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A GUIDE TO


What are your competitors doing to position their brands and services on social? By evaluating the digital marketing landscape in your business niche and sector, you can measure what is working for others. From that place, you can create a strategy and a tactical approach that will allocate resources and new methods to maximise your company’s results using a mix of digital and classical marketing.

We’ve provided our insights to help your business strategically harness the benefit of multimedia platforms to reach new customers and strengthen existing customer loyalty to your brand, product or service. No matter what your experience level in marketing is, you will find inspiration and resources within our free guide, and we are pleased to share our expertise with you.

WHAT IS

TRANSFORMATION?

Today, more than ever before, we are surrounded by constant change. New devices, software applications, and online services are being released at an ever increasing rate. As a result, consumers have to adapt to new technologies at a phenomenal pace and businesses are simply struggling to keep up. So, if businesses are serious about growth and longevity in this technology driven society, they need to embrace new marketing tactics making digital marketing transformation an integral part of their company’s strategy.

A Digital Transformation strategy will help you to identify the gaps between where you are now and where you need to be in order to continue to grow opportunities and compete for new customers. This quick guide is designed to help you evaluate your performance in digital marketing and identify new strategic options for your business.

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WHAT IS DRIVING

TRANSFORMATION?

Digitally savvy consumers are now super users of mobile technology. With increased demand for mobile browsing, consumers expect to access entertaining and informational content seamlessly across a multitude of platforms, from mobiles to tablets to desktops. This behavioural change was never more evident in than in 2013, when the search volume by mobile phone users over took desktop browsing for the first time in history.

The biggest change to digital marketing has been the evolution of the audience. When social media first began building momentum in 2008, the audience was hungry for posts from the brands and businesses they loved. Over time, the mainstream proliferation of social media and socialised content created a need for consumers to filter and distill the information they found online. Consistently, your customers will choose posts, pictures and content articles that provide value to them and their lives. This is why content strategy is such an important aspect to digital marketing.

In addition to filtering content from brands and businesses, consumers fall into two basic categories in terms of online engagement; they are either a ‘CREATOR’ or a ‘CURATOR’ of digital content.

THE CREATOR Someone who is active on

multimedia platforms. This consumer can be a blogger or a podcaster, or

an individual who enjoys sharing their experiences on social networks such

as Instagram. They are motivated by presenting their skills, talents

or personal insights on social media and enjoy the attention

they receive.

THE CURATORSomeone who prefers to be a little

more private with regards to their personal or professional life on digital media. What

the curator prefers instead is establishing a reputation as a thought leader in certain areas

by sharing authority articles and posts that they have selected and approved as

“interesting” to their audience. They enjoy the attention they receive when they

have shared something useful to others.

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WHAT IS DRIVING

TRANSFORMATION?

Start by taking a look at the content you provide on social media (and on your business blog), in relation to the needs of both the ‘creator’ and the ‘curator’ type of consumers. Have you provided an opportunity for the ‘creator’ to share your content in a way that acknowledges them and increases their exposure online? Have you designed content that is valuable enough to be shared by thought leaders and the curators?

Content strategy is necessary to ensure that you gain the most benefit and highest level of distribution from your investment in direct email marketing, pay-per-click advertising, social media posts, blog posts, whitepapers, ebooks, or other marketing collateral. It involves a constant monitoring and re-evaluation of the success of communication campaigns, and creativity. This is true for both business to business (B2B) and business to consumer (B2C) organisations. We will share more about content marketing and the product or service lifecycle later in this guide.

Developing content for your brand is essential for successful digital marketing, but the challenge for small and medium sized businesses is acquiring the talent in-house to create it, or allocating the budget for production and content management. In order to respond

to your audience’s digital appetite, an agile and creative approach is needed to achieve a successful digital marketing strategy.

Hiring and training staff is expensive, and we understand how that statistic relates to most small and medium sized businesses, and even larger brands and enterprises. It is the number one reason businesses opt to outsource to digital marketing agencies for the professional services they require.

