9 Important Steps to Create the Structure of a Digital Marketing Plan

With web 3.0 and metaverse fast approaching, digital marketing has become critical for businesses across industries to create engagement and drive growth. However, the evolution of technology has also made digital marketing more complicated. It can be a daunting endeavor without an effective plan in place, and the first step towards getting it right is the appropriate structure. This blog covers everything you need to know about a digital marketing plan, including a step-by-step guide for creating a structure of a digital marketing plan that will help drive results for your business.   

What is a Digital Marketing Plan?

A digital marketing plan is a document that provides a complete detailed outline of a brand’s digital marketing campaigns to achieve strategic business objectives. An effective digital marketing plan should be clear and concise. Some essential elements of a digital marketing plan are business goals, timeline, strategies, channels, budgets, and development plans. 

How to Structure a Digital Marketing Plan

1. Define Audience Segmentation and Buyer Personas

Knowing your audience and understanding their needs and expectations is critical for the success of marketing campaigns. You can get a better understanding of your target audience with the help of audience segmentation and buyer persona. For audience segmentation, divide your target market into smaller segments such as demographics, interests, needs, location, and personality traits. A buyer persona is a detailed description of your target audience to understand their goals and buying patterns. A precise buyer persona and audience segmentation can help optimize the structure of a digital marketing plan.

2. Conduct a SWOT Analysis

A Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT) analysis is a must for businesses to understand where they stand in the market. Internal and external SWOT analyses can help you assess the strengths and weaknesses of your business. This can later be used as a framework to develop a successful digital marketing plan that will focus on your strengths, overcome or mitigate weaknesses, avoid risks and vulnerabilities, and leverage opportunities to boost engagement and drive sales.    

3. Define Your Digital Marketing Channels

Before creating a content strategy that impacts the structure of a digital marketing plan, it is essential to define the digital marketing channels you will be using for your marketing campaigns. These are the platforms where people spend most of their time so select the channels best suited for your brand, audience, budget, and goals. Determining the right digital marketing channels can produce the best Return on Investment (ROI).  

After selecting the marketing channels, create content strategies based on your goals, budget, and target audience. You don’t have to focus on many channels to get your message across and not all popular platforms will be the right fit for your brand. Identify those that will give you optimum results. For example, if your audience is mainly Gen Z, you can consider influencer marketing on TikTok for the best ROI.  

4. Develop Your Digital Marketing Strategies and Tactics

Now that you know your audience and channels, develop your digital marketing strategies accordingly. Create automatic workflows and use content marketing tools to automate and manage marketing campaigns. Digital marketing tactics help you reach out to your target audience with your message and allow you to achieve your marketing goals. Some of the best digital marketing tactics to boost your brand visibility are Search Engine Optimization (SEO), email marketing, social media marketing, content marketing, paid advertisement, and search engine marketing. 

5. Define Your Digital Marketing Goals and Business Objectives

Define clear, attainable, and measurable digital marketing goals and objectives for your business. Think about what you want to achieve and the timeframe you need to create effective strategies to help you meet these business objectives. Establish your marketing goals with the Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time-bound (SMART) framework to ensure your business objectives are attainable within the timeframe. 

6. Measure the Results and KPIs of Your Digital Marketing Plan

The results and digital marketing Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) will give a clear picture of whether you are achieving your business goals and objectives. Some metrics and KPIs include page views, web traffic, cost per lead, conversion rate, click-through rate, returning visitors, and customer acquisition cost. Measuring and tracking the performance of your marketing campaign is critical to examine, modify, and optimize your campaigns in order to boost performance and overall results.     

7. Calculate Your Digital Marketing Plan Budget

Setting aside a budget is key to developing successful marketing campaigns that will grow your business. Your budget may vary based on factors such as revenue, goals, location, and campaigns, among others. While creating the structure of a digital marketing plan, you can calculate your digital marketing budget by establishing clear goals for customer acquisition and revenue goals, identifying Cost Per Lead (CPL), calculating conversion rate, and determining lead goals. 

8. Conduct Competitive Analysis and Determine Market Share

Market shares can determine your rank against competitors. Figuring out your standing in the industry is essential for the long-term success of your business. You can gain excellent insights into your competition’s sales, products, and marketing strategies to optimize your marketing campaigns. It can help you identify areas of growth, potential opportunities, and market requirements, as well as calculate market shares. 

9. Create a Marketing Calendar

Finally, build a marketing calendar to schedule campaigns to ensure your digital marketing plan makes sense. Creating a marketing calendar is the last but the most critical step in the structure of a digital marketing plan. It allows you to see the big picture of marketing, determine the requirements and issues, and reach your target goals.  

Digital Marketing Plan Template

Now that you have the structure of a digital marketing plan, create a template that is ideal for your business. An effective digital marketing template will allow you to streamline your marketing goals, keep track of campaigns, manage team’s schedules, and work efficiently. Remember that marketing templates are different for each business; what works for the others might not necessarily work for yours. Also, create a template with built-in flexibility to adjust your goals. 

To recap, your digital marketing plan template can include the following:   

• Deadlines 
• Timeframe 
• Marketing channels 
• Results measurements 
• Action plan
• Project status 
• Team assignment
• Marketing goals 
• Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
• Target market  
• Competitor analysis 
• Budget 
• Review

Learning Digital Marketing, the Emeritus Way 

The structure of a digital marketing plan is the most critical aspect of developing successful campaigns to raise brand engagement, visibility, and sales; it can significantly impact your business growth. If you want to have a better understanding of digital marketing and learn how to develop successful marketing strategies, explore and sign up for Emeritus’ online digital marketing courses taught by experts from the field.

Write to us at content@emeritus.org