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READY!  FIRE!  AIM!

I know, it’s an old joke about the dangers of poor planning.  Yet when it comes to digital advertising too many marketers are putting this backwards process into practice.  When it comes to results, the joke is on them.

According to Smart Insights research, nearly half of surveyed companies use digital marketing but have no specific plan for it and do not make it an integrated element in their overall marketing strategies.

Ready….aim…

The good news is the vast majority of marketers are indeed using digital marketing.  Having taken the first step…involvement…they are ready to improving the effectiveness of their activity by taking the next step…planning.

There has been a similar learning curve for every new medium as they emerged in the marketplace.  Radio, TV, cable…marketers rushed to use each new tool to avoid being overwhelmed by their competitors.  As usage, and investment, increased more attention was paid to planning and analysis as a means of measuring performance and ROI.

It can be said that the emergence of digital technology in marketing is more than an emerging medium.  It is a revolution of how content is shared and consumed.  Mobile devices provide access to your marketing content anytime and anywhere.  And these devices are increasingly used as a tool to engage in commerce, creating a direct link from message to purchase often at the actual point of sale.  Amazing!

These characteristics make it plain to see how a well directed strategy can pay off big time.  So begin your plan for success with these steps:

1 – Research your customer and find out what devices they use, and how they use them.  How and when do they engage in social media, email, text, search and entertainment venues?

2 – Determine what information/sites are being accessed on each device.  Online analytics tools can reveal a lot of this information.  This will allow you to properly target where/when your messages appear.

3 – Define goals/role of digital in your marketing strategy.  Make sure you allocate adequate funds to accomplish what you want to do.

4 – Create an online message/value proposition that will get attention, engage involvement and maintain interest over time.

FIRE!

Now take your newly targeted digital strategy and integrate it with the other components of your marketing plan.  What you create is sure to give you the best chance of marketplace success.

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