When it comes to brand content, how would you rate your business in terms of the production and sharing of social posts, blog articles, videos and other collateral that helps to create a positive impression with consumers and business customers?

Unfortunately, if you are not creating your own digital marketing content (which includes incentive promotions and contests, social media sharing, community management) you are not realising the full growth potential of your brand. Digital marketing tools level the playing field for small and medium sized businesses, but you have to know how to use them to your advantage in order to succeed.

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THE OPPORTUNITY COST

When it comes to integrated digital and classical marketing, our team has experience that spans regional small business to large, nationally recognised brands and campaigns. Each brand has a set budget and expectations for their digital marketing performance, and Generate UK offers professional marketing management services that bridge the gap between goals and measurable results.

The first step in providing value to our customers is education. We are a digital marketing agency that you can trust; we explain the process and the steps it takes to help your business evolve and improve using online marketing tools. If you have never worked with a digital marketing agency like Generate UK before, it helps to understand the full spectrum of services and experienced personnel that we employ. That way, our clients know the depth of our teamwork and the true value of the services we provide.

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OF POOR DIGITAL MARKETING?

Nowadays, virtually everyone uses social media, but being able to share pictures and posts on your personal social channels is quite different than the rules of engagement for businesses and brands. There is no shortage of examples around the world of digital marketing “gone wrong” or viral sharing of negative content or comments that can do a lot of damage to your business in a relatively short period of time. In fact, a single bad engagement with a consumer on social media can remain in search results for years, meaning that new customers will see a negative review at the top of their browser search. When that happens, a business begins to lose customers even before having a single chance to make a positive first impression.

Evaluate your personal skills (if you are a business owner or entrepreneur) or that of the staff you employ to manage your social media and digital marketing internally. Posting alone on social channels and sending out email messages to your customers do not net the same results as an organised, creative campaign, which can recruit new customers, retain existing ones and influence purchase decision.


06THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN

BRAND SOCIAL AND PERSONAL SOCIAL MEDIA


How well do you understand your online audience? In order to succeed with digital marketing, you must provide engaging content, but you must also know when your customers are listening and on what channels they are most receptive to brand messaging. When you are advertising, are you geo-targeting your promotions to optimise your online marketing efforts? When it comes to effective digital marketing, those questions are the tip of the iceberg.

Every week, the team at Generate UK is introduced to new brands and businesses who are looking for guidance when it comes to digital transformation. Online marketing is a combination of the right tools with the right expertise, utilised in the correct manner for your unique brand or business niche.

If you are managing your own digital marketing efforts in house, we would like you to ask yourself ten questions to evaluate your methods.

01 Do you know which social media channels offer the best opportunities for promotion of your product or service?

07TEN QUESTIONS TO

02 Are you publishing the correct number of posts each week? What day(s) of the week and times are most effective for reaching your online audience? What hash tags should you use to capture audience and conversational or viral trends?

03 Have you installed applications and other interactive features in Facebook to make your consumer experience more engaged? Will your Facebook page drive traffic to your website and convert into sales, lead or service inquiries?

04 Do you know how to manage negative comments or reviews that you receive on social? Do you have a policy in place for addressing them through customer service channels to reduce online grievances from customers or commentators? How closely do you monitor your channels on a daily basis for disputes?

05 What brand ‘stories’ or messages do you want to convey through your social media, web and direct email content? How organised, consistent and interesting is your core brand message? Are you able to publish original posts 2-3 times weekly?

EVALUATE YOUR DIGITAL MARKETING METHODS


When you begin to realise the importance of digital marketing and its potential to help your business cultivate an online audience that converts to new customers, you begin to understand that digital transformation is the most important investment you can make in your business. When managed correctly, with creativity and proven expertise, your business can build loyalty and recruit new customers.

Designing multimedia communication, incentives, contests and promotions that help you grow your business is where the team at Generate UK excels. Our value added approach is to provide top quality service while also educating our clients, so that you understand all the components of a successful digital marketing strategy, and how to measure the results.

