I’ve never been an artist, but I appreciate artists of all forms: chefs, painters, sculptors, novelists, athletes, poets. I believe there is much that can be learned from someone so dedicated to their craft, even by a complete non-artist like myself. One thing all the artists I respect share in common is a regular, committed return to the basics of their craft. While they’re constantly learning, evolving, and growing, they’re also just as constantly practicing their basics, whether it’s the use of color, knife work, free throws, or sentence construction. It’s impossible to build a masterpiece without first mastering the basics.
This is true for many things, even marketing your business. The truth is this headline is a bit deceiving – there is no three step plan to follow that grows your business overnight. And the majority of digital marketing plans are only a failure if you don’t learn from your efforts. (More on that below.) The only way to execute a successful, “fail-proof” marketing plan is to identify the basics and execute them carefully and intentionally.
Digital marketing often seems so complex and nuanced that you might wonder if there even are any basics to it anymore. But like any art form, there are distinct basics that can be developed and practiced to create a masterpiece. Once you know these basics, you can begin to craft a digital marketing plan that will reach your potential customers and grow your business.
Every artist has an end game in mind, and marketing is no exception. It’s important to know the exact goals for your marketing plan so that you have an exact picture of what success is. These goals will clearly inform your marketing plan so that you stay on course. With a painting, it’s still a win if you end up going in a different direction. But with marketing, veering off course can cost you unnecessary time and money, and can end up hindering the results you actually want to achieve.
Once you know your goals and end game, you need to know your customer inside and out. In marketing, we refer to this as creating buyer personas: fictitious representations of your ideal customer so you can create a marketing plan that best meets their needs. What is the exact problem they are wanting to solve? What words or phrases are they using to search for this solution online? How do they make decisions: do they come to your website ready to buy? Do they need to look through white pages, case studies, or comparisons before they make a decision? Are they likely to take you up on a free demonstration or consultation, or do you think they will make a decision independently and then come to you?
Knowing your ideal customer’s problem, needs, and decision making process allows you to begin crafting a strategy to create and distribute content, emails, digital ads, and more that meet your prospects right where they are spending their time. You’ll have a clear idea of the exact content your audience needs to receive, and how they prefer to consume it. The result is that you will earn their attention, and then their trust.
One of the great things that separates a marketing masterpiece from an artistic one is that marketing isn’t nearly as subjective as art. It’s crystal clear what is working and what isn’t when you look at your data and analytics. These numbers allow you to be incredibly nimble, intuitive, and adaptable. Is your email strategy a flop? That can be fixed. Is your audience honing in on a specific blog post or content offer? You can easily build upon that piece. Do you have a large portion of traffic coming from a specific web site or page? Figure out how to use it to reach your goals. Do your blog posts or emails have a high bounce rate? Practice A/B testing until you figure out why. Honestly, if Michaelangelo had this kind of feedback, the Sistine Chapel would probably have only taken six months. (Yes, sarcasm.)
With any art form, the basics are just the beginning. Once you have laid a solid foundation, you can begin crafting your masterpiece. But the beauty of digital marketing is that you never have to work alone. Our company is full of digital artists, storytellers, and strategists who are ready to help you craft and execute a plan that reaches your prospects and earns their trust. Want to learn more about how we can partner with you? Click the image below to set up a discovery call with our team.