Step 4. Do keyword research

Keyword research will help you establish the top terms within each of the purchasing phases – find the need! This will tell you a few more things:

• The terms and phrases people use to describe the products and services you offer. It’s important you speak the language your consumers use, otherwise you’re going to miss the mark on relevance.
• The competition level of various versions of your keywords. You may find that there are keywords that have low competition levels, but suprisingly high levels of traffic. These represent great opportunities for you.
• You may uncover additional products or services are trending that you offer but do not feature on your site. You may want to create new pages or blog postings to cover this gap and attract some of this traffic.

You’ll want to start by looking at each phase and putting together variations of keyword “seeds” to start with. I call them seeds because you’re going to plant these during your keyword research to uncover the true keyword opportunities. Go through each of your phases and create your seed list of words and short phrases you think people might use. These will include the product/service words at each phases, but will most likely be accompanied by other words in each phase which give you some insight into where they are. For example, if the search includes product/service+trends or product/service+ideas or product/service+news, they are probably early in the process. When they get to how to+product/service, product/service+reviews or compare+product/service they are probably in the middle and rounding the bend toward a purchase. When they search for buy+product/service, product/service+availability or  product/service+delivery they are more ready to pull the trigger on a purchase. Local businesses, don’t forget to check keywords in combination with local cities and metro areas.

 Google AdWords Keyword Tool for Digital Marketing Strategy

Google’s keyword tool is your best friend. It’s not the only keyword tool by a long-shot, but given Google’s search dominance, it’s a good place to start. It’s also free. Also check out SEO Book’s (free) Keyword Suggestion Tool (Requires registration). Utilize the Google AdWords Keyword Tool first and work to narrow down the best keyword/keyphrase options from there. Google’s Webmaster Tools site has links to AdWords, Analytics and other useful SEO & SEM tools. You need a Google account to use Webmaster Tools but not to use the keyword tool.

• Start with a list of words you THINK people are using to find your site and the words people are currently using to get to your site (seeds).
  If you have Google Analytics check the keywords that are driving traffic to your site and search for them. If you are not using Analytics, install it, but try this tool for now. This tool is also great for some elements of competitor research and rank checking.
• Do another search by entering in your URL for the tool to extract and check keywords you’re already using
• You can also put in a competitor’s URL to extract keywords for this exercise as well. You should do these as separate searches.
• Look for competition levels (higher is more competitive) and also look for gaps – where the competition levels are lower than one would think. Don’t forget to check for long-tail terms also. That means terms are aren’t as popular, but might be very effective when they do come up in searches. These might be specific brands or sizes of products for example. Look at what your competition is doing for keywords and seize any opportunity you can.

Analyzing the Results

First, the default results will be presented as “broad searches,” which means that these words were contained in the search term/phrase. It does not tell you exactly what searches are contained, which is why the first thing you should do with the results is scroll down to Match Types in the left hand column and UNcheck “broad.” Instead, check “exact” which will give you the breakdowns of exact searches. You’ll notice these numbers are significantly lower.

The second thing you will want to do the first time you search is re-sort the results by “Local Monthly Searches” on the far right at the top of the results. This will sort by searches in the COUNTRY you have designated. By default, US if you’re in the US. This is good for your first broad look at the world of keywords for your business, because you may have missed something important – however – this will decrease the relevance to the seed words you put in. When you’re doing more refined keyword research – for a particular part of your site, page, blog post, product, etc, you will NOT want to do this in the keyword tool. Instead leave it sorted by relevance (default) and extract the entire list into Excel by selecting CSV for Excel from the “Download” drop-down box at the top of the results on the right.

Once you have extracted the entire list into Excel, then you can manipulate the data however you like without losing the terms generated by relevance to the seed words. Start by resorting by the local monthly searches column, then go down the list from the highest traffic to the lowest and put a “1″ in a new column to mark the keyword opportunities you want to take advantage of. Create a second column for particularly great opportunities, which have either high-value or high-volume traffic and comparatively low competition levels and indicate these with a “1″ as well. Finally, re-sort the spreadsheet by the new opportunity column and delete the keywords you aren’t interested in pursuing currently. Save the Excel document and go back to the keyword tool and try the next phase/product type.

You will find many of your searches will overlap, and that’s okay. You’re just trying to get a feel for what keywords to focus on where. These will help you select just the right one or two to focus on for each page, blog post, product or social media post. It will also help you with the right focus for your Meta data (should mirror the keyword(s) you’re targeting on the corresponding page. As an experiment, try testing some of the keywords in the Google search page, and see if the results reflect what you expect and if you fit on that first page.

Once you have done several rounds of keyword research for each major phase, product group and general trend you can think of, merge your Excel documents so you have all of the keywords you want to target in one document.

Typically, at this point, it’s a good time to put it all together, prioritize and start creating.

Bottom Line: Keyword research is at the heart of your strategic digital marketing efforts. If you don’t optimize for the right keywords, you’re doomed from the start. Search traffic depends on your site/blog/posts being relevant to the search terms people are using. It will help you find the need, and attract the customer with great precision.

