d/2018/45/297 – isbn 978 94 014 5371 4 – nur 802 cover design Ines Cox interior design Banananas.net © Clo Willaerts & Lannoo Publishers nv, Tielt, 2018. LannooCampus Publishers is a subsidiary of Lannoo Publishers, the book and multimedia division of Lannoo Publishers nv.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced and/or made public, by means of printing, photocopying, microfilm or any other means, without the prior written permission of the publisher.
LannooCampus Publishers Erasme Ruelensvest 179 box 101 3001 Leuven Belgium www.lannoocampus.be
5
TABLE OF CONTENTS
THANK YOU VERY MUCH
14
FOREWORD BY NEIL PATEL
16
INTRODUCTION: PREPARE, RUN, OPTIMIZE!
20
PART I: PREPARE 25 CHAPTER 1: SITUATION ANALYSIS 1.1
29
MARKETING AND BRAND AUDIT 31 1.1.1
MARKETING AUDIT AND MATURITY ASSESSMENT 31
MCKINSEY’S 7S (1980) 32 MCCARTHY’S 7PS MARKETING MIX (FIRST VERSION, 1964) 34 UNDERSTANDING DIGITAL MATURITY 36 HOW TO STAY ON TOP OF THE LATEST DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS 38
1.1.2
MARKETING TECHNOLOGY STACK 38
1.1.3
COMPANY DIGITAL ASSETS AND POINTS OF PRESENCE AUDIT 41
HOW TO PERFORM A DIGITAL POINTS OF PRESENCE AUDIT 42 BURCHER’S PAID, OWNED, EARNED MEDIA (2012) 42 HOW TO PERFORM A PAID MEDIA AUDIT 44 HOW TO PERFORM AN OWNED MEDIA AUDIT 45
46 QUICK OWNED MEDIA AUDIT 47 QUICK CONTENT PERFORMANCE AUDIT 47 QUICK SEO AUDIT
6
digital marketing like a pro
HOW TO PERFORM AN EARNED MEDIA/SOCIAL MEDIA AUDIT 48 QUESENBERRY’S 5WS MODEL (2015) 49
1.1.4
BRAND AWARENESS AND SENTIMENT 50
HOW TO ANALYZE BRAND SENTIMENT 52
1.1.5
BRAND AUDIT AND TONE OF VOICE 52
54 HOW TO MAKE A VOICE AND TONE GUIDE 56 1.1.6 EXTRA HELP: TRAININGS AND AGENCIES 58 MARKET RESEARCH 60 FROM MARKET RESEARCH TO MARKET REPORT 60 1.2.1 CONSUMER TRENDS 62 TRENDS - IDEAS - DESIGN - INNOVATION 62 TREND CLASSIFICATION 63 1.2.2 COMPETITOR BENCHMARKING 66 HOW TO PERFORM A COMPETITIVE ANALYSIS 67 COMPETITIVE SWOT ANALYSIS AND TOWS MATRIX (1982) 68 PORTER’S FIVE FORCES (1979) 71 1.2.3 TARGET AUDIENCE 73 HOW TO IDENTIFY YOUR TARGET MARKET 74 HOW TO SEGMENT YOUR TARGET MARKET 75 1.2.4 BUYER PERSONAS 77 NETWORK ANALYSIS AND STAKEHOLDER IDENTIFICATION 79 HOW TO MANAGE STAKEHOLDERS 79 1.3.1 THOUGHT LEADERS 80 1.3.2 JOURNALISTS 83 HOW TO IDENTIFY ONLINE PRESS MENTIONS AND JOURNALISTS 83 1.3.3 ONLINE INFLUENCERS 84 HOW TO IDENTIFY ONLINE INFLUENCERS 84 HOW AND WHERE TO FIND ONLINE INFLUENCERS 85 1.3.4 REVIEW SITES 86 1.3.5 ONLINE COMMUNITIES 87 CHARACTERISTICS OF A SUCCESSFUL ONLINE COMMUNITY 88 HOW TO KEEP YOUR COMMUNITY ENGAGED 88 CUSTOMER CENTRICITY 90 1.4.1 CUSTOMER PROBLEM DEFINITION AND PRODUCT INNOVATION 90 HOW TO ORGANIZE AN IDEATION WORKSHOP 91 DESIGN THINKING 92 PRODUCT INNOVATION 93 1.4.2 CUSTOMER FEEDBACK: EXPECTATIONS VS SATISFACTION 94 HOW TO DEFINE YOUR BRAND IDENTITY AND ASSETS
1.2
1.3
1.4
table of contents
1.4.3
CUSTOMER LOYALTY 96