The growth can be quite exciting, when everything is working the way it should with content, social media, website and graphic design experts. And since hiring your own experienced team in each key area can be costly, a partnership with a digital agency makes sense. It gives you access to better tools, qualified staff and strategic planning to create a successful new path for your business.

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06 How are you utilising affordable pay-per click advertising on platforms like Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn?

07 How effective are the landing pages on your website at converting visitors into queries or purchases? What keywords and search terms are you using to help guide consumers to your website?

08 How often are you creating blog posts to add fresh, new content to your website? Are you optimising your blog posts by incorporating keywords and search strings into your SERP (search engine results page) and improve the ranking of your domain?

09 When was the last time you created a special offer or incentive that was promoted through integrated channels on social media, direct email and classic marketing methods? Are you creating a funnel to build your direct email list for drip marketing campaigns?

10 Have you audited your website to determine if you have any website penalties that are impacting the success of your search and ranking on the top three search engines regionally or globally?

TEN QUESTIONS TO

EVALUATE YOUR DIGITAL MARKETING METHODS

There are many facets to creating content for businesses and brands. One of the most important things to remember is that every piece of communication that you produce has an impact on how the public, existing customers and future customers will see your business. As with personal relationships, in digital marketing you only get one chance to make a good first impression.

Content is not only about sharing your brand culture, your goals and ideals and the things that make your business unique. A strategic content plan develops core messages that support marketing to customers at different levels of the buying process. A consumer does not simply see your brand on Facebook and decide to purchase your product, there are a number of steps that are involved in establishing the relationship that influences a purchase decision.


09NURTURING CUSTOMERS

WITH CONTENT EVERY STAGE OF THE WAY


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The first phase of digital marketing and content development is for customers who have no prior knowledge of your product or service. Creating awareness is approximately 30% of your content marketing efforts and it is designed to be sales and relationship oriented. This is the first time a customer is essentially “meeting” your business online, so you want it to be interesting, informative and welcoming in tone.

Businesses creating content for the ‘Introduction Phase’ may choose to use friendly digital marketing collateral such as infographics, blog posts, press releases and informative graphics that are easy to read and share on social media. The content may be shared by a family member or friend, introducing your potential customer through a third party. The collateral should be warm, clever, polite and informative and less like a ‘sales pitch’ and more like a personal introduction.

THE

INTRODUCTION PHASE

DIGITAL MARKETING AND CONTENT DEVELOPMENT

CREATING AWARENESS

30%


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For consumers who already know your brand, or have heard word of mouth (WOM) advertising about your business, the next step in the content lifecycle is to pique interest in your brand. At this stage, the consumer is already following your business on one or more social channels, and may be sharing your content if they find it interesting, or useful to themselves and others.

To build on casual interest in your product or service, provide the consumer with more information that is easy to read, or depending on your niche, informative and educational. Webinars, video marketing, eBooks and other marketing collateral that help the consumer to learn more about your business is effective.

THE

INTEREST PHASE


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At this stage in the content marketing lifecycle, you are developing strategic digital marketing opportunities for individuals who are interested in your brand, enabling them to take action – though the action you want them to take varies. It may be an online purchase, a visit to your place of business, a telephone query or other form of sale or personal commitment to your product or service.

The purchase decision phase can be influenced by an online contest that offers a follow up email of a coupon, discounting a future purchase. It can be a free demonstration or in-store appointment, or limited time free trial of your service. Campaigns that influence purchase decision are not always about giving away a free gift or incentive; providing acknowledgement once per month to your top commenters or acknowledging a brand advocate on your blog or social media goes a long way to establishing the kind of experience consumers expect from brands. Customers buy from businesses who nurture an ongoing relationship with them through social and digital marketing practices.

