When a new member joins our team, we are often asked – What is digital marketing analysis? Digital marketing analysis is the starting point for any digital marketing executive to build a strategy. In fact, without an analysis, one is merely lost in a sea of questions and potential answers.

In this article, you will find out why you need a digital marketing analysis and learn how to understand your business’s position from a digital marketing point of view. All of this research undertaken will pave the path to success for your strategy, as opposed to taking a shot in the dark.

Digital Marketing Analysis: The Why

Digital marketing analysis is an essential skill to master. It allows you to find answers to the very basic questions of where you stand and who your target audience is. But more importantly, it teaches you to ask the right questions, which is the key to making successful marketing decisions.

Only by asking the right questions, a marketer is able to define the problem and come up with a creative answer.

Great brands listen to their consumers and therefore, they make the right decisions. The process of analysing is by nature a process of active listening. Active listening includes listening to market needs, consumer behaviour, economic situations, trends, reviews, competitors, and many more factors you need to consider.

Digital marketing analysis featured image.

Digital marketing analysis is an overview of the brand’s position on all digital channels; where no detail is too small. This analysis includes social media platforms, website performance, SEO tracking, e-commerce functionality and much more.

Understanding where your brand stands in the digital world is crucial for making smart and impactful decisions when designing your strategy. Keep reading to find out how.

Data-Driven Marketing Analysis

Although most people consider marketing and advertising to be purely creative, intuitive processes, this isn’t the way things are in reality. Marketing is a combination of both science and art. Creativity never comes from randomness. Therefore, data always guides the creative part of marketing, and one of them wouldn’t survive without the other.

In recent years, when the social and digital media revolution has taken over, the focus on data-driven marketing has grown bigger. Now that people are able to measure everything through the number of views, likes, shares, comments, and clicks, numbers are exceedingly becoming a part of the conversation.

Data is now the motivation to favour one decision over the other, and the way to measure success and return of investment.

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Digital marketing analysis is the first step to an effective strategy. Image credit: Unknown

Advanced Digital Marketing Analysis Techniques

As the digital landscape evolves, so do the methods for analysing and optimising marketing efforts. Here are some cutting-edge techniques to enhance your digital marketing analysis:

AI-Powered Analytics

Artificial Intelligence is revolutionising digital marketing analysis. AI algorithms can process vast amounts of data quickly, identifying patterns and insights that humans might miss. Consider implementing AI-powered tools to:

  • Predict customer behaviour and preferences
  • Optimise ad spend across multiple channels
  • Personalise content recommendations in real-time
  • Automate A/B testing for continuous improvement

Cross-Channel Attribution Modelling

Understanding how different marketing channels contribute to conversions is crucial. Advanced attribution modelling goes beyond last-click attribution to provide a more holistic view:

  • Multi-touch attribution: Assigns credit to multiple touchpoints in the customer journey
  • Data-driven attribution: Uses machine learning to determine the most influential touchpoints
  • Time decay models: Gives more credit to touchpoints closer to the conversion

Implementing these models can help you allocate your marketing budget more effectively across channels.

Predictive Analytics

Don’t just analyse past performance – use data to forecast future trends. Predictive analytics can help you:

  • Anticipate customer churn and take preventive action
  • Identify potential high-value customers early in their journey
  • Forecast demand for products or services
  • Optimise pricing strategies based on market trends

Voice Search Optimisation Analysis

With the rise of voice-activated devices, analysing and optimising for voice search is becoming increasingly important:

  • Analyse long-tail keywords that mimic natural speech patterns
  • Track featured snippet performance, as these are often used for voice search results
  • Monitor local search performance, as many voice searches have local intent

Sentiment Analysis

Understanding not just what customers are saying, but how they feel, can provide valuable insights:

  • Use natural language processing tools to analyse customer feedback across channels
  • Track sentiment trends over time to gauge the impact of marketing campaigns
  • Identify potential brand advocates or detractors based on sentiment scores

Customer Journey Mapping

Create detailed visual representations of the customer journey to identify:

  • Key touchpoints where customers interact with your brand
  • Pain points or friction in the customer experience
  • Opportunities for personalisation and improvement

By incorporating these advanced techniques into your digital marketing analysis, you’ll gain deeper insights into your marketing performance and customer behaviour. This data-driven approach will enable you to make more informed decisions and optimise your marketing strategies for better results.

Tools and Techniques for Data Analysis

To effectively analyse marketing data, consider using these tools and techniques:

  1. Google Analytics: For comprehensive website and user behaviour analysis
  2. Hotjar: For heatmaps and user session recordings
  3. SEMrush or Ahrefs: For SEO and competitor analysis
  4. Tableau or Power BI: For data visualisation and dashboard creation
  5. Customer Data Platforms (CDPs): For centralising and analysing customer data across touchpoints

Techniques to employ include:

  • Cohort analysis: To understand user behaviour over time
  • Funnel analysis: To identify drop-off points in the customer journey
  • Regression analysis: To predict future trends based on historical data
  • Segmentation: To tailor marketing efforts to specific audience groups

The Importance of A/B Testing

A/B testing is crucial for optimising marketing efforts. It allows you to:

  • Make data-driven decisions rather than relying on assumptions
  • Continuously improve conversion rates
  • Understand what resonates with your audience
  • Optimise your marketing budget by focusing on what works

When conducting A/B tests:

  1. Test one variable at a time for clear results
  2. Ensure you have a statistically significant sample size
  3. Run tests for an appropriate duration to account for variations
  4. Use the results to inform your overall marketing strategy

How to Do Research for Digital Marketing

There are a number of key insights you need to uncover in order to deliver a successful digital marketing campaign. This involves knowing who your customers are, their preferred digital channels, what your product offers them, and the messaging which appeals to them.