LOYALTY LADDER FROM PROSPECTS TO BRAND ADVOCATES 96 HOW TO BUILD A RELATIONSHIP WITH SATISFIED CUSTOMERS 98 HOW TO ANALYZE CUSTOMER SATISFACTION 99 REICHHELD’S NET PROMOTER SCORE (2003) 100 CUSTOMER SATISFACTION SCORE (CSAT) 101 LIKERT SCALE (1932) 101 SOME CUSTOMER FEEDBACK TOOLS 103
1.4.4
CUSTOMER SENTIMENT AND CUSTOMER ENGAGEMENT 103
HOW TO INCREASE CUSTOMER ENGAGEMENT 104
1.4.5
CUSTOMER INTELLIGENCE AND DATA SEGMENTATION 107
DIGITAL MARKETING APPLICATIONS FOR CUSTOMER DATA 108 HOW TO FIND OR VERIFY EMAIL ADDRESSES 108 HOW TO CHOOSE A CRM SYSTEM 109 HOW TO SEGMENT YOUR CUSTOMER DATA 109 HOW TO SEGMENT YOUR EMAILING SUBSCRIBER LIST 111
1.4.6
GDPR AND EPRIVACY COMPLIANCE 112
EPRIVACY COMPLIANCE FOR ADVERTISERS AND WEBSITE OWNERS 115
1.5
MARKETPLACE ANALYSIS 116
CHAPTER 2: STRATEGIC DIGITAL MARKETING PLAN 2.1
117
GUIDING PRINCIPLES OF A GOOD MARKETING STRATEGY 120 2.1.1
CUSTOMER CENTRICITY 120
2.1.2
OPERATIONAL EXCELLENCE AND ROI 125
CRAWFORD’S SEVEN-STEP MODEL FOR OPERATIONAL EXCELLENCE 126 COST-EFFICIENCY 127 CALCULATING THE RETURN ON INVESTMENT 128
2.1.3 AUTHENTICITY 129 2.2
KEY DIGITAL MARKETING STRATEGIES 133 2.2.1
INBOUND MARKETING 133
2.2.2 MOBILE FIRST 134 2.2.3 ONLINE MERGES OFFLINE (OMO) 134 2.3
ELEMENTS OF A DIGITAL MARKETING STRATEGY: START WITH THE “WHY” 137
2.4
SMART DIGITAL MARKETING OBJECTIVES 142
ANSOFF MATRIX (1957) 141
2.4.1
BRAND-CENTRIC OBJECTIVES 144
EMPLOYER BRANDING 146 HOW TO ACE EMPLOYER BRANDING 148 PERSONAL BRANDING 149
7
8
digital marketing like a pro
ELEMENTS OF SUCCESSFUL PERSONAL BRANDING 150 HOW TO USE SOCIAL MEDIA FOR YOUR PERSONAL BRANDING 151
2.4.2
COMMERCIAL OBJECTIVES AND SOCIAL SELLING 152
HOW TO FIND PROSPECTS AND CUSTOMERS ON SOCIAL MEDIA 153 CIALDINI’S 6 PRINCIPLES OF INFLUENCE (1984) 155
2.4.3 CUSTOMER-CENTRIC OBJECTIVES 156 2.5
MEASURING SUCCESS 158 2.5.1
KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATORS (KPIS) 158
REACH 158 RELEVANCE/RETURN 159 REACTIVITY/ENGAGEMENT 159
2.5.2 ANALYTICS AND METRICS 160 CHARACTERISTICS OF GOOD METRICS 161
2.5.3 REPORTING AND DASHBOARDS 162 2.6
CUSTOMER RESEARCH AND CUSTOMER MAPPING 166 2.6.1
CUSTOMER JOURNEY 167
AIDA MODEL (1900s) 169 PURCHASE FUNNEL (1920s) 170 MCCLURE’S AARRR AND PIRATE METRICS (2007) 170 MCKINSEY’S CONSUMER DECISION JOURNEY (2009) 171 RACE PLANNING (2010)
172
HUBSPOT’S TOFU-MOFU-BOFU (2014) 172 GOOGLE’S SEE-THINK-DO-CARE (2015) 174 THE SIMPLIFIED CUSTOMER JOURNEY 174 HOW TO CREATE A DIGITAL MARKETING PLAN AND CUSTOMER JOURNEY 175
2.6.2 DIGITAL LISTENING POSTS AND TOUCH POINTS 177 WHERE TO FIND TOUCH POINTS WITH YOUR TARGET GROUPS 178
2.6.3 CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE MAPPING 179 HOW TO BUILD CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE MAPS FOR YOUR PERSONAS 180
CHAPTER 3: DIGITAL MARKETING PLANNING 3.1
183
DIGITAL MARKETING ACTION PLAN 183 ICE SCORE 184 TRACTION BULLSEYE FRAMEWORK 184 DEFINING YOUR MARKETING MIX 185
3.2
BUDGET CALCULATION 187
187 HOW TO CHOOSE BETWEEN PROVEN AND INNOVATIVE TACTICS 188 BURNETT’S 70-20-10 RULE (2008) 188 HOW TO BUILD A DIGITAL MARKETING BUDGET PLAN 189 HOW TO CALCULATE YOUR DIGITAL MARKETING BUDGET