THE

PURCHASE DECISION


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Your business and organisation is unique, and there is no “one size fits all” measure for building a responsive communication channel. Remember that makes your brand different is what appeals most to your customers. Most companies have some form of marketing organisation in place, and budget. Some businesses we meet are at the beginning of their journey toward mastering digital marketing tools, while others have been practicing for years and claim to be digital Jedi’s.

If you are starting your own digital transformation, understand that you are not alone. Small and medium sized businesses have realised the importance of digital marketing and are beginning to invest in training and supports. Though social media is still relatively new when you consider other methods and marketing tools, it has become a dominant force for all businesses, small sized to international brands.

Don’t worry if you feel you are playing “catch up” when it comes to social media and digital marketing in general. You are in good company, and we see it every day, but if you are motivated to start designing your digital transformation, you have already taken a step in the right direction for your business.

STARTING YOUR

TRANSFORMATION


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In brand marketing, we tell stories every day. Those ‘stories’ are concise messages that are communicated creatively through various media and content types (written, graphical, video and multimedia). And since other businesses are doing the exact same thing, the key is to differentiate your message from your competitors to establish a unique theme and personality that customers can relate to.

As you may have noticed, social media is a very noisy environment; the key to being noticed is not about the volume of your communication (just like shouting in a loud room is not very effective). Instead, focus on being uniquely authentic and personable. Be the brand with the great personality that everyone loves to talk to.

In addition, every story must have a plot, or it is disorganised and confusing; with brand marketing the rules are quite the same. Start by creating a mission statement for your brand that embodies your core service or products, the user experience (UX) you want your customers to enjoy, and your ideals.

CREATING YOUR

MARKETING MISSION STATEMENT

By stating our commitment to strategic marketing practice, consultation and creative excellence our entire team expresses our mission on a daily basis in our own marketing materials. Our mission reminds us of how we perceive ourselves at Generate UK, and how we wish to be experienced by our clients and our community. From our stated mission, we ensure consistency in our brand messaging through all communication channels and even within our corporate culture.

It all starts with a statement of intention. What values does your business uphold? What matters deeply to you and what do you wish to be known for? From those core KPI’s and values, your marketing strategy is built.

At Generate UK, we strive to provide our clients with high

functioning, unique marketing solutions that deliver real results.

Alongside our exceptional customer service, we offer a solution driven approach

that and excels expectations and challenges the status

quo at the forefront of digital transformation.

MISSION STATEMENT


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Is it ethically wrong to look at what other brands and businesses in your niche are doing, and take inspiration from successful campaigns or incentives? Absolutely not, but as you engage in a competitive review, consider it more to be a starting place for creative promotion and content development. The same consumers you are looking to establish a relationship with are aware of other brands within your niche.

Brands that blatantly copy other businesses get a thumbs-down from customers; trust us, they notice it straight away and there is nothing to gain by copying someone else. However, you can get great ideas for your own original marketing approach.

If there are brand leaders who have been successful within your sector for a long period of time, there is much to learn from their example. Do a marketing analysis of your competitors, the type of content they share on social, as well as the frequency of other incentives such as fun contests, free sampling or free trial services. It will give you a bench mark to compare your digital marketing and campaigns to others within your industry.

Be fair (and also kind) in your self-comparison in terms of resources. Comparing a family business to an established national brand is not reasonable, but social media and

INVESTIGATING

COMPETITIVE ANALYSIS

content strategy can help level the playing field and stimulate growth. If a larger or more established business is more active or organised than you are in terms of promotion, or content development, you will be able to change your strategy to achieve results with persistency.


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Much like creating a formal business plan, your marketing strategy requires some forethought and planning in order to implement the kind of changes that will provide the results you want. When creating your own digital strategy, start by asking yourself a few important questions:

01 How would you rank your brand or business in terms of digital marketing performance compared to your competitors and other niche industry leaders?

02 What increase in traffic and social engagement would you like to see on a monthly basis? What are your incremental goals for customer recruitment and engagement?