These days, it’s also necessary to conduct digital analysis on a more granular level. For example, you need to analyse data on what works on a given digital platform, i.e.) which pages/posts tend to perform better, and use these insights to inform your campaigns.

What Is Market Research?

Market research is a scientific, structured process of gathering specific data and analysing it to best assess a situation. In the case of digital marketing analysis, you must focus on two perspectives: the internal brand you’re in charge of and the competitors. Leveraging tools like a Market Intelligence Platform that can provide comprehensive insights to enhance your understanding of market dynamics and make informed strategic decisions.

Digital Marketing Analysis: Target Audience

You should always start by identifying who your target audience is. The most common mistake that business owners make is assuming that their product targets everybody. There is no single product that targets everybody.

Even brands that have a huge portfolio of products that truly target different types of people, they still customise every product to meet the specific needs of one segment.

Therefore, the characteristics of every product define its target audience. Factors like price, function, style, purpose, language, etc. define the target audience for a brand.

Your target audience should be specific, in other words, you should identify all the details: age group, gender, social class, profession, lifestyle, interests, preferences, and pain points. The more you know about the behaviour of your consumers, the better your marketing strategy will be.

It’ll enable you to tailor a campaign that grabs the attention of your audience.

Digital Marketing Analysis: Market Need

Here, you need to get into the details of the drivers of demand for your product or services. Why would consumers go for your brand in particular? Marketing experts call it the edge of a brand.

The same product may have different drivers according to different buyers. For instance, someone may buy a watch because he/she likes to be timely, while another may buy the same watch because it looks cool.

Analysing the market needs and what drives consumers to buy a specific product or brand helps you build the communication strategy for your business. When you think about the market need or why consumers go for a specific brand, you should also keep your competition in mind.

Digital Marketing Analysis: History

If you’re working on an old brand, you should definitely include its history in your research. There are many stories about marketing campaigns which had an epic fail because they ignored the history of the brand.

Each business name has a huge collection of memories with the audience. If you simply ignore the past, your target audience will feel disconnected.

The core messages of your brand’s communication strategy, its look and feel, and its ambassadors, all contribute to the identity of the brand.

For instance, Coca Cola’s messages have always been about having the time of your life and living the moment. Let’s imagine that the company decided to make an ad about how Coca Cola can save the world. Sounds dubious, right?

Even though the idea sounds noble, it doesn’t resonate with Coca Cola’s history. Therefore, such a campaign may backfire. To build a solid digital marketing strategy, you need to understand the history and take it one step forward, building upon the past as opposed to rewriting it.

Digital Marketing Analysis: Competitors

There are different types of competitors that you should consider while preparing your digital marketing analysis. Remember that, on digital media, the whole world is using one platform. That makes the market cluttered and more competitive than ever.

Therefore, when performing a digital marketing analysis, you must consider every business competing for the same customer you’re targeting.

The first category of competition is defined by location: local and international competitors. Local and International competitors are divided into direct and indirect ones.

Indirect competition is the conflict between vendors whose products or services are not the same but that could satisfy the same consumer need.

That contrasts with direct competition, in which businesses are selling products or services that are essentially the same.

For instance, a thirsty consumer may go for a Coke, or he/she can go for fresh juice. Although the products are not the same, they are alternatives for each other; so they do compete indirectly.

Omnichannel marketing provides a seamless, integrated experience across all channels and touchpoints. It’s not just about being present on multiple channels, but ensuring a consistent and complementary experience across them.

The Importance of Omnichannel Marketing

  • Improved Customer Experience: Customers can interact with your brand on their preferred channel without friction.
  • Increased Customer Loyalty: A consistent experience across channels builds trust and encourages repeat business.
  • Better Data Collection: Omnichannel approaches provide a more comprehensive view of the customer journey.
  • Higher ROI: By coordinating efforts across channels, you can optimise your marketing spend.

Examples of Successful Omnichannel Campaigns

  1. Boots UK: The pharmacy-led health and beauty retailer has successfully integrated its in-store, online, and mobile experiences. Customers can order online and collect in-store, access their Advantage Card points across all channels, and receive personalised offers based on their shopping history.
  2. John Lewis: The department store chain offers a seamless experience across its website, mobile app, and physical stores. Customers can check in-store stock availability online, use in-store tablets to browse the full product range, and enjoy consistent pricing and promotions across all channels.
  3. Marks & Spencer: M&S has implemented “Mobile, Pay, Go” in selected stores, allowing customers to scan and pay for items using their smartphones, bridging the gap between digital and physical shopping experiences.

Digital Marketing Analysis: Barriers

Barriers are also an external factor that surrounds the business; one that the business cannot change or control, but can only respond to correctly. Barriers could be political, economic, socio-cultural, and technological. In marketing books, it’s often called a PEST analysis, and it is still a major part of digital marketing analysis.

Political factors could be government policies, political instability, corruption, foreign trade policy, tax policy, labour law, etc.

Meanwhile, economic factors have a huge impact on the whole marketing mix of the business. Economic factors have an impact on pricing strategy, advertising budget, and product portfolio as well.

Economic factors include economic growth, exchange rates, inflation rates, interest rates, disposable income of consumers and unemployment rates. All of these aspects affect the purchasing power of the consumer.

Next comes social factors which include the demographics of the market: norms, customs, values, age distribution, lifestyle, and cultural barriers.

Finally, there are technical factors which affect the future of the industry. These factors pertain to innovations in technology that may affect the operations of the industry and the market favourably or unfavourably.

Content Marketing Strategy

Content marketing is a crucial component of digital marketing, focused on creating and distributing valuable, relevant content to attract and retain a clearly defined audience.