table of contents
3.3
CONTENT MARKETING PLAN/EDITORIAL CALENDAR 190 HOW TO PREPARE YOUR CONTENT MEETING 190
3.4
CAMPAIGN PLAN 192 THE SIX STEPS OF AN EFFECTIVE DIGITAL MARKETING CAMPAIGN 192
PART II: RUN 195 CHAPTER 4: TACTICS THAT WORK 4.1
199
YOUR WEBSITE OR E-COMMERCE SITE AS MOBILE-FIRST CONVERSION HUB 199 HUB AND SPOKES 200
4.1.1
YOUR WEBSITE AND ITS CONTENT MANAGEMENT SYSTEM 201
ESSENTIAL WEBSITE PAGES OR SECTIONS 202 HOW TO WRITE A CLEAR WEBSITE VALUE PROPOSITION 203 WEBSITE METRICS 207 RECOMMENDED GOOGLE ANALYTICS SETTINGS 208
4.1.2 E-COMMERCE 209 4.1.3
DIGITAL MARKETING FOR EVENTS 212
BEFORE THE EVENT 212 DURING THE EVENT 213 AFTER THE EVENT 213
4.2
EMAIL MARKETING 215 4.2.1
MANUAL EMAIL DELIVERY 215
4.2.2
TRIGGERED SENDS 217
4.2.3 AUTOMATED SENDS 218 4.3
ORGANIC SOCIAL MEDIA 220 SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING BEST PRACTICES 222
4.3.1
FACEBOOK & INSTAGRAM 225
NATIVE CONTENT ON FACEBOOK 226 FAKE NEWS ON FACEBOOK 226 FACEBOOK PROFILE 227 FACEBOOK PAGE 228 FACEBOOK PAGE METRICS 231 FACEBOOK GROUPS 232 FACEBOOK GROUP BEST PRACTICES 233 INSTAGRAM PROFILE 233 INSTAGRAM BUSINESS PROFILE
236
INSTAGRAM ENGAGEMENT BEST PRACTICES 237 INSTAGRAM METRICS 241
9
10
digital marketing like a pro
4.3.2
YOUTUBE & GOOGLE+ 242
YOUTUBE CHANNEL 243 YOUTUBE CHANNEL BEST PRACTICES 244 YOUTUBE VIDEO ENGAGEMENT BEST PRACTICES 244 YOUTUBE METRICS 245 GOOGLE+ PROFILE 246 GOOGLE+ BRAND ACCOUNT 246 GOOGLE+ PAGE 246 GOOGLE+ METRICS 247 GOOGLE+ COMMUNITIES 247
4.3.3 LINKEDIN & SLIDESHARE 248 LINKEDIN PROFILE 249 LINKEDIN PULSE 250 LINKEDIN COMPANY PAGE 250 LINKEDIN COMPANY PAGE BEST PRACTICES 251 LINKEDIN GROUPS 251 SLIDESHARE PRESENTATIONS CHANNEL 253
4.3.4 TWITTER 254 TWITTER ENGAGEMENT BEST PRACTICES 256 THE PERFECT TWEET 256 TWITTER ANALYTICS 258 TWITTER METRICS 259
4.3.5 TUMBLR 259 4.3.6 PINTEREST 261 THE IDEAL PINTEREST PIN 263
4.4
CONTENT MARKETING 264 HERO, HUB, HELP 266
4.4.1
CONTENT DISCOVERY 268
4.4.2
CONTENT CURATION 270
USER-GENERATED CONTENT 271
4.4.3
CONTENT CREATION 273
WRITTEN CONTENT 274 THE EIGHT RULES OF WRITING 277 HOW TO FIND BLOGGING TOPICS 284 HOW TO FIND THE PERFECT BLOG POST TITLE 284 VISUAL CONTENT 284 WHERE TO FIND FREE STOCK IMAGES 285 CONTENT CREATION – GIFS 285 DOWNLOADING IMAGES 287 AUDIO – PODCASTS 290
table of contents
CONTENT CREATION: SLIDE DECKS 291 HOW TO MAKE SLIDES THAT COMMUNICATE YOUR IDEA 292 INTERACTIVE CONTENT: TESTS, QUIZZES AND POLLS 292
4.4.4
CONTENT DISTRIBUTION 293
HOW TO DISTRIBUTE YOUR CONTENT 297
4.5
ONLINE ADVERTISING, PROMOTIONS AND PARTNERSHIPS 298 4.5.1
AD BLOCKING AND NATIVE ADVERTISING 300
4.5.2
INTRUSIVE ADS AND THE BETTER ADS STANDARDS 302
4.5.3 CONTESTS, SWEEPSTAKES, OFFERS AND PROMOTIONS 303 MAKE SURE TO INCLUDE THE FOLLOWING IN THE OFFICIAL CONTEST RULES ON YOUR SITE: 304 ONLINE CONTEST BEST PRACTICES 305
4.5.4
ONLINE PARTNERSHIPS 306
COMMISSION/AFFILIATE MARKETING 306 DIFFERENT TYPES OF AFFILIATE MARKETING 306