03 What marketing assets can be developed and improved to enhance your customers user experience (UX) on your website, blog and social media channels?

04 Are you ready to create a transformation, and cultivate a strategic plan to get the results you want from social and relationship marketing?

INVESTIGATING

COMPETITIVE ANALYSIS

The size of your business should not limit your ability to develop a strategic marketing plan that will not only recruit new customers, but help you retain the loyalty of existing customers by communicating with them more effectively. The tools are available for small and medium sized businesses and brands to leverage, if they know how to manage their brand messaging and service through digital CRM (customer relationship management) and channels.

The brands that win are the ones that most successfully establish and maintain a personal connection with their customers. It is the foundation of brand loyalty and the fuel for the long term growth of your business.

Don’t become overwhelmed by the technical facets of digital marketing strategy. If you are like most business owners, SEO, web traffic, content writing, graphic design and other components seem complex and somewhat confusing. Why do they matter? How do they work?

Digital marketing is a science onto itself, and while many business owners try for a period of time to manage their digital marketing needs in-house, some opt to outsource to a qualified local marketing agency like Generate UK to save time, reduce costs and achieve real results.


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The team at Generate UK would like to share our method for creating a marketing strategy that works. We can help you to improve the exposure of your brand to new customers, engage existing customers and create loyalty and new brand advocates through aligned digital and classic marketing tools.

PHASE 1 CREATE A ROADMAPAchieving measureable results in marketing begins with a plan. In order to successfully manage your digital journey, a clear roadmap needs to be put in place that outlines your visions and goals, an assessment of the resources and talent pool for implementation, costs and opportunities for your brand.

By formalising your marketing plan, not only can you establish clear goals that are consistent with your culture and branding, but you can also establish measurable benchmarks to attain your digital marketing objectives. Track your results against your efforts to see what works best for your market and customer base, and repeat what works best for your business.

Looking for more great digital marketing tips? Visit the Generate UK blog for news, local community events and advice you can use as you begin to devise your strategic marketing plan.

HOW GENERATE UK DEVELOPS

AN EFFECTIVE DIGITAL MARKETING PLAN

PHASE 2 WHERE YOU ARE ATStart by completing a review of your resources, organisation, the market, current digital position and structure. Benchmarking is a fantastic way of assessing your current position and comparing your digital marketing activities with your competitors. Marketing is not about the finish line; it’s creating a strong start and a consistent journey that helps your business arrive at your goals.

Make note of where your Digital Transformation began:

How many followers do you have on social?

How many visitors do you have to your website each month?

What geographic regions are your customers visiting from?

How often do you contribute content on social channels and to your website?

Are you engaged in pay-per-click advertising? If so, how would you rate your results?

How responsive are customers to the content you share? How many ‘likes’ or comments and re-shares do you receive for your posts?


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PHASE 2 WHERE YOU ARE AT What is your current digital marketing

budget? Include personnel, software and advertising expenditures.

How do you utilise direct email marketing for brand promotion and sales?

Creating a snap shot of where you are currently in your digital marketing practice will allow you to track and measure results as you implement your new strategy. If some of the suggested measures are not present in your current marketing mix - that’s okay. It provides ample room to introduce new methods that will provide the results you need to remain competitive in your online marketing.

Record your metrics for each digital marketing channel, including social media network followers, engagement (such as ‘likes’ or comments, or retweets) weekly. If you have a newsletter or RSS feed, make note of your subscribers so that you can compare against your results quarterly. If you are working with an agency, review metrics on a monthly basis that provide impressions that show audience interaction. It is an exciting process when you see your efforts begin to pay off!




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PHASE 2 WHERE YOU ARE AT What is your current digital marketing

budget? Include personnel, software and advertising expenditures.

How do you utilise direct email marketing for brand promotion and sales?

Creating a snap shot of where you are currently in your digital marketing practice will allow you to track and measure results as you implement your new strategy. If some of the suggested measures are not present in your current marketing mix - that’s okay. It provides ample room to introduce new methods that will provide the results you need to remain competitive in your online marketing.