Types of Content

  1. Blog Posts: In-depth articles that provide value to your audience
  2. Videos: Engaging visual content, including tutorials, product demonstrations, and brand stories
  3. Podcasts: Audio content for on-the-go consumption
  4. Infographics: Visual representations of data or concepts
  5. Ebooks and Whitepapers: Long-form content for lead generation
  6. Case Studies: Real-world examples of your product or service in action

Creating a Content Calendar

A content calendar helps you plan and organise your content marketing efforts:

  1. Define your content goals and target audience
  2. Decide on content types and frequency
  3. Plan content themes around key dates and events
  4. Assign responsibilities for content creation and publication
  5. Schedule content creation, review, and publication dates
  6. Include distribution channels for each piece of content

Content Distribution and Promotion

Creating great content is only half the battle. To ensure it reaches your audience:

  1. Share on social media platforms relevant to your audience
  2. Use email marketing to distribute content to your subscribers
  3. Implement SEO best practices to improve organic reach
  4. Consider paid promotion for high-value content
  5. Leverage influencer partnerships to expand your reach
  6. Repurpose content across different formats and channels

Web Marketing Analysis

When you do anything online as a business, it’s vital that you have sound empirical data to back it up. This includes things you might not expect, like adding content to your website or posting on social media.

The thing is, without solid research, you’re essentially just guessing about what’s going to work. This is a recipe for wasted time and money.

As such, failing to conduct digital marketing analysis can actually lead to your campaigns losing money, even if you don’t realise. With that in mind, let’s look in a little bit more detail at some core marketing analysis applications.

Digital marketing analysis for website

Website Marketing Analysis: SEO

Your website is the beating heart of your online presence. In any industry, an effective website attracts new users from search engines and turns them into paying customers. In fact, this is its primary purpose. However, this doesn’t happen by magic.

In fact, without in-depth SEO analysis, it’s rare to attract significant organic traffic.

What is SEO?

The simple definition of search engine optimisation is how attractive a website is to search engines, especially Google. There are many factors that influence SEO performance for websites. You can read about them here.

Google and other search engines are powerful marketing tools that contribute to many conversions. Researchers go to these search engines willingly to look for topics they are interested in.

For that reason, it’s highly likely that someone searching for “shoe stores in Belfast”, actually wants to buy a new pair of shoes. One can’t say the same thing about social media platforms; people don’t go for social media because they want to buy something. They may just bump into it.

During your digital marketing analysis, you must remember that SEO is an important part of the assessment. If the brand you’re in charge of doesn’t put any effort into its SEO, it definitely needs a facelift.

But what does website marketing analysis actually mean in the context of SEO? In practice, there are four elements of this:

  1. Keyword Research – This involves using keyword research tools to identify the queries which the most users are searching for, and gaps in your website’s ranking profile.
  2. SERP Analysis – After identifying new keywords to target, SERP analysis means analysis the search results for these terms to identify the types of content which perform the best, and gain an insight into what search engine users are looking for.
  3. On-Page Analysis – Once you know which primary keywords you’re targeting with a specific page, on-page analysis is all about figuring out which ranking signals Google will privilege your content based on.
  4. Technical SEO Analysis – This means performing SEO site checkup using auditing tools to identify technical issues with your website which may impede your SEO.

This is just what it takes to attract traffic.

You’ll also need to conduct website marketing analysis to measure your site’s ability to turn these new users into customers. This can include:

  • User flows,
  • Conversion rate optimisation,
  • Proportion of return visitors,
  • Average time on page and exit rates.

Social Media Platforms

A digital marketing analysis should start with social media platforms since they form the biggest part of any digital presence. Every brand now has different accounts on different platforms. The most popular platforms that this article will tackle are Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn.

There are four aspects that you should evaluate when you analyse the performance of any brand on different social platforms.

Community

Community is all about the people that the business attracts. That involves the number of followers on the page, their age, gender, interests, and the language they use.

You can analyse what they love or hate the most about the brand. Social media changed the target audience from being imaginary personas that marketers come up with to real profiles for real people.

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Understanding your audience is crucial for marketing success. Image credit: Institute of Entrepreneurship

Moreover, you should analyse how the brand responds to the community. How does the business respond to negative comments and reviews? Does it reply fast enough? How efficient is their call to action buttons? Is social media a part of a seamless experience that the customers have across all other platforms?

Crisis management is also a part of the community analysis. The way the brand responds to huge problems on social media says a lot about its digital presence. It can make or break the brand reputation.

That’s how you can figure out if the company needs a new crisis management strategy. These are all good questions to ask when you’re doing digital marketing analysis.

Community analysis on social media is a great chance for you to know more about the audience to be able to tailor your digital presence for them. In addition, it will be the main guidance when you set up a strategy for how the brand will respond to the audience online.

Content

Content comprises the most important part of social media. Users come for social media platforms for content. From a business point of view, content is the main method to deliver their messages to the target customer.

Every word a business uses on social media counts. Therefore, when performing a digital marketing analysis, you should pay close attention to all the details. Language, tone, wording, repeated messages, grammar and spelling mistakes are all a part of the analysis.

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Content analysis is crucial for attracting and converting traffic. Image credit: Ecomotize

Publishing strategy is also a part of the content analysis. The Publishing strategy refers to how often the company posts new content and at what time it publishes content – which is quite important when considering the time your target audience typically accesses online platforms.

In addition, the purpose of every post should also be taken into consideration. What’s the purpose of the post? Is it creating brand awareness, engagement, or attracting sales? Examine the content with the highest engagement rates; that gives you a sign in the right direction.

One should take a close look at content as it forms the biggest part of the digital marketing strategy.

