The digital marketing landscape has changed a lot over the last decade. It’s become easier than ever before to build a digital marketing campaign using tools offered by your marketing platforms. But what about thinking strategically? How can leaders ensure their digital marketing team is asking the right questions? Read on to discover exactly that.
Rather listen than read? In this episode of Test. Learn. Grow., we talked to Tim Fitzgerald and Geoff Roebuck, two of Level Agency’s team leads and digital marketing experts. Over the years, Tim and Geoff have come up with a five-question media framework that is the guiding philosophy of media buying here at Level.
Think strategically about your goals
Modern technology has made building a marketing campaign simpler and more streamlined than ever. Today’s business owners need to take the next step and incorporate elements of strategy into the media planning and buying process to ensure they reach their goals. Marketing strategy today is about understanding the business and asking the right questions—and then answering those questions and overcoming challenges.
5-Question Media Framework
Through many constructive brainstorming sessions, Tim and Geoff have developed a series of simple questions that our media-buying teams are asking every single day. Let’s dig in!
1. Are we hitting our goals?
First, of course, determine what your marketing goals are. These goals can be aligned with your business goals. They may be focused on efficiency, or return on ad spend, or they may be tied to growth and driving leads. Are there KPIs aligned with them, and can they tell you if you’re hitting your goals based off of numbers you’ve confirmed from your business’ source of truth? Whether they are or not—ask why. This leads to the remaining questions.
2. Are we showing relevant and effective ads?
You must take the time to think about the user experience. Look into what people are searching for and determine if your ads are speaking to that.
3. Are we targeting the right people?
Really analyze the metrics behind your target audience, as well as the sources used when marketing to them, to determine if you’re hitting the right people. This will become especially evident down funnel.
4. Are we paying the right price to compete? Part of this ties into understanding your business’ economics and knowing where you can push and pull back your spend. Ask yourself whether your goals are realistic for what you want to accomplish. Setting appropriate, achievable goals is key to the success of your campaigns.
5. Are users getting what they need from the page we’re sending them to? Is the landing page or website appropriate and effective? You want your landing page to facilitate an easy experience for your users. Ensure your page is functional, optimized—think load time—and has a clear call to action that’s consistent with your digital ads.
Strategic Discovery
True strategy is discovered. Our media analysts are asking these questions cyclically and thinking through these problems in order to evolve strategy over time and bring new insights to the table.
Digital marketing has become accessible for more and more business owners, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t complex. We’ve given you five questions to ask that can help integrate your strategy into your media planning and buying, but we’re always here when you need next-level help. Let’s talk!
What did we miss? Give us your thoughts in a comment!
