Learn how to create a digital marketing and sales plan

In addition to planning strategies, the plan must also take into account the term of operations and results (long, medium or short term). The most important thing, however, is that this document is compatible with the company’s reality and that it does not remain forgotten in a drawer.

Although there is a step-by-step model – which we will show throughout this content – ​​a digital marketing plan can be elaborated with specificities, such as the definition of campaigns, the need to promote products and services, or in a tactical way for the day the day of the company.

Below are the most common types of planning in digital marketing:

Strategic digital marketing planning by levels

This type of planning outlines objectives and for that it is divided into 3 stages.

The first stage is broader and seeks to outline strategies based on objectives without defining action plans. A plan can choose to focus on endomarketing, content marketing, relationship marketing, social media marketing, among many other options.

The second stage is more “tactical”. It will detail the strategies outlined, giving body to the action. Let’s say that the defined strategy was the use of content marketing, the tactical step will define issues such as medium-term objectives, communication channels, budgets, among others.

The last step is the “operational” one. During that moment the plan will bring the definitions for the day to day. That is, it will define tasks, those responsible, schedules and other definitions that have short-term goals.

Digital marketing planning by campaigns

The campaign marketing plan is one that focuses on specific periods and campaigns. They work with short-term results and tend to be very objective. Despite having these specificities, this type of plan should not be considered separately from the strategic plan.

Let’s say the company’s goal is to increase revenue by 25% during the year, the campaign marketing plan should contribute to this goal, not ignore it.

The plan most remembered by all is the Christmas sales plan , but there are many commercial options for the company, such as Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Black Friday, among others.

In addition to these more popular dates, the plan can also look for internal dates for your campaign, such as the launch date of a product or the company’s anniversary date, for example.

Digital marketing plan steps

First of all, there is no marketing plan without market research. As mentioned earlier, strategies must be based on analyzes of the company itself, the surrounding scenario and the desires and needs of its customers.

That said, here’s the basic structure of a plan:

SWOT Analysis

Also called SWOT analysis, SWOT is a method that encompasses the analysis of scenarios for decision making. It consists of evaluating 4 factors in a matrix format: strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats.

The strengths and weaknesses concern the internal environment, that is, the company itself in relation to its competitors. Opportunities and threats, on the other hand, relate to the external environment, issues that are beyond your control.

By completing the table, you will have a complete and assertive view of your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats, being able to analyze whether or not the decision is worth making.

Analysis of the external environment

It’s time to look outside and gather data from the macroenvironment and the microenvironment, in order to investigate factors that may affect the company’s performance during the period of execution of the Digital Marketing Plan.

When we talk about the macroenvironment, we are talking about major changes and trends in the region, the country and the world.

In the microenvironment, we are talking about the company’s area of ​​activity specifically. Research rivalries between competitors, bargaining power of suppliers, bargaining power of customers, threat of new competitors, threat of new products or services, for example.

This analysis will help build a scenario, be it optimistic, neutral or pessimistic.

Competition Analysis

Within microenvironment research, there is a definer that needs to gain prominence. Competitor analysis is a competitive intelligence tool that allows you to seek insights for your strategies, anticipate some market trends, identify opportunities and competitive advantages, for example.

When doing the research, it is essential that you seek information about the performance of these competitors, understanding in depth the public they are serving, which persona is being developed, how they advertise their products and services and, above all, how are their results.

Definition of target audience and personas

The information in the previous topics will give you a better foundation to be able to define your target audience and, based on that, your personas.

We have already prepared a special article on the subject, giving you the step-by-step guide to an efficient definition of the public . Be sure to check it out.

But, in short, the target audience is a group of consumers with similar demographic, psychographic and behavioral characteristics. It is for this group that all strategies and actions will be directed.

The persona is a character created from the characteristics of the target audience. That is, the persona has a human profile, more complex and in-depth, with values, expectations and public pain, synthesized in the representation of an ideal client for the company.

Creating a persona makes it possible to trace the purchase journey, map out the ideal content, channels and approaches.

Definition of brand positioning

The brand’s market positioning is how the company is perceived and remembered by consumers. It will create an image, something unique and exclusive to the brand, and must relate to company or product attributes.

This positioning must be reflected in the content, visual identity and all points of contact with customers.

Definition of objectives

For you to have the ideal strategies, you first need to have well defined objectives that will be pursued. But despite what many people believe, as you can see here in our content, setting goals is not the first step.

All the previous topics will give you a solid foundation so that the objectives are aligned and realistic with the company and market scenario.

So, when setting your goals, remember that they must be: specific, measurable, attainable and realistic. That way they will be more likely to be reached.

Definition of KPIs

KPIs are used to measure your results. With them, you can use metrics to monitor the performance of the strategies and find out if they achieved the expected results. And, if not, where is the problem and what can be done to change this scenario.

Definition of strategies

From this stage on, your plan starts to look more like what everyone knows about marketing. It is here that we begin to define specific strategies, which will later be broken down into operational definitions.

But, for now, you will define, from above, the ideal strategies to reach the previously defined objectives. And there is no shortage of strategy options within digital marketing (later in this content we will point out the main ones).

When defining strategies in addition to objectives, keep in mind brand positioning, target audience and the 4 Ps of marketing: price, product, place and promotion.

Resources and budgets

The first step in the operational phase is to know for sure what equipment, tools and investments will be needed to put the strategy into practice.

This planning step needs to be very well thought out to avoid unnecessary losses and expenses.

Schedule and responsible

Coming to the end of planning, the schedule and the definition of those responsible for each task will enable the execution of the plan. Commitment to this step is more important than many realize.

Deadlines are essential for the KPIs to be efficient, and knowing each person’s responsibility ensures that these deadlines are not missed.

If your marketing plan is strategic, then you can set long-term dates and general accountability. But in other types of planning, it might be more interesting to detail the tasks and those responsible for them in more detail, as well as to define medium and short-term dates.

Elaboration of the document

Finally, you need to take all this information that was collected in the last topics and transform it into a document, which will serve as a guide for the day to day of your entire marketing team.

You can follow the structure mentioned here exactly. And yes, it must be very long and in-depth. Therefore, do not be afraid to write down and add the insights you have had in clear and objective texts.

5 digital marketing strategies for your planning

We promise to highlight top digital marketing strategies for you to consider in your digital marketing and sales planning. Well, here they are:

Inbound Marketing

Also called attraction marketing, it is a strategy focused on attracting potential customers by nurturing the relationship with leads along a sales funnel, until they are ready to purchase.

It involves creating landing pages, Content Marketing, SEO, relationship and, at the bottom of the funnel, closing sales.

Outbound Marketing

It is the opposite of Inbound Marketing. That is, instead of creating content to attract and make customers come after your company, the outbound actively goes after these customers.

Usually, this strategy is related to paid campaigns, such as sponsored links, ads on social networks and banners on websites.

Content Marketing

Content marketing, which, as we mentioned earlier, is widely used within inbound marketing, is based on producing relevant content for consumers, solving their doubts and attracting their interest to get closer to the brand.

The idea is to generate better brand awareness on the internet and generate leads. Generally used: SEO, blogs, social networks and email marketing.

Marketing on Social Networks

Digital presence is something very important nowadays and that’s what this strategy focuses on. With good planning, digital marketing can transform channels like Instagram and Facebook into true sales channels.

Sponsored ads are used here, as well as best practices for promoting exclusive content with great visual appeal.

Marketing focused on Branding

Branding is nothing more than brand recognition by the public. Included here are the brand name, logo, visual identity colors, platforms used, etc.

This strategy will focus on these elements, seeking to increase brand awareness and thus gain consumer confidence.