Visuals

Visuals are part of the content for sure, but one should take a look at it separately. Most studies would tell you that images and videos attract the highest engagement.

That’s a well-known fact by now.

Colours, forms, fonts, and all artwork are the identity of the brand. You see the yellow “M” and you know immediately it’s McDonald’s. What comes to your mind when you see this colour?

Right, Pepsi’s blue. Those examples show that visuals have the strongest effect on humans. By studying your consumer, you should know what appeals to them visually.

Do they like simplicity and minimal shapes? Or, would they rather see loud and bright colours on their timeline? Do they love photos of nature and landscapes, or would they rather see humans that look like them? Geometric figures or animated graphics? There are endless options when it comes to visuals.

When you’re analysing visuals withing a digital marketing analysis, you must also consider the different types of visuals out there on social media.

The good news is there are multiple formats for visuals on social media: still images, AI subtitles, GIFs, videos, carousels, canvas, 360 photos. You should always have a variety of them on your page to always have the audience coming back for more.

E-commerce and Brand Marketing Analysis

Having a website now is like having a retail store in the good old days. If you don’t have it, people can’t trust your business. It has a huge impact on gaining credibility and trust.

Your website shows your portfolio of products, success stories with previous customers, and it has all your contact info and location. These are important for new customers looking forward to doing business with you.

Moreover, how you present your products can significantly influence their perception. Take, for instance, Toner Buzz’s e-commerce website. On their product pages (particularly on ones like W2020A), Toner Buzz excels in providing detailed descriptions, sharing customer reviews, and offering comprehensive information about the product. This strategy fosters a customer’s trust in their offerings.

In addition, your website also has your blog, which is supposed to attract visitors to your website by giving them valuable information. This sets you as a market expert in the field you’re working in.

Your website’s visual aspect also indicates how big your business is. As you might have heard, building a website isn’t cheap. So, having a good-looking, optimised website shows you’re willing to invest in your digital presence.

Your digital marketing analysis should answer these questions about the business’s website such as:

  • Is the website informative?
  • From the visual point of view, is it appealing to the visitors and has a sense of style?
  • Does it follow the brand’s guidelines?
  • Is it mobile-friendly?
  • Is it fast and responsive?
  • Are there any missing details that you want your visitors to know?
  • If the business has a product that you can sell online, you can also consider if your website has an e-commerce section.

Applications

For some businesses, having an application is a must; meanwhile, for others, it may be secondary.

The nature of the business and the trends of the industry it operates in determine how important having an application is. If all the competitors have one, you should have one, too.

An application is an owned platform that gives you space to share your content and give your loyal customers benefits and remind them of you. Consider designing and launching an app as part of your digital marketing analysis strategy.

Advertising Strategy and Analysis

One of the areas where the link between digital marketing and analysis is clearest is online advertising. In addition to the traditional online advertising strategies, incorporating SMS Gateway Solutions into your digital marketing analysis can offer a direct and effective way to reach customers. These solutions can be particularly useful in targeted advertising campaigns, allowing for personalized communication and immediate engagement with your audience. So, what is digital marketing analysis in the context of online ads?

There are a number of components to this, including:

  • Keyword and targeting research – This is how you determine which users you’ll target based on either behaviour or demographics.
  • Strategy analysis – This is how you decide on the messaging and positioning of your ads.
  • Ongoing monitoring and ROI analysis – This is how you determine the success of your advertising strategy and which best practices to carry forward.

Ads on Different Platforms

While this is the last item on the list, it’s surely not the least. One cannot stress enough how important it is to use digital ads.

There are different types of ads: social media ads, Google Display Network, applications, and search engine marketing.

Social Media Ads

Every social platform offers to promote sponsored posts. Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, and YouTube they should all be a part of the analysis. Now, businesses cannot rely on organic reach. Therefore, they must spend money on social media ads to reach their target audience and create brand awareness.

One of the best things about social media ads is that they tailor your ad based on the objectives you set. For example, if you want people to engage with your content, you can select “engagement” as your objective. In that case, you will pay only for every time someone engages with your content.

The budget which the business allocates for social media ads plays a huge part in the results the brand gets. Therefore, you should always do your research on how much your brand spends compared to the KPIs you achieve.

Search Engine Marketing and Google Display Network

The first two or three sponsored results that you find whenever you do a search inquiry on Google are the simple definition of search engine marketing.

In brief, businesses pay money to appear at the top of the search engine results when users search for keywords relevant to their businesses. These are called paid search results. They are different from organic search results which play by the rules of SEO.

Google Display Network, known as GDN, is a network of websites which run Google ads. GDN sites comprise of YouTube, Gmail and more than a million Google web display partners.

Google AdWords is split into two networks, the Search Network and the Display Network. When advertising on the Search Network, businesses place text ads in the search engine results. On the Display Network, businesses instead place display ads on a huge network of sites across the internet.

While doing a digital marketing analysis, you should consider all the different types of ads that the brand spends money on.

Measuring ROI in Digital Marketing

Measuring Return on Investment (ROI) is crucial for understanding the effectiveness of your digital marketing efforts and making informed decisions about budget allocation. A key component of this process is maintaining accurate records of your marketing expenses, often compiled in a detailed marketing invoice.

