The Marketing Plan

Most businesses have heard the phrase “digital transformation” and perhaps even wondered what it means. Transformational technology has fundamentally changed the way we live and work. The “traditional” Marketing digital Abidjan practices of newspapers, magazines, radio and TV stations... no longer apply, as their audiences shift to mobile phones and the Internet.

These technologies make it easier for consumers to discover the products and services their businesses offer. As a result, businesses must adjust their approaches to attract new customers and retain existing ones.

So how can marketers in digital-first Abidjan implement a strategy to grow their business?

Building A Brand

A brand is a business' promise to deliver a certain experience to customers. With marketing and communications channels changing at lightning speed, how can a business distinguish itself from competitors?

The first step is to build a brand identity, which includes brand purpose, values, and language. The brand voice and style of a company's marketing and communications should reflect the business' objectives and values. A well-defined brand will attract customers and give them a reason to choose your product or service over competitors' products or services. It takes time to create a memorable brand identity, so it is important to roll out a marketing strategy that includes regular brand building activities.

Where Do I Start?

With so much information available online, customers can easily research businesses before purchasing their products or services. Digital marketing professionals can use this fact to their advantage and build a digital persona for each of their customers.

Customers have a variety of options when it comes to finding products and services they need online, so marketers must ensure their sites are easy to navigate and have the information customers are searching for. In addition, businesses should ensure their sites are user-friendly and follow standards for accessibility. These steps help customers feel confident purchasing online, as they know technical difficulties such as page load time and navigational errors will not occur.

Determining Goals And Metrics

Once a business has built a strong brand identity, it is time to determine the goals and metrics for marketing and communication strategy. Setting these benchmarks will ensure the right results are achieved and allow for continual improvement. For example, if the aim is to increase web traffic, then metrics such as the number of pages visited, the average time spent on the site, and the number of visitors over a given time period can be used to determine whether or not this goal has been achieved.

Marketing & Communications Strategy

While the previous step focused on branding and creating a digital identity, this step focuses on strategy-making. A comprehensive marketing strategy should be developed with the aim to grow the business and improve profit margins. This step also covers selecting the right platforms (e.g., social media), creating content (e.g., advertising copy, web content, etc.), measuring results, and continually adjusting the strategy as needed.

Marketing and communications strategy is often viewed as a permanent fixture, but it is a dynamic process that requires continual adjustment as times and technology change.

Marketing Plan

The marketing plan is a blueprint for the strategy. It sets out the general plan for marketing and communications, including the objectives, the target audience, ideas for measuring success, and the projected budget.

The marketing plan should be developed alongside the financial strategy, as together they form the business' overall marketing strategy. The marketing plan serves as a guide to hold the team accountable for the strategy, providing milestones along the way and offering a clear view of the project's overall objective. The marketing plan should be reviewed and updated at least once a year, if not more frequently as needed.

Marketing Execution

The marketing execution phase is where the strategy is turned into action. Marketing and communications professionals will carry out the plan, measure its success, and report regularly on the status of the campaign.

The main actions that should be taken include the creation of marketing materials, such as ads, brand websites, social media content, etc. (e.g., adverts, landing pages, blog posts, YouTube videos, etc.), and determining the target audience and marketing channels for the campaign. The plan should be converted into digital assets, such as landing pages, social media accounts, and e-mail marketing campaigns.

Marketing execution is also where the ongoing review of the strategy should take place. As discussed above, the marketing plan should be reviewed and updated at least once a year.

Performance Marketing

Performance marketing combines online and offline marketing activities to improve a business' presence and establish trust with consumers. It measures the performance of a campaign both online and offline to establish the most effective strategy for attaining business objectives.

In addition to the four steps discussed above, performance marketing in digital-first Abidjan should include measurement and analysis of marketing and communication activity across different platforms. This involves tracking and analyzing the number of website visits, social media engagement, and email interactions with customers.

• Inbound Marketing: Getting Started
• Attracting, Nurturing, and Retaining Customers
• Engagement Marketing: Keeping Everyone Informed
• Performance Marketing: Combining Online & Offline Activity
• Measurement and Analysis of Marketing and Communications
• Making Data-driven Decisions

Measuring Success

When developing a marketing and communications strategy, the question “Is this going to work?” must be addressed. This question can be answered by measuring the success of the campaign.

The first step in this regard is to define metrics for the campaign. The metrics should be measurable and provide some indication of the campaign's success, so that adjustments can be made as needed. For instance, if the aim is to increase website traffic from 20,000 to 25,000 visitors per month, then this should be measurable by setting a target of 25,000 visits per month and tracking the actual number of monthly visits.

How Do I Track Results?

The metrics above not only measure the effectiveness of a strategy, but they can also be used to track its results. The digital marketing team should keep a tally of the metrics above-mentioned and review them at the end of each month. This provides executives with a clear view of the progress and ensures they have a good grasp of the overall performance of the campaign.

The next step is to review the metrics and determine whether or not the campaign was a success. A successful performance marketing campaign will produce the desired results and establish the basis for subsequent campaigns. Conversely, a campaign that does not produce the desired results can be modified accordingly and replaced with a new strategy that is more conducive to attaining the targeted results.

Continual Improvement

The last step in the development of a performance marketing campaign is to continually improve the strategy and be flexible enough to respond to changing demands and new competitive environments. Marketing and communications professionals should be open to new ideas and the constant search for better ways to achieve business objectives. This step ensures the strategy will continue to evolve and remain effective as times change and technology improves.

The purpose of this article is not to replace sound business judgment with a set of rigid marketing techniques. Instead, it aims to educate business leaders about the fundamentals of marketing so that they may choose to take a more active role in leading their organizations into the digital age.