4.6
MOBILE MARKETING 308 4.6.1
MOBILE WEBSITE AND RESPONSIVE DESIGN 308
4.6.2
MOBILE APPS 311
MOBILE APP BEST PRACTICES 312
CHAPTER 5: INNOVATIVE TACTICS 5.1
314
REFERRAL MARKETING AND VIRALITY 315 TWO TYPES OF VIRALITY 315 BERGER’S STEPPS FRAMEWORK FOR VIRAL CONTENT (2013) 316 BUZZFEED’S CULTURAL CARTOGRAPHY (2017) 317
5.1.1 5.2
INFLUENCER MARKETING 319
ONLINE REPUTATION MANAGEMENT AND CRISIS COMMUNICATION 322 5.2.1
ONLINE REPUTATION MANAGEMENT (ORM) 322
MONITORING AND ANALYZING YOUR ONLINE REPUTATION 323 WHAT TO LOOK FOR IN A REPUTATION MANAGEMENT TOOL 324
5.2.2 PROACTIVE ONLINE REPUTATION MANAGEMENT 324 HOW COMPANIES CAN BUILD A POSITIVE ONLINE REPUTATION 324 HOW COMPANIES CAN MONITOR THEIR ONLINE REPUTATION 325 ONLINE REPUTATION RISK FACTORS 325
5.2.3 REACTIVE ONLINE REPUTATION MANAGEMENT 325 HOW TO GET MORE POSITIVE ONLINE REVIEWS 327 HOW TO HANDLE NEGATIVE ONLINE REVIEWS 327
11
12
digital marketing like a pro
5.2.4
CRISIS COMMUNICATION BEST PRACTICES 327
WHAT IS A CRISIS? 327 ONLINE REPUTATIONAL THREATS TO COMPANIES 328 HOW TO PREPARE FOR THE WORST 329 THREE QUESTIONS TO ANSWER WHEN A CRISIS HITS 329 COOMBS’ SITUATIONAL CRISIS COMMUNICATION THEORY (2007) 330 CRISIS TYPES BY CRISIS CLUSTERS
330
GENERIC MESSAGES YOU CAN PREPARE 330 BENOIT’S IMAGE RESTORATION STRATEGY (1997) 331
331 FIVE IMAGE RESTORATION STRATEGIES 331 WHAT NOT TO DO IN YOUR CRISIS COMMUNICATION 332 DARK SOCIAL: CHATBOTS AND MESSAGING APPS 334 5.3.1 CHATBOTS 334 5.3.2 FACEBOOK MESSENGER 337 FACEBOOK MESSENGER CHATBOT BEST PRACTICES 337 5.3.3 SNAPCHAT 337 SNAPCHAT TACTICS 338 5.3.4 WHATSAPP 339 BUSINESS APPLICATIONS FOR WHATSAPP 340 BASIC CONCEPTS IN IMAGE RESTORATION STRATEGY
5.3
CHAPTER 6: DISRUPTIVE TECHNOLOGIES
341
6.1
APPLICATIONS OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (AI) IN DIGITAL MARKETING 343
6.2
VIRTUAL AND AUGMENTED REALITY 347
6.3
INTERNET OF THINGS AND WEARABLES 349
HOW AI SOLVES THE BIG DATA PROBLEM 345
PART III: OPTIMIZE 353 CHAPTER 7: DIGITAL MARKETING OPTIMIZATION 7.1
356
GROWTH HACKING 356 THE GROWTH HACKER METHODOLOGY
358
GENERAL GROWTH HACKING TACTICS 359 FAMOUS GROWTH HACKING TACTICS 360
7.2
SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION (SEO) 363 OPTIMIZING YOUR WEBSITE 365 ON-PAGE SEO 367
table of contents
HOW TO OPTIMIZE THE CONTENT ON YOUR WEBSITE FOR SEARCH ENGINES 367 HOW TO PERFORM A KEYWORD ANALYSIS 368 TECHNICAL ON-SITE SEO
369
LOCAL SEARCH 370 TOP 5 FACTORS THAT MATTER TO RANK HIGH LOCALLY 370 LINK BUILDING 372 SOCIAL SIGNALS 372
7.3
NEWSLETTER PERFORMANCE OPTIMIZATION 374 HOW TO ANALYZE THE PERFORMANCE OF YOUR NEWSLETTERS 374 HOW TO PERFORM A/B TESTING 375 ANATOMY OF AN EFFICIENT EMAIL 377
7.4
MARKETING AUTOMATION 380
7.5
CONVERSION RATE OPTIMIZATION 382 OPTIMIZING YOUR WEBSITE FOR CONVERSIONS 382
7.5.1
A/B TESTING AND HEATMAPS 383
7.5.2
PSYCHOLOGY AND PERSUASION 384
7.5.3 UX/DESIGN 384 HOW TO OPTIMIZE THE UX ON YOUR WEBSITE 385
7.6 7.7
APP STORE OPTIMIZATION (ASO) 387 ADVERTISING PERFORMANCE OPTIMIZATION 389 7.7.1