The Importance of a Marketing Invoice

A marketing invoice is a comprehensive document that itemises all the expenses related to your marketing activities. It typically includes:

  • Costs for digital advertising (e.g., PPC campaigns, social media ads)
  • Fees for marketing tools and software
  • Expenses for content creation (e.g., copywriting, graphic design, video production)
  • Costs for marketing agency services or freelancers
  • Expenses for marketing events or promotions

Maintaining a detailed marketing invoice is crucial for:

  1. Accurate ROI calculations
  2. Budget tracking and allocation
  3. Financial reporting and auditing
  4. Identifying cost-saving opportunities

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for Different Channels

When analysing your marketing invoice alongside performance data, consider these KPIs for various channels:

  1. SEO:
    • Organic traffic
    • Keyword rankings
    • Domain authority
    • Backlink profile
  2. Content Marketing:
    • Page views
    • Time on page
    • Social shares
    • Lead generation
  3. Social Media:
    • Engagement rate
    • Follower growth
    • Click-through rate
    • Conversions from social
  4. Email Marketing:
    • Open rate
    • Click-through rate
    • Conversion rate
    • List growth rate
  5. PPC Advertising:
    • Click-through rate
    • Cost per click
    • Conversion rate
    • Cost per acquisition

Calculating and Interpreting ROI

To calculate ROI for your digital marketing efforts:

  1. Gather all costs from your marketing invoice
  2. Determine the total cost of your marketing campaign
  3. Calculate the revenue generated from the campaign
  4. Use the formula: ROI = (Revenue – Cost) / Cost * 100

For example, if your marketing invoice shows a total spend of £1,000 on a campaign that generated £5,000 in revenue:

ROI = (£5,000 – £1,000) / £1,000 * 100 = 400%

When interpreting ROI:

  • A positive ROI indicates that your campaign is profitable
  • Compare ROI across different channels to optimise budget allocation
  • Consider both short-term and long-term ROI, as some efforts (like SEO) may take time to show results
  • Look beyond just financial returns – consider other benefits like brand awareness and customer loyalty

Remember that while ROI is crucial, it shouldn’t be the only metric you consider. Some marketing efforts may have indirect benefits that are harder to quantify but still valuable for your overall business goals.

Leveraging Your Marketing Invoice for Strategic Decisions

Your marketing invoice can be a powerful tool for making strategic decisions:

  1. Cost Analysis: Regularly review your marketing invoice to identify areas where you’re overspending or underspending.
  2. Budget Reallocation: Use the ROI calculations from different channels to reallocate your budget more effectively.
  3. Vendor Negotiations: Use the detailed breakdown in your marketing invoice to negotiate better rates with vendors or agencies.
  4. Forecasting: Historical data from your marketing invoices can help you forecast future marketing expenses and ROI.

By maintaining accurate marketing invoices and using them in conjunction with performance data, you can make more informed decisions about your digital marketing strategies and ensure you’re getting the best possible return on your investment.

Digital Marketing Analyses Summary

Research is a fundamental aspect of digital marketing as it helps in understanding market trends, consumer behaviour, and the effectiveness of marketing strategies. Here’s a summary on how to conduct research for digital marketing:

  1. Identify Objectives:
    • Define what you aim to achieve with your research. It could be understanding your target audience, analyzing competitors, or assessing the effectiveness of a digital marketing campaign.
  2. Market Research:
    • Industry Trends: Understand the current trends, challenges, and opportunities in your industry.
    • Competitor Analysis: Analyze your competitors’ digital marketing strategies, looking at their social media presence, SEO, content marketing, and website design.
  3. Audience Research:
    • Demographics and Psychographics: Identify the demographics (age, gender, location) and psychographics (interests, values) of your target audience.
    • Customer Feedback: Collect feedback from existing customers to understand their experiences and expectations.
  4. Keyword Research:
    • Identify keywords relevant to your business that have a high search volume and low competition using tools like Google Keyword Planner, SEMrush, or Ahrefs.
  5. Content Research:
    • Content Gap Analysis: Identify content gaps in your existing digital marketing strategies.
    • Content Ideation: Generate ideas for blog posts, infographics, videos, and other content types based on your keyword and market research.
  6. Social Media Research:
    • Look at what content is performing well on different social media platforms within your industry.
    • Monitor social media conversations related to your brand or industry to gauge public sentiment and discover trending topics.
  7. Email Marketing Research:
    • Analyze the performance of past email campaigns to identify what works and what doesn’t.
    • Look into the latest email marketing trends and technologies.
  8. Technology and Tools:
    • Explore tools and technologies that can help automate, analyze, and optimize your digital marketing efforts.
  9. Data Analysis:
    • Use Google Analytics or other analytics tools to analyze website traffic, user behavior, and campaign performance.
    • Evaluate the ROI of your digital marketing efforts to understand what strategies are most effective.
  10. Competitive Intelligence Tools:
    • Utilize tools like SEMrush, SpyFu, Helium 10, or SimilarWeb to gain insights into your competitors’ digital marketing strategies and performance.
  11. Continual Learning:
    • Stay updated with the latest digital marketing best practices, algorithms, and industry reports to keep evolving your digital marketing strategies.
  12. Collaborate with Experts:
    • Consider collaborating with digital marketing experts or agencies to gain deeper insights and improve your strategies.

By incorporating these steps into your research process, you’ll be better positioned to develop informed digital marketing strategies that resonate with your target audience and stay ahead of industry trends.

What Does the Digital Marketing Strategy Include?

A digital marketing strategy is a comprehensive plan to achieve marketing goals through online channels. Here are the key components that a digital marketing strategy should include:

Clear Target Audience

First things first, a digital marketing strategy should identify the target audience. Any message delivered to the market should have a specific target consumer in mind.

One brand can have multiple personas to target, but the message should not be delivered in the same way to all. That’s why some brands create different versions of the same concept. That should speak to different personas.

You can choose to include only the highlights of the target audience, or go through a detailed list of personas. The more details you include, the better. A persona includes the name, age, social class, profession, interests, pain points, and goals of the consumer in mind.

Communication Objectives

There are specific objectives for any communication between a brand and its audience. Usually, it’s one or more of four objectives: creating brand awareness, disseminating information, changing attitudes, or behaviour.

