Digital Marketing 101: Going #DigitalWithLynOla
Do you want to find out how your business can survive and thrive in the new normal? Read ahead as I share with you my key learnings from my journey towards going #DigitalWithLynOla.
Are you an emerging entrepreneur who’s looking for ways on how to market your new found business? Or are you an existing business owner who’s feeling lost on how to transition your business to the digital marketing space? Well, you’ve come to the right place! Whether you’re trying to promote a business, a new product, or simply want to grow your online following, here are 6 easy steps that will help you take the digital world by storm.
1. Establish your brand
Who are you? Who do you WANT to be? How do you want to be perceived? These are several of the many questions one must first answer when establishing a brand. Answering these is a very crucial step, as this will be the foundation of all your marketing efforts. If you’re feeling challenged, there are many ways on how to establish your brand identity. You can start by identifying your brand personality, deciding which main colors to make up your color palette, and designing a logo to fit your business.
2. Create your message
Part of knowing who you are is knowing the message you want to convey. In building your brand’s message, you must focus on three things: what is it about your brand that makes it unique? Where do you create value? What does your brand stand for? A brand message is something that’s unique to your brand or business, while at the same time highlighting the benefits your product or service can offer. Once you have a solid brand message, you are now one step closer to completing your digital marketing strategy.
3. Identify your market and audience
Once you’ve established your brand and what your brand stands for, it’s now time to determine to whom do you want to send your message to. While some may opt to focus on one market, some would prefer to ’talk’ to different markets at once. No matter which one you choose, the key is to properly define the characteristics of the market that you would like your brand to speak to. Segmentation is key, and the more specific, the better. Once your preferred market is identified, you must take time to understand your chosen market’s behavior. This will help you make crucial decisions on how to deliver your brand’s messages to your intended audience effectively.
4. Determine your communication channels
There are tons of communication channels in the digital marketing space - social media, email, blogs, music streaming sites, websites, and the list goes on. To be able to know which channel is the best fit for your target market, a thorough understanding of your target market’s technographic behavior will let you identify which digital channel is to be best used. Are they heavy social media users? What other mobile apps do they use? By knowing and understanding these minute details, you are going to be able to make a well-informed decision as to which communication platform to use.
5. Plan your content
Now that you have your brand, your message, your target audience/market, and your communication channel, it’s now time to plan your content. Content planning is definitely not easy, but it can be fun. To help you get started, there are three main types of digital content, namely image (static), video, and audio (podcasts). While you may opt to get your content from the internet, it may not always be the best choice. It is always better to create your own content, and there are a lot of sites that can help you do so, one example is Canva. Depending on your brand’s objectives, you may have a myriad of content types. Below is an example for starters:
To educate
Infographics
Typography
Blog posts/Articles
Webinars
To entertain
Short/viral videos
Memes
Comics
Games
To engage
Contests/Giveaways
Polls
Questions
Quotes
Aside from deciding which content to put out on your platforms, scheduling is also an important factor for your brand and pages to gain traction. If you are a relatively new brand, or your business has a relatively new page, it is best to post at least one content per day. This would help your brand gain more visibility and eventually, more followers. The possibilities are endless when it comes to coming up with compelling content. Click here to see more tips on content marketing.
6. Engage and be consistent
Once you’ve nailed the first 5 steps, don’t forget to go back to your main goal on why you brought your brand or your business online - that is to engage with more customers and potential clients. Through your online content, you get to solicit reactions and evoke feelings from your target audience. If you succeed, don’t just stop there. Continue to engage with your followers by responding to messages, reacting to comments and shares, or simply by liking comments their comments. This makes your brand or business appear authentic and reachable, hence will make your clients appreciate your brand better.
Lastly, always remember to be consistent. Building your brand’s presence online doesn’t come easy, cheap, or quick. It takes time, effort, and even trial and error. Patience is a virtue and consistency is key. Now that you’ve learned the basics, I look forward to seeing more of your brand in the digital marketing space. Ciao!
Ms. Lyn Ola is a digital marketing specialist and strategist, CEO of Chimes Consultancy, and a professor at De La Salle University. Do you want to go #digitalwithlynola? Visit lynola.com and find out how you can start your digital marketing journey with the ultimate girl boss!