PROGRAMMATIC BUYING 390
7.7.2
AGILE ADVERTISING 391
THREE STEPS FOR MASTERING AGILE ADVERTISING 392
AFTERWORD
395
ENDNOTES
397
13
14
THANK YOU VERY MUCH
This handbook has the ambition to be digital marketing’s ultimate Zen Buddhist pizza: The One With Everything. I wrote it because a wise woman once told me: “Write the book you want to read, the one you cannot find.” Now I know why I could not find it: there’s a lot of content out there about digital marketing – especially on digital marketing’s favorite child, the internet. Writing this book would have been impossible without the help of my mentors, peers and friends. Here they are in no particular order: Kwakye Donkor (South Africa), Peter Hoogland (Belgium) and Benjamin Grange (France) for inspiring and pushing me to write this book. Neil “Crazy Egg” Patel for taking the time to write the foreword. Publishers, editors and proofreaders at LannooCampus for taking that leap of faith together with me. Joke and Benny, who opened their house and their hearts, and gave me lots of strong coffee and “A Room of One’s Own” to write in. My Belgian digital marketing peers and fellow geeks who reviewed the incredibly messy beta version: Joke De Nul, Geert Van den Eijnden, Polle De Maagt, Elly Cools, Gerrie Smits, Peter van Wijnaerde, Chris Van Gils, Jan Seurinck, Sara Van de Velde, Johnny Waterschoot, Olivier Muys, Kristof Van den Branden, Miel Van Opstal, Stijn Vercamer, Ilse Lambrechts, Tim Raeymaekers, Alexander Freitas, Dennis De Cat, Dennis Peeters, Arno Melotte, Peter Forret, Frédéric
thank you
De Vries, Monica MontĂŠ, Sofie Verhalle, Gaelle Helsmoortel, Koen Thewissen, Philip Weiss, Fiona De Brabanter, Chris Demeyere, Maarten Schenk, Ine Dehandschutter and Dimitri Samaras. It is safe to say that this handbook was not crowdsourced, but friendsourced. And you, for picking up this book. I sincerely hope it will help you make your digital marketing ambitions come true! Clo Willaerts (clo@bnox.be)
15
16
FOREWORD BY NEIL PATEL
There is more competition for your customers' attention today than ever before. In fact, almost everything has changed since I first dipped my toes in the digital marketing waters. Imagine this for a minute: Your parents aren’t on Facebook. Nobody knows how Twitter works. SEO is like the Wild Wild West, where anything goes, and brand-new companies can easily dominate big brands. Only a fraction of the competition is on AdWords (so it’s still super cheap). You don’t hear a single person discussing “marketing automation” or “conversion optimization” because nobody knows what these are. And the iPhone doesn’t exist! Obviously, things have changed a little bit today. Competition is stiff, and money is often scarce. Complexity and confusion have increased dramatically. You now face an endless onslaught of new information (this shows no sign of slowing down). No wonder you can’t figure out where to start with your online marketing!
