The basic definition of Digital Marketing is marketing the products or services of your business/brand via online channels. Connecting with customers through your website, emails, online searches and social media to market your product is known as Digital Marketing.

However, devising a digital marketing strategy is a continuously evolving and a complex task. There are multiple elements one can incorporate in their approach that it is hard to define which ones you absolutely must do. A robust and sturdy digital marketing strategy has become the staple diet for most CMOs across industries.

There are a plethora of assets, tactics, and practices that fall under digital marketing that comprehending and applying all of them is not possible. Here are some of the key elements that I have shortlisted for a successful digital marketing strategy in 2018.

Enhanced Mobile Capabilities

More and more industries are relying deliberately on mobile devices for business today. The sole purpose of shifting business to mobiles is to entice and retain consumers. With users gradually transiting from desktops and laptops to mobile phones and tablets, creating a robust mobile strategy can open gates to an ocean of potential customers.

Now, devising a mobile strategy is not limited to only optimizing your website for mobile users. Apart from designing a seamless customer experience, you must also incorporate mobile-friendly ads and, maybe, offer mobile apps for download. This way you engage your customers, no matter what device they are using or what location they are at. Also, keep in mind that your mobile strategy should not be like a ‘lite’ version of your general digital marketing strategy. It must be exclusive, satiating the needs of the customer.

Strong and Authentic Content

The most significant element of a successful digital marketing strategy is perhaps a strong, meaningful and original content. An authentic piece of content can benefit businesses in more ways than one. To start with, exceptional content can tremendously improve the online visibility of the website, on search engines like Google, Yahoo etc., driving organic traffic to the site. Secondly, a great piece of content becomes a shareable content. Customers who like your content will often share it on social media platforms, engaging more and more people.

For this, businesses would have to put efforts in continuously creating and curating content for better engagement. While writing a blog is an excellent way to start, options like infographics, podcasts, webinars, actual image galleries etc. can drive huge numbers and in turn, drive the business.

Old but Gold – Email Marketing

It’s a myth when people say marketing your business/brand over emails is a thing of the past. Email Marketing remains one of the major components of a digital marketing strategy since it drives excellent traffic on the site with comparatively high ROI. For an ideal email marketing strategy, you should drop an email regularly, but not more than twice or thrice a week. The number of emails depends purely on your target audience and their needs.

Also, segregating your emails will help you better target customers based on their activity and interests. There may be customers who are frequent visitors to your website and expect three emails in a week. There may also be customers who visit less frequently and want only one or two emails in a month. By segregating your list, you can minimize the risk of losing customers by unwantedly spamming them with emails they don't want. Last but not the least, a catchy, gripping, honest and personalized subject line can immensely shoot up the open rate of emails.

Paid Social Ads

Paid social ads also play a vital role in devising a successful digital marketing strategy. Although businesses can generate traffic organically by creating a respectable social media presence, paid social ads can boost your customer engagement significantly. The one advantage paid social ads have, is a customizable budget. You can start with a meager amount, and track how ads are impacting your overall traffic and conversions. Therefore, each time you post an ad and track your metrics, you can see the ROI these ads provide.

Paid social ads also offer ultra-targeting, which means you can target users based on their activities, interests etc. apart from the basic demographics such as location, age, and gender. This way, you can target only the audience that is likely to buy your product/service, minimizing the overall cost involved in advertising.

While these are only a few but crucial elements involved in creating an impeccable digital marketing strategy, employees and professionals working in the digital world can also opt for various digital marketing certifications available online to better understand the trends and drive businesses to greater heights.

Key Elements Of A Successful Digital Marketing Strategy - Learning.Shine