The big digital marketing secret is . . . there isn’t one “secret ingredient” for a successful digital marketing mix.

Then what the heck is this blog post about?

At 9 Clouds, we believe our “secret ingredient” for success is transparency. It’s important to be open with our customers so they can understand the “why” and “how” of achieving their goals (and what they’re spending their dollars on). As we like to say around the office, “Avoid companies that sell shiny objects.”

You’ve got to start with the basics and stick to the fundamentals for marketing success.

Start with the Basics

As with anything in life, it’s key to start your digital marketing strategy by building a good foundation.

When I was on the high school golf team, I’d practice my form and swing for hours without even stepping foot on the first hole. I needed to set myself up for success before taking on the whole course.

Step one of any successful marketing campaign is identifying your areas of focus. What needs to be improved? What goals are you trying to achieve?

It’s important to have this discussion as a team so the needs of your client can be heard, and your agency can provide recommendations for the best end result.

Strategy = Success

Once you’ve identified your areas of focus, stick to the strategy. If part of the strategy does need to change, share why it’s changing and how that will affect things moving forward. 

And remember, just because something is new and cool doesn’t always mean you should jump on it.

I once had a programmer tell me he never downloads the 1.0 version of an update because all the bugs aren’t worked out of the system yet. Pretty solid advice, in my opinion.

Analyze, Implement, Repeat

Great — so now a month of the strategy has been executed. Did it work?

It’s time to analyze, reevaluate, and adjust based on performance. Digital marketing success is always measured and supported with data.

How do you read this data? An onslaught of numbers can be overwhelming. It’s important to focus on performance metrics in order to grow your business.

So what could have worked better? Identify the pros and cons together, and adjust your strategy to fit.

This HubSpot blog post identifies some important key performance indicators (KPIs) and other things to look out for when reviewing your data.

Need a Second Opinion?

Sometimes, information isn’t shared as freely between agency and client.

But remember, transparency is key for marketing success. Everyone should be on the same page in order to best serve the needs of your company or client.

If you aren’t sure whether that’s happening, get a second opinion. 9 Clouds is happy to help uncover those elusive digital marketing secrets with you.