foreword
Here’s why digital marketing is more difficult today than ever before: the volume of information and speed of change is overwhelming. Consider what has changed in the 10 years since I started in this industry. Just a few years ago, “online marketing” was a tiny niche. Now there are over 100 million people talking about it! Each day, there are over two million blog posts published and over 269 billion emails sent! That’s insane, right? And we’re just talking about content here. How about social media? Today, Instagram is almost a requirement for businesses. The platform has amassed over 700 million users, so it’s an incredibly easy place to get noticed. But it didn’t exist a decade ago! Snapchat didn’t exist a few years ago, either. Today it’s a public company with billions of pieces of content shared daily. Something else that’s surprising? The iPhone just turned 10 years old. Remember trying to access the internet before the iPhone and other smartphones became ubiquitous? The experience was awful, and connection speeds were even worse. You could barely read and reply to emails. Today, mobile internet usage has outstripped internet use on desktops. The majority of Google searches (at least 60%) also happen on mobile devices. Another thing: your marketing strategies probably didn’t vary much 10 years ago. You “did SEO” or you “did PPC” to bring in more traffic and leads. That’s not how digital marketing works anymore. For example, the types of marketing strategies you use, and even the type of marketers you need, might be completely different depending on what kind of business you’re in. B2C companies might want to focus mostly on scaling their content creation and community management efforts. B2B companies often have completely opposite goals: they’re focusing on supporting their sales teams to chase fewer, bigger accounts. They’re writing less content but injecting more quality into each piece. And we haven’t even touched on the marketers who specialize in marketing automation, conversion optimization, or growth hacking. The reason marketers keep specializing further is that each discipline continues to evolve and get more complicated (faster than ever before). If you’re still performing SEO the same way you did back then, you’re probably not generating much interest or converting leads into customers. So now you can vividly see why digital marketing is so hard today. There’s an endless amount of information available. Once you begin to make a little headway, today’s ‘best practices’ no longer work tomorrow. I understand why it’s so frustrating for today’s marketers.
17
18
digital marketing like a pro
This is where Clo’s book comes in, how it’s trying to help. It showcases some of the best ways to simplify digital marketing, so you can get up to speed and start generating customers ASAP. Here’s a shortlist of marketing tactics in this book that you can learn today: ----------
Social media SEO Google AdWords Facebook advertising Marketing automation Email marketing Conversion optimization Growth hacking Content marketing
But be careful when you try out the latest digital marketing tactics (like the ones above). You’ll never get traffic or customers without a comprehensive marketing strategy. The trick is to learn from existing digital marketing frameworks and break them down into chunks that you can systematize. For example, let’s say you want to use referral marketing to turn prospects into customers, and you don’t know where to start. One good way is how Dropbox started: by giving its first users incentives to refer the service to new users. This is just one tactic, of course. But link these together based on your customer’s journey from the last step, and your digital marketing strategy will start to become crystal clear. Conclusion? Digital marketing used to be easy. Questionable SEO tactics could still get you ranked in the first position of Google within weeks (as opposed to months or years). You didn’t have to worry about mobile devices — or even multiple versions of your website, for that matter. You probably could have ignored social media at the time, too. All of that has changed. Things have never been more complicated. And they’ve never changed so quickly. That makes it nearly impossible to figure out digital marketing if you’re just getting started. There’s so much conflicting information, so many nuances, that it’s tough to figure out how to make all the pieces fit together to deliver results. The trick is to figure out how your customers are already buying so that you can create
foreword
strategies and systems to get traffic, leads and more customers. It’s far from easy today. But this book might be a good start. Neil Patel (www.neilpatel.com) About Neil Patel Neil Patel is a New York Times bestselling author. The Wall Street Journal calls him a top influencer on the web, Forbes says he is one of the top 10 marketers, and Entrepreneur Magazine says he created one of the 100 most brilliant companies. He was recognized as a top 100 entrepreneur under the age of 30 by President Obama and a top 100 entrepreneur under the age of 35 by the United Nations.
