Digital Draft 2014: Planning a Strategy for Winning Website

With the NFL draft kicking off last night, many people are in a competitive state of mind this week. Pro coaches use extensive planning and strategizing to put together their ideal team. The same approach can also be applied to creating a perfect website.  Digital marketing has become one of the most powerful methods for generating sales leads and increasing revenue for small businesses. However, competition continues to rise within the digital world, and it can be hard rise above the pack . Without planning, your website may fall short of the expectations it was created to achieve. By creating an initial assessment of your website, your business can create a streamlined approach, and achieve success.

Assess Your Current Position

The first part of improving your website is being honest about its current state. Does it reflect your company aesthetically?  Is it user friendly? Reach out to people outside of your company for fresh ideas about improvements. Research what digital marketing efforts your competition is making. Are they creating their own content? Running promotions? Being aware of digital marketing trends within your industry can help you see shortcomings in your own strategy, or give you ways to improve on these trends for your own website.

Identify Your Audience

Knowing your audience can be the key to success in digital marketing. By identifying your customer and their needs, you will be able to focus on the channels that reach your target audience. Using analytics tools like Google Analytics, you can find out who is currently coming to you site and where they are coming from. Does your ideal customer use social media? Are they interested in industry news? Identify which areas of your site are receiving the most traffic outside of the homepage. If analytics tell you that traffic you are receiving is not the audience you would like to be capturing, it can be an indicator that you need to re-think your marketing or design approach.

Set Up Goals

Having specific goals is the easiest way to monitor the success of your campaign. Identify the most important factors to increasing revenue. Are you trying to attract prospects? Drive E-Commerce sales? Obtain e-mail addresses? Increase social media presence? This is another area where google analytics can come in handy. You can create specific goals and objectives, then track them to make sure you stay on target. Your goals realistic and obtainable, with a bottom line to each objective.

Once you have identified the current strengths and weaknesses of your website, target audience, and long term goals, you will have the cornerstone to creating an effective marketing plan. At EmoryDay we specialize in helping website set and achieve their goals through strategic planning, and creative execution.  Contact us today to see how we can help build your business.