What Is a Digital Strategy in Marketing and Why Is It Critical to Customer Experience?

The ability to market a company’s service or products online has been vital for many years. However, with today’s consumers’ buying habits shifting online, a well-defined digital marketing strategy is no longer optional. A well-laid digital marketing plan is a fundamental step organizations must take to reach consumers and craft a positive customer experience.

This situation makes earning a master’s degree in communications valuable to organizations in every industry, government agencies, and nonprofits. Business leaders need to reach customers where they are, which increasingly means online.

A Fundamental Shift in Consumer Behavior

Nothing illustrates the significance of digital marketing quite like recent statistics on consumer behavior. Worldwide online retail sales are expected to reach $8.1 trillion by 2026, according to research cited by Forbes. “Quickly departing are the days when shoppers would trek to the local mall to spend the day pursuing various shops,” Forbes reports. “Nowadays, the first touchpoint a customer has with a business typically occurs online, especially if the company has a presence on social media.”

Forbes also reported that almost 21% of retail sales worldwide in 2023 took place online, a number expected to reach 24% by 2026. In the United States, 16.4% of retail sales occur online, which is only expected to rise in the coming years.

Another data point that shows the importance of digital marketing is the demand for marketers. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) expects an 8% increase in management positions in advertising and marketing in the coming years. Many of these positions require a graduate degree.

Building a Better Customer Experience

An excellent digital marketing strategy focuses on creating a smooth customer journey across all digital touchpoints. This means a user-friendly website, a seamless buying process, and helpful content that addresses the customer’s needs. Frustrating experiences like slow loading times or confusing navigation can quickly turn customers away.

Digital marketing allows a business to personalize the customer experience. By understanding the target audience and their online behavior, digital marketers can tailor content, recommendations, and promotions to their interests. This level of personalization fosters a stronger connection between the consumer and the brand.

This isn’t something isolated to a website or social media channel. Customers expect consistency across all channels, whether social media, a website, or an email. A digital marketing strategy ensures consistent messaging and brand identity across all platforms, creating a unified customer experience.

Digital marketers focus on more than just making sales. They work to build relationships with potential and existing customers and offer expertise in nurturing leads, addressing customer concerns, and fostering brand loyalty.

Why a Digital Marketing Strategy Is So Important

A robust digital strategy is a roadmap guiding marketing efforts toward achieving specific business goals. Its importance stems from several key factors.

Reaching a wider audience

The internet offers unparalleled reach, allowing businesses to connect with a larger audience than traditional marketing methods. A digital strategy helps identify and target the right audience segments, maximizing the impact of marketing efforts.

Cost-effectiveness

Compared to traditional media, digital marketing channels typically offer greater cost-efficiency. A well-defined strategy allows for targeted campaigns, minimizing wasted resources and maximizing return on investment.

Measurability and adaptability

Digital marketing campaigns offer unparalleled measurability through analytics tools. This allows marketers to track real-time performance, assess what’s working and what’s not, and adapt their strategies based on data-driven insights.

Building customer relationships

The digital landscape fosters two-way communication, allowing businesses to build stronger customer relationships. A digital strategy can guide engagement through social media, email marketing, and other channels, nurturing brand loyalty and advocacy.

Key Elements of a Smart Digital Marketing Plan

1. Establish Clear Goals

The foundation of any strategy lies in clearly defined goals. Managers must decide on specific objectives for the plan, such as increasing brand awareness, generating leads, driving sales, or improving customer engagement.

2. Understand the Audience

Digital marketers need a deep understanding of their audience, often achieved by developing detailed buyer personas. These personas outline the ideal customer’s demographics, needs, and online behavior, allowing marketers to tailor messaging and select the most effective channels to reach them.

3. Analyze Competitors

Successful digital marketers also conduct a thorough analysis of competitors, identifying their strengths, weaknesses, and digital marketing strategies. This insight helps in building a strategy that differentiates them in the market.

4. Select the Right Channels

A digital marketing plan requires choosing the channels that best reach the target audience. This includes creating engaging content, optimizing web content for search engines, leveraging the power of social media, and continuously improving results by measuring and analyzing outcomes.

The University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications Master’s in Digital Strategy

For those motivated to excel in the emerging field of digital strategy in marketing, the University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications (UFCJC) offers an online Master of Arts in Communications with a concentration in digital strategy. The unique UFCJC program gives graduates the skills and knowledge needed to master the essential elements of digital marketing, including lead generation and management, engagement, and conversions.

Students in the program learn to engage potential leads with purposeful messaging that sparks curiosity, drives action, and establishes a brand identity that forges genuine connections and fosters loyalty. They master using Customer Relationship Management (CRM) tools and learn to create an efficient and effective user experience for websites.

They also benefit from a worldwide network of professional connections that comes with becoming a Florida Gator. They’ll graduate with all the skills and support they need to embark on a successful career in digital strategy in marketing.

Posted: May 13, 2024
Category: Digital Marketing, UF CJC Online Blog
Tagged as: digital strategy