Record your metrics for each digital marketing channel, including social media network followers, engagement (such as ‘likes’ or comments, or retweets) weekly. If you have a newsletter or RSS feed, make note of your subscribers so that you can compare against your results quarterly. If you are working with an agency, review metrics on a monthly basis that provide impressions that show audience interaction. It is an exciting process when you see your efforts begin to pay off!



PHASE 3 WHERE WOULD YOU LIKE TO BE?It is easy to envision where you want your company to be, in the broader sense of brand positioning. Most business owners and corporate executives share the same goals; they want to sell more products and services. But beyond the measure of success through sales is the cultivation of a strong brand message that resonates through all marketing and customer service channels.

Consider your organisations long-term goals and company objectives - where do you want to be in the digital world? What user experience (UX) do you want to create with your website, blog or newsletter, online commerce and/or social media and community management? What impression do you want to create to stimulate interest in the products or services that you offer?

You already know who “does it well” and which companies are gaining market share by capitalising on their brand attributes and culture. Look at how industry leaders in your

marketplace respond to the digital landscape, how do they interact across multimedia platforms - this will give you some inspiration and successful models to base your own personalised strategy upon.

Create a concise list of specific functions that are not being accomplished and evaluate the benefit of having a strategy (and professionally consistent digital marketing services) in place.

PHASE 5 GETTING STARTEDA detailed plan can be formulated to describe how to achieve the digital transformation - including an integrated approach to systems, structure and skills that are needed for you to implement your strategy.

How much time and how many people can you allocate to support your marketing goals? What is the cost of initiating new digital marketing activities internally in terms of recruitment, training and other resources? Consider the cost of poor digital marketing, or inconsistent online branding to your business.


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Be authentic in the cultivation of your brand image. Be specific and realistic in your goals. Achieving a million followers on Facebook is possible, but requires a strategic approach and significant investment in pay-per-click advertising. Thankfully there are other qualitative and affordable measures that, when used consistently, will help you improve awareness of your product and services using digital marketing tools. There is more to marketing than ‘likes’. Set tangible benchmarks and reasonable timelines to keep on track.

PHASE 4 WHAT NEEDS TO CHANGE?After you have successfully completed your own internal marketing audit, you should have a picture of what needs to change in order to realise your goals. Once you have your benchmark and objectives in place the next phase defines your digital transformation strategy including:

Digital Marketing Strategy

Existing marketing technology infrastructure

New technology infrastructure

Internal and external resourcing

Processes

Budget



where you are versus where you want to be, and understand that with a comprehensive marketing strategy that incorporates content management tools, social media and classic marketing methods, you can achieve measurable results.

We hope that you have enjoyed our free guide to digital transformation, and gained some new insight to help you begin your digital journey. We’re committed to helping businesses like yours navigate digital marketing strategy to create results. Generate UK is a full service digital marketing agency located in Berkshire, and our team provides have a wide range of support services for small and medium sized businesses. We have many years of experience helping organisations like yours to achieve measurable results from digital marketing and creative management.


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PHASE 6 MEASURING RESULTSWith a set plan and a clearly defined road map, the final phase of digital excellence is to manage and optimise your plan through monitoring. By reviewing your progress with business metrics such as KPI’s (Key performance Indicators) you will be able to monitor your transformation and continually improve and refine your digital marketing strategy.

The Summary

When it comes to digital marketing, it is no longer a question of ‘whether you should’ or ‘should not’ have an effective strategic plan; your competitors already have one and every single day your business is subject to new brands and service providers who are entering the market, new channels to market through, internal and external threats and of course, new opportunities.

As the needs of the customer continue to evolve, so too must your marketing strategy. Fresh ideas and customer centric campaigns are central to growth for businesses; digital marketing tools are a proven, effective means to recruit and retain customers.

How can you manage your journey to achieve excellence in marketing? Start by evaluating




A GUIDE TO