Digitally speaking, there are also objectives that different platforms suggest when you create an advertising campaign. Those are categorised as engagement, brand awareness, video views, conversions, app installs, lead generation, conversions, etc.

A good way to structure objects is to use the SMART framework.

  1. Specific:
    • Goals should be clear and specific so you know exactly what you’re working towards. Avoid vague objectives and ensure that the goal is precise and easily understood.
    • Example: Instead of saying “I want to grow my business,” a specific goal would be “I want to increase sales by 20%.”
  2. Measurable:
    • Goals should be measurable so that you can track your progress and know when you’ve achieved them.
    • Example: If your goal is to increase sales, a measurable objective could be “Increase sales by 20% over the next quarter.”
  3. Achievable:
    • Goals should be realistic and achievable given your current resources and constraints.
    • Example: Setting a goal to double your sales in a month might not be achievable, but a smaller, incremental sales increase might be.
  4. Relevant:
    • Goals should be relevant to your mission, values, and the broader organizational objectives.
    • Example: If you’re in the business of selling eco-friendly products, a relevant goal could be “Increase our online presence to reach more eco-conscious consumers.”
  5. Time-bound:
    • Goals should have a deadline to create a sense of urgency and to know when to evaluate your progress.
    • Example: Instead of saying “Increase sales,” a time-bound goal would be “Increase sales by 20% by the end of Q2.”

In the context of digital marketing, SMART objectives can help ensure that your marketing goals are well-defined and actionable. For example, instead of having a vague goal like “I want to increase website traffic,” a SMART objective would be “Increase website traffic by 30% over the next three months through a targeted content marketing and SEO campaign.” This provides a clear, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound framework to guide your marketing efforts.

Design Communications

Designing the communication to achieve the desired response will require answering three problems.

The first problem is what to say, which is about deciding on the message strategy. The second is how to say it, which is selecting the creative strategy. The last one is who should say it, which is choosing the message source.

In determining message strategy, you need to decide on the story and the appeals you will use and tie these into the brand positioning so that you can establish points of parity and points of difference for your brand.

Selected Channels

Now, there are many digital channels and social media platforms to get in touch with your customers. You need to determine what the best option is for your brand. That depends on your target audience and the type of content you wish to deliver.

You have to analyse the audience on every platform and understand their nature to be able to select the right channel and the right form of content.

Media Mix and Samples

Once you select the channels, you need to decide on the media mix. Companies allocate their marketing communications budget over multiple modes of communication.

There many alternatives, such as advertising, email marketing, online public relations, search engine optimisation, and many more. Companies, within their limited budgets, need to target the modes of communication that will suit their target audience and their brand promise and their brand message. Everyone wants to use limited resources in the most effective and efficient way.

Media Plan and KPIs

Your media plan should elaborate on how you will use the allocated budget for advertising on different platforms. This is one of the most important parts of the digital marketing strategy, as most of the spending goes to online paid advertising.

One of the most important aspects of digital marketing is that all results are measurable. This part should clarify, through numbers, what you expect to achieve in terms of engagement, views, conversions, etc. according to the objectives.

You should also present specific KPIs to be able to measure against them after the campaign is over. Remember that these will be the numbers you will be accountable for to achieve, so you must be realistic and honest.

Timeline

Finally, you should wrap up with a time frame for the execution of your digital marketing strategy. That includes when content will be published, how long your campaigns will last, and the entire scope of the strategy.

Of course, a yearly digital marketing strategy is different than a monthly strategy. However, the same concept applies, breaking down the whole duration to shorter sprints.

Examples of Diverse Marketing Strategies

The digital marketing landscape offers a vast toolbox of strategies to reach your target audience and achieve your marketing goals. By leveraging data analysis, you can tailor your approach to resonate with different customer segments and navigate the ever-evolving online world. In this section, we’ll explore a range of diverse marketing strategies, providing a foundation for crafting a data-driven and effective marketing plan.

The digital marketing landscape offers a multitude of strategies to reach your target audience and achieve your goals. Here’s a breakdown of some core digital marketing strategies with actionable advice to get you started:

1. Content Marketing:

  • Action Points:
    • Conduct keyword research to identify topics relevant to your audience and product.
    • Develop high-quality content (blog articles, ebooks, infographics) that addresses your audience’s pain points and showcases your product’s value proposition.
    • Promote your content through social media, email marketing, and influencer outreach.
    • Track content performance using analytics tools to understand what resonates with your audience and optimize your strategy accordingly.
  • Practical Advice:
    • Focus on creating valuable and informative content, not just promotional pieces.
    • Maintain content consistency to build a loyal readership and establish thought leadership.
    • Repurpose your content into different formats (videos, podcasts) to reach a wider audience.

2. Search Engine Optimization (SEO):

  • Action Points:
    • Optimize your website and content for relevant keywords to improve organic search ranking.
    • Build high-quality backlinks to your website from other reputable websites.
    • Use website traffic analysis tools to track keyword performance and identify areas for improvement.
    • Regularly update your website with fresh content to maintain search engine relevance.
  • Practical Advice:
    • Utilize SEO tools to conduct keyword research and track ranking progress.
    • Optimize your website structure and meta descriptions for better crawl-ability.
    • Focus on creating long-form content that provides in-depth information on relevant topics.

3. Social Media Marketing:

  • Action Points:
    • Build a presence on relevant social media platforms where your target audience is active.
    • Develop engaging content (posts, videos, stories) that resonates with your audience and sparks conversation.
    • Run social media ad campaigns to target specific demographics and interests.
    • Track social media analytics to understand which platforms and content types perform best.
  • Practical Advice:
    • Focus on quality over quantity. Publish engaging content consistently, not just promotional posts.
    • Respond to comments and messages promptly to build relationships with your audience.
    • Utilize social media listening tools to identify industry trends and brand mentions.