19
20
INTRODUCTION: PREPARE, RUN, OPTIMIZE!
Don’t say Neil Patel didn’t warn you: digital marketing is hard work. Nowadays it’s possible to customize and personalize advertising and messaging depending on the context. Literally every step you take in the digital marketplace can be measured and analyzed. Also, remember when we were all hoping to start a global conversation with consumers?1 Well, now they will not shut up! So how do you do manage to accomplish your growth ambitions without wasting money, resources and time? Simple: by asking yourself the right questions.
optimize prepare
run
The Prepare-Run-Optimize flow
introduction
PREPARE: by designing strategies and setting objectives to feed your marketing plans. Situation analysis – Where are you now compared to the rest of the market? Digital marketing strategy – What will your long-term focus be? Target audiences – Whose behavior are you trying to influence? Objectives and KPIs – How will you quantify your growth ambitions? RUN: by implementing measurable tactics in the right channels using the right tools. Tactics that work – How will you implement your strategy? Channels and tools to select – Where and how will you be present and active on digital platforms? Keep an eye on budgets – How much will it cost? OPTIMIZE: and never stop improving until you get the right results. Digital marketing optimization – How can you sustainably optimize your efforts? What is the point of a one-off old-school marketing plan, anyway, when each product or service must continuously develop trust, to maintain its reputation, and increase sales, revenue and profitability. This is the only sustainable way to be viable in the ever-evolving marketplace. And why digital marketing, you ask? The explosion of digital communication channels and smart devices (such as web, email, social, search, mobile, AR/VR, gaming consoles, billboards, and so on) has led us all into a brave new world of blogs, vlogs, tweets, snaps and likes. And yet, digital marketing is not about technology; it is about people. The technology is only interesting when it allows the marketer to connect with the target audience more effectively. And it will, because that same audience is already online. Another good reason to go the digital marketing route: you can measure results (and ROI) more accurately. The digital sphere is almost entirely measurable, and often data comes in real time. You can see precisely how various campaigns are performing, which channels have the most benefit, and where to best focus your efforts. Sometimes results provide painful insights, but there’s a positive side to it, too: you have the opportunity to refine and adjust your strategy.
21
22
digital marketing like a pro
Furthermore, digital is highly useful for time-sensitive services, products and events. You can measure results more efficiently (and adjust your campaign on the fly if needed). Your marketing spend becomes super cost-effective! And one final pro-digital argument: your audience can be segmented with precision, even down to factors like current location and recent brand interactions, which means that messages can (and must!) be personalized and tailored to them. Of course, like everything, digital marketing also has its downsides. Given the relatively new nature of digital marketing and the democratization of the internet, there is a flood of information overload as well as myths and make-believe, which can cause painful misunderstandings and disappointment. Some examples: “Digital marketing is only for big business.” “We need to be on every imaginable social platform in order to not miss out.” “We need an app.” – “Why?” – “Because we need one.” “If we upload this TV ad to social media, it will go viral.” “Email marketing is dead/spam.” As you will learn throughout this book, digital marketing is for everyone, even the startups with tiny marketing budgets, but it does have its own specific uses and strategies. In other words: digital marketing is the new marketing. In a digital age, you simply cannot conceive of a marketing campaign without at its core a digital strategy that connects, enables and empowers each part of the overall campaign. Here is just a glimpse of who will find this book – and specifically the Prepare-Run-Optimize model – of use… -- You are a college or university student taking a digital marketing course. Some of this handbook might be a bit advanced for your needs, but it can serve as a resource for anyone who wants to learn more about specific digital marketing subjects. You might want to jump straight to Part II, where we explain the channels and tactics you will need to learn about before getting started. -- You are a digital marketing trainer, using this handbook as a guideline for what you teach. You will find a lot of definitions and frameworks in here