It’s easy to get distracted in the real world and exponentially easier in the online world. Most businesses have a general idea of what they want to achieve, but no clear idea of how to get there. A written plan is your best course of action to stay on point. You need to have specific targets mapped out with a plan in place to reach those goals.

Getting everyone on the team on the same page can be challenging. By including all the key players in the creation of the plan, this can be mitigated. When people feel like they have ownership in the digital marketing strategy, they are much more likely to stick to the script. Implementation will be more efficient as everyone will want the plan to work.

Putting together a digital marketing strategy will force you to identify who your target customers are. Once you pinpoint WHO you are marketing to, it will be far easier to figure out HOW to market to them. Your entire strategy will come together as you determine where they are located online, what it will take to reach them, and how you plan to accomplish it.

If you’re running digital campaigns without a solid plan, there’s a good chance you’re wasting money. Without having a target audience, you could be inadvertently showing your message to incorrect age groups in the wrong geographies during a substandard part of the day. Also, without a set digital marketing strategy, you could be duplicating your marketing efforts.

One of the primary benefits of digital marketing is all of the available data. You can see who is clicking on what and how they got there. A good digital marketing strategy will set goals and use the data to see if the benchmarks are being met. Since digital marketing is so fluid, changes can be made on the fly to correct any issues.