4. Email Marketing:

  • Action Points:
    • Build an email list of potential customers who have opted in to receive your communications.
    • Segment your email list based on demographics and interests for targeted campaigns.
    • Develop engaging email newsletters with valuable content and clear calls to action.
    • Track email marketing analytics (open rates, click-through rates) to measure campaign performance and refine your strategy.
  • Practical Advice:
    • Offer valuable incentives (e.g., ebooks, discounts) to encourage people to subscribe to your email list.
    • Personalize your email content whenever possible to improve engagement.
    • A/B test different email subject lines and call-to-action buttons to optimize performance.

5. Pay-Per-Click (PPC) Advertising:

  • Action Points:
    • Define your target audience and create targeted PPC campaigns on search engines (like Google Ads) and social media platforms.
    • Set a clear budget for your PPC campaigns and track your return on investment (ROI).
    • Monitor campaign performance and optimize your keyword bids and ad copy for better results.
  • Practical Advice:
    • Start with a small PPC budget and gradually increase it as you refine your campaigns.
    • Utilize negative keywords to exclude irrelevant searches and control your ad spend.
    • Consider using retargeting campaigns to reach users who have previously interacted with your website.

By understanding and implementing these diverse marketing strategies, you can create a data-driven marketing plan that drives traffic, generates leads, and ultimately achieves your business goals. Remember, consistency and data analysis are key to success in the ever-evolving digital marketing landscape.

SaaS Marketing Strategies: A Targeted Approach for the Subscription Age

In today’s digital landscape, SaaS (Software as a Service) businesses require a unique marketing approach compared to traditional product marketing. Here are key strategies specifically tailored to the SaaS market:

  • Content Marketing for Lead Generation:
    • Action Steps:
      • Develop buyer personas to understand your ideal customer’s needs, challenges, and preferred content formats (e.g., blog posts, ebooks, webinars).
      • Conduct keyword research to identify topics relevant to your target audience and product.
      • Create high-quality content that addresses your audience’s pain points and showcases your product’s value proposition as a solution.
      • Promote your content strategically through various channels (social media, email marketing, influencer outreach) to drive traffic to your website and capture leads.
      • Analyze content performance using analytics tools to understand what resonates with your audience and refine your strategy for continuous improvement.
  • Free Trial Optimization:
    • Action Steps:
      • Design a compelling free trial experience that allows users to test the core functionalities of your SaaS product and understand its value.
      • Track free trial sign-up rates and analyze any obstacles that might prevent users from trying your product.
      • Monitor user behavior within the trial period to identify areas for improvement within the trial experience and understand how users interact with your product.
      • Develop targeted messaging (emails, in-app tutorials) to guide users during the trial, address their questions, and encourage them to convert to paying customers.
  • Customer Relationship Management (CRM):
    • Action Steps:
      • Implement a CRM system to manage customer interactions, track customer data throughout their journey, and gain valuable insights into customer behavior.
      • Integrate your marketing and sales tools with your CRM for a unified view of your customer journey and streamline communication.
      • Leverage customer data to personalize marketing messages, offers, and support interactions based on user behavior and interests.
  • Marketing Automation:
    • Action Steps:
      • Utilize marketing automation tools to automate repetitive tasks such as email marketing campaigns, lead nurturing sequences, social media scheduling, and personalized communication.
      • Personalize your communication with leads and customers based on their demographics, interests, behavior within your product, and previous interactions with your brand.
      • Track the performance of your automated campaigns and optimize them for better results, focusing on metrics like open rates, click-through rates, and conversion rates.
  • SaaS Metrics and Analytics:
    • Action Steps:
      • Identify key metrics relevant to your SaaS business goals, such as customer acquisition cost (CAC), customer lifetime value (CLTV), churn rate, and monthly recurring revenue (MRR).
      • Utilize website analytics tools to track user behavior on your website, landing pages, and within your SaaS product to identify areas for improvement and optimize the user experience.
      • Regularly analyze your marketing performance data to identify what’s working and what’s not. Use these data insights to optimize your marketing campaigns, make data-driven decisions, and improve your overall SaaS marketing strategy.

SaaS businesses require specific marketing tactics tailored to their subscription-based model. Here are some key strategies to consider:

  • Freemium Models: Offer a free basic version of your SaaS product with limited features. This allows potential customers to try your product before committing to a paid plan, reducing the barrier to entry and fostering trust.
  • Content Marketing for SaaS: Focus on creating valuable and informative content that addresses the pain points and interests of your target audience at different stages of the buyer’s journey:
    • Awareness Stage: Provide educational content like blog posts, infographics, and webinars that introduce your product and the problems it solves.
    • Consideration Stage: Offer in-depth case studies, white papers, and product demos that showcase the value proposition of your SaaS product.
    • Decision Stage: Provide free trials, user testimonials, and live chat support to address user concerns and encourage them to sign up for a paid plan.
  • Metrics and Analytics: Track key metrics that measure the success of your SaaS marketing efforts. Here are some important metrics to consider:
    • Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC): This metric reflects the average cost of acquiring a new customer. By tracking CAC, you can optimize your marketing spend for better returns.
    • Churn Rate: Measures the percentage of customers who cancel their subscription within a given period. Analyzing churn rate helps you identify areas for improvement in your product or customer retention strategies.
    • Monthly Recurring Revenue (MRR): Tracks the predictable revenue generated from your subscription plans each month. Monitoring MRR helps you assess the overall health and growth of your SaaS business.

