hedgehog lab

My First Day. “Welcome to hedgehog lab Sophie, here’s our marketing strategy, I would like you to update it for us.”

Not only is it my first day, this is my first marketing strategy and my first time working in a digital based agency, executing what I’m learning as part of my CAM Digital Marketing diploma. I’m nervous. I try not to show it, but this is a big deal here, I have to get this right. Where do I start?

After having read through the 2012/13 sales and marketing strategy about 5 times, I noted a few simple typos (hedgehog lab always has lower case H) and more poignantly the lack of digital marketing methods.

So, I thought I would use my experience to share some points with you on adjusting your marketing plan to incorporate a digital strategy. I hope this blog helps any other first timers out there, so that you can formulate your own plan of attack. I often think it helps if you think of your favourite computer or super hero when doing so.

Kapow!

Here are the steps to help you formulate and audit and plan for your organisation;

• Take it to the doctor. Perform a health check on what is currently in place, also known as an Audit, not to be confused with a financial audit. To keep it simple think of an audit as being a situation analysis. A digital marketing audit is a health check on what is currently being carried out online, it looks at what you are doing in order to gain a diagnosis of where you are so you can clarify what to do next.
• McKinseys 7 S’s framework for business can be applied to your audit when considering what is currently in place
  1. 1. Strategy
  2. 2. Structure
  3. 3. Staff
  4. 4. Style
  5. 5. Skills
  6. 6. Systems
  7. 7. Superordinate Goals

  Marketers may not need to use all of the points above, they were devised to aid your situation analysis as you formulate your plan using the more familiar SOSTAC model by PR Smith. If you are unfamiliar with this, don’t stress, just read on…

• Competitor analysis Part of your audit should include a competitor analysis. Look at the strengths and weaknesses of the online offerings of your competition, this can be on a local, national and international scale. Although, how in depth you want to go with this really is up to you, but it will help you to understand how your competitors work online,. You can’t lose out by having a nosey, can you?
• At this point you may ask me, “What is the point of a situation analysis, why not simply execute our email marketing and social media use in order to uplift customer interest?” More often than not, managers are executing their online marketing without thought, planning and sufficient measuring. The audit aims to identify all strategic opportunities or current inefficiencies which would be missed if purely focusing on the tactical.

So, we have looked at the Situation Analysis which forms the first part of SOSTAC analysis, the remaining parts are used to help you plan your strategy for the coming year.

• Objectives (the O in SOSTAC) Set them. Make them clear! They will help you to measure your ROI. Marketers may want to use the SMART model if, like in my case, there are softer objectives being set.

• Segment & Target Customers (the S & T in SOSTAC) To help you choose the right tools, look at where your customers are online. Use a profiling technique and segment by profile. For example, B2B may want to segment into industry; gaming, publishing, education, tourism then look at where the key decision makers are online. If an organisation is B2C they may want to segment by demographic such as age or gender.
• Action (the A in SOSTAC) Execute your plan! The key to this is having the plan in place so you have can work to deadlines, meaning work is more likely to get done. A detailed plan is wise as part of your contingency planning as it will act as ‘work instructions’ for others who may need to execute the plan on your behalf, should you fall ill or, god forbid, leave the company.
• Control (the C in SOSTAC) this includes monitoring action, measuring the process and measuring the results. You may need someone else to monitor the result for you, however, in my case, it’s just me! I will be holding regular meetings to review the plan with my boss, and I aim to review the plan at each quarter to see where the organisation can improve.

A couple of points I think are also rather important as an online marketing manager or assistant;

• Always consider new tools.In the audit you have looked at what online tools you are using. As you move on to plan for the coming year, explore the online options available to the organisation. An online shoe store, currently using Facebook and twitter may want to extend to Pinterest to drive traffic, via links in each pin, to the product in the online store. Always keep an open mind about where to move on to next, digital media is constantly changing, keep on top of the trends. Here’s some interesting sources to keep you up to date:
  • Mashable Social Media
  • Social Media Examiner
  • Brand Republic
  • TechCrunch
  • emarketer
  • Smart Insights < great tips and ‘how to’ guides on all aspects of digital marketing from Dave Chaffey et al.
• Don’t ignore, add to: So, now I’m left with the task to bring the marketing strategy up to date by adding the digital plan. If you are lucky enough to be handed a marketing strategy like me, do not ignore the traditional method by which the company markets itself. What is used in the current marketing strategy should be reflected online. Online tools are another tactic, by which your marketing manager can reflect the core values and company personality, gain custom and build relationships.
• When you do come to execute your plan, remember Quality over Quantity. Organisations often create presence on every available online medium and often don’t have the resources available to update regularly. You wouldn’t launch your company webpage with no content, so why do the same on social media? I feel having an online presence is only beneficial if you update with a steady stream of interesting content and you are actually targeting your customers, otherwise your time could be wasted.
• Set a start and end date for your marketing plan, if not, the audit stage could go on and on!

I really hope this all makes sense to you, there are many sides to digital marketing that can be baffling, but planning and preparation, for the long run, should see you through. I urge you to remember that the digital world is always changing, I should refer to it as a universe, as it’s never ending. Change with it, don’t be scared by it. Embrace it, you can’t lose out. Most online facilities are free to use and there is a wealth of information out there to support you as you take your business forward.

Sophie
@digidoodah