A digital marketing strategy is a written answer to five questions: who is the customer, what do they need to believe, where do they already spend attention, what is the one next step, and how will you know it worked. Most Nigerian businesses doing digital marketing are doing digital activities without answering them.
TL;DR
- Activity is not strategy.
- Five questions, written down, before any channel.
- Measure one thing per objective.
Activities versus strategy
Posting on Instagram three times a week, boosting a post monthly, and hoping is a set of activities. A strategy is the reasoning that decides which activities earn the budget and which do not.
The test is whether you can explain why each activity exists in terms of a customer, an objective and a measure.
The five questions
Who exactly is the customer, in a sentence a stranger would recognise. What do they need to believe to buy. Where do they already spend attention. What is the single next step you want. How will you know it worked. Answer these in writing and the channel plan largely follows.
From strategy to plan
Pick the one or two channels that reach the customer where they already are. Set a target per channel. Build the measurement before spending. Review monthly, and cut anything that cannot be tied to the objective.
Frequently asked questions
How long should a strategy document be?
One page. If it needs ten, it is not yet a strategy.
How often should it change?
Review quarterly; rewrite only when the customer or the objective changes.