By incorporating these specific SaaS marketing strategies and continuously optimizing your approach based on data and analytics, you can effectively reach your target audience, generate qualified leads, convert free trial users into paying customers, retain existing customers, and achieve sustainable growth for your SaaS business.

Advanced Marketing Strategies

Beyond the foundational strategies, here are some advanced tactics that can further enhance your digital marketing efforts:

  • Influencer Marketing: Partnering with influencers in your niche allows you to leverage their credibility and reach to promote your brand or product. Identify influencers whose audience aligns with your target market and create compelling content collaborations (e.g., product reviews, tutorials, social media mentions).
  • Marketing Attribution: This strategy helps you understand the specific touchpoints that influence a customer’s journey towards conversion. By tracking user interactions across different marketing channels (website, social media, email), you can identify which channels are most effective in driving sales and optimize your marketing budget accordingly.
  • Marketing Automation: Utilize marketing automation tools to streamline repetitive tasks and personalize your marketing communications. Automating email campaigns, social media scheduling, and lead nurturing can save time and resources while fostering stronger customer relationships.
  • Retargeting: Remarketing campaigns target users who have previously interacted with your brand (e.g., visited your website, abandoned their shopping cart). Retargeting ads can be highly effective in reminding users about your products or services and encouraging them to complete a desired action (e.g., make a purchase, sign up for a free trial).

Examples of Marketing Strategies in Action:

Content Marketing:

  • Dollar Shave Club: Their hilarious and informative video ad campaign went viral, attracting millions of views and propelling the brand to success. This example highlights the power of creating engaging and shareable content that resonates with your target audience.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO):

  • Travel Website: A travel website significantly improved its search ranking by conducting thorough keyword research and optimizing website content with relevant keywords and user-friendly formatting. This demonstrates the impact of well-executed SEO strategies in driving organic traffic.

Social Media Marketing:

  • Clothing Brand: This brand increased social media engagement by launching a user-generated content campaign, encouraging customers to share photos wearing their clothes. This strategy leverages the power of social proof and customer advocacy to build brand loyalty.

Feeling Stuck? 30 Digital Marketing Strategy Quotes

If you need some inspiration, check out these digital marketing strategy quotes to help ignite that fire of inspiration and creativity.

  1. “Content is fire; social media is gasoline.” – Jay Baer
  2. “The best marketing doesn’t feel like marketing.” – Tom Fishburne
  3. “We need to stop interrupting what people are interested in and be what people are interested in.” – Craig Davis
  4. “Marketing is no longer about the stuff that you make, but about the stories you tell.” – Seth Godin
  5. “In the world of Internet Customer Service, it’s important to remember your competitor is only one mouse click away.” – Doug Warner
  6. “On a broad scale, I see SEO becoming a normalized marketing tactic, the same way TV, radio, and print are traditionally thought of as marketing tactics.” – Duane Forrester, Yext
  7. “Good marketing makes the company look smart. Great marketing makes the customer feel smart.” – Joe Chernov
  8. “The consumer is not a moron; she is your wife.” – David Ogilvy
  9. “Successful companies in social media function more like entertainment companies, publishers, or party planners than as traditional advertisers.” – Erik Qualman
  10. “Digital marketing is not an art of selling a product. It is an art of making people buy the product that you sell.” – Hecate Strategy
  11. “Mediocre marketers think in terms of campaigns. Great marketers think in terms of growth frameworks.” – Neil Patel
  12. “Social media is about sociology and psychology more than technology.” – Brian Solis
  13. “Today it’s not about ‘get the traffic’ — it’s about ‘get the targeted and relevant traffic.'” – Adam Audette
  14. “Digital marketing is not the art of finding clever ways to dispose of what you make. It is the art of creating genuine customer value.” – Philip Kotler
  15. “Engage, Enlighten, Encourage and especially…just be yourself! Social media is a community effort, everyone is an asset.” – Susan Cooper
  16. Take a risk and keep testing, because what works today won’t work tomorrow, but what worked yesterday may work again.” – Amrita Sahasrabudhe
  17. “Marketing without data is like driving with your eyes closed.” – Dan Zarrella
  18. “Innovation needs to be part of your culture. Consumers are transforming faster than we are, and if we don’t catch up, we’re in trouble.” – Ian Schafer
  19. “People don’t buy what you do, they buy why you do it.” – Simon Sinek
  20. “The best marketing strategy ever: CARE.” – Gary Vaynerchuk
  21. “People shop and learn in a whole new way compared to just a few years ago, so marketers need to adapt or risk extinction.” – Brian Halligan
  22. “Word of mouth can be as important, if not more important, for neighbourhood businesses as traditional advertising.” – Ekaterina Walter
  23. “The aim of marketing is to know and understand the customer so well the product or service fits him and sells itself.” – Peter Drucker
  24. “The man who stops advertising to save money is like the man who stops the clock to save time.” – Thomas Jefferson
  25. “Strong customer relationships drive sales, sustainability, and growth.” – Tom Cates
  26. “Ignoring online marketing is like opening a business but not telling anyone.” – Anonymous
  27. “Content is King but engagement is Queen, and the lady rules the house!” – Mari Smith
  28. “Marketers need to build digital relationships and reputation before closing a sale.” – Chris Brogan
  29. “The Internet affords a level of relationship with consumers hitherto unfathomable.” – Lucas Donat
  30. “SEO is not something you do anymore. It’s what happens when you do everything else right.” – Chad Pollitt

These quotes cover a variety of topics within digital marketing, from content and social media strategy to SEO, customer engagement, and the evolving nature of marketing in the digital age.

So to conclude – What is digital marketing analysis? It is a complete road map to develop a comprehensive and effective marketing strategy for any brand. If you need help with your digital strategy – reach out to our agency via this link and we would love to help you develop an effective strategy for your digital brand.

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