Mastering the Fundamentals of Digital Marketing: A Guide to Building and Structuring Your Strategy

Originally published on The VL Studios blog on January 11, 2023. Lightly edited.

A digital marketing strategy is a plan for how a business will use digital channels to reach and engage its audience. Building one can feel daunting. These seven building blocks make it manageable.

1. Goals and objectives. Set clear, measurable goals that support the overall business strategy, such as more website traffic, more online sales or a larger following.
2. Target audience. Understand who you're speaking to: demographics such as age, income and location, and psychographics such as values and interests.
3. Competitive analysis. Study competitors' websites, content and social presence. What they do well, and where they fall short, shows you where to stand out.
4. Digital channels. Choose the channels that reach your audience and serve your goals: social media, email, search (SEO) and paid advertising.
5. Content. Plan a regular mix of useful, engaging content, from articles and video to social posts.
6. Metrics and analytics. Track the numbers that matter, such as traffic, conversion rates and engagement, so you know what's working.
7. Optimization. Test headlines, calls to action, images and targeting, and keep refining.

A good strategy is specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound (SMART), tied to the business strategy and reviewed regularly.