Advertising
• Reserved Placement Advertising
• Video Advertising
• Over the Top Television (OTT)
• SEO Educational Content
• Building an Organic Presence on Digital and Social Platforms
• Social Media Advertising

Marketing Funnel Stage 3: Increase Consideration

After getting in front of the target audience, the next step is to influence consideration for selecting your brand, product or service over others. The goal is to demonstrate value and show why your brand is the right choice.

Potential Methods for Increasing Consideration:

• Native Advertising
• Video Advertising
• SEO Educational Content
• Reviews and Testimonials
• Social Media Advertising
• Social Engagement
• Messaging Platform Engagement
• Chatbots

Marketing Funnel Stage 4: Drive Action and Conversions

The next step is to get the target audience to convert on the action that has been promoted. Here you need to be in the right place at the right time with the right message (just like any great advertising).

Potential Methods for Driving Actions:

• Search Engine PPC Advertising
• Shopping Platform Advertising
• Retargeting and Remarketing
• Social Media Offers and Incentives

Marketing Funnel Stage 5: Post Conversion / Build Loyalty

Now that your new customers are converted, you are all done right? Not quite. Now you need to take your newly converted customer and turn them into a loyal patron. Ensuring that customers have a smooth post-purchase process and staying in front of them going forward creates a new ally. Not only will they most likely convert again, but they will help promote your brand through positive reviews and word of mouth.

Potential Methods for Post Conversion Satisfaction and Building Loyalty:

• FAQ’s and Educational Content
• Messaging Platforms and Chatbots to Answer Questions
• Surveys to Identify Pain Points
• Reviews to Help Influence Consideration for Others
• Loyalty Programs
• Email Campaigns

Building an effective digital advertising strategy with a variety of integrated advertisements at the right time and place will help take your digital campaigns and business to new heights.