Stay tuned for tomorrow’s post to get you moving on Step 5: Put it all together, prioritize and start creating.

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Step 3. Create a content planning grid

So far, you’ve established your customers’ process, and where/how they interact online — time to plan how you can fit into this equation specifically.

Fill in the cells where your customers’ purchasing process and your digital media meet. Put the phases in the process across the top and the media/channels down the left hand column (Ex. Process: Trends, Ideas, How To, Products, Comparison, Buy; Ex. Media: Site, Blog, Social, Mobile, Video). Start filling in the general topics, questions, resources. These will serve as the themes for the content and pages you will create to meet your customer’s needs. This will help you see the bigger picture of how to implement an integrated digital marketing plan effectively to serve your audience(s).

Later, you will should prioritize the contents/themes of the grid and assign it to an editorial calendar. Having this framework will save you time and ensure that all of the content you create will be strategic. Figure out what the customer process and channels mean to your brand and brand strategy — and plan accordingly.

Your digital marketing efforts will be significantly easier to measure when you understand why you’re doing it, what you should measure and how it all fits into the bigger picture. The purpose of any page, discussion or post related to a cell in your grid, should be clear to you and to your audience. Once you meet the customer need with the content, remember your goal… what is the next logical step? The call to action and goal should be to move users to the next phase and closer to a purchase. This also gives you some specific ways to measure each element.

You may find that you already have many of these elements, but realize you need to reorganize the information and resources in a more logical way. You also may find that you have some of these resources offline, but need to create electronic versions to use online. Another thing to think about is what media/channel you’re using for something that is successful for you now — how can you use it in other media/channels as well to magnify this success? If it’s a download, maybe make a video, create a blog series, start some social media discussions around it and create a mobile-friendly version. For more on reimagining content in different ways, I recommend reading Content Rules by Ann Handley, Chief Content Officer at MarketingProfs.com.

Of course every person does not have the same needs and preferences, though they will follow a standard general process the vast majority of the time. That means you need to figure out what different types of shoppers or personas are your consumers, and plan your content to meet those different types. Try to keep this in mind when filling out your grid. You can probably glean this from available market research in your industry.

Also do a competitor analysis and see what pieces of your grid they have covered and where the gaps are. You may want to prioritize some of the gaps to exploit your advantage in the search space, or social media space specifically.

By the time you have finished this content map, you will be well prepared to move forward. The next step, is analyzing keyword trends at each phase to assess where your focus should be for SEO when creating the content you have just laid out. This may also make you aware of some additional content you will need to create based on trends you uncover.

The Bottom Line: Don’t spin your wheels creating content on a one-off basis. Know how each piece fits into your integrated digital marketing strategy, what the purpose and goal is, and how you can measure it.

Stay tuned for tomorrow’s post, for more on keyword research.

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Step 2. Find your customers online

Create a presence where a presence already exists. Don’t expect that your customers will automatically come to you once you create an online presence. Use the tools like the ones below to find your customers and competitors. Once you listen to what’s out there, you can learn where your opportunities are and plan your digital marketing and social media engagement strategy accordingly. Ultimately this will help you build your credibility as an expert and build relationships. When you are an expert and people trust you, you can influence the conversations, opinions and behavior in this space. This is essentially the social engagement strategy I recommend at it’s most basic: Listen – Learn – Engage – Influence. I highly recommend Brian Solis’ book Engage, which solely focuses on engagement (obviously) and follows this general strategic pattern.

Web Sites

What are the top sites and blogs for your industry or subject matter? Follow the RSS feeds and keep up with what’s trending. Use Google Alerts to follow topics of importance, and check Technorati for the top blogs on relevant topics. These are free resources you can use to see what else is out there for your customer. Who is doing it right? Where are the gaps you can fill? Are there companies doing well in this space you can partner with?

Social Media

For B2B digital marketing, start with LinkedIn Groups and join the groups your customers and competitors would join. This is a topic for a whole other blog, but LinkedIn Groups is the most benecial B2B social medium to get involved with. Groups are a great place to learn what is trending, what people are talking about and where you can contribute to the conversation.

Do your customers use Facebook? I’ll answer that for you – YES! You need to be there engaging with them. Create a business or brand page and create a Facebook places listing (directory listing, particularly for local businesses) for each of your physical locations. Facebook will play an important part in your digital marketing strategy, as the vast majority of Americans are on Facebook today and they do follow and engage with brands and businesses there.

Are they on Twitter? Yes! Find them using tools like Twellow for local tweeps, Klout and Tweet Grader to find out who the influencers are on your subject matter or geographic area, Tweetdeck to follow your relevant hashtags (#keyword). These hashtags will play a role later in developing your digital marketing strategy content grid. You want to be known as a topic expert – so identify the topics and people already trending. It’s also important to know Twitter users are more influential than Facebook users in their social groups when it comes to brands. They are also more likely to follow a brand with an intent to purchase.

Check social bookmarking sites, like StumbleUpon, Digg, Delicious and Reddit to follow relevant topic links/bookmarks (and note where you can fit your site/blog/tools into the picture). Follow the relevant influencers to see what moves them.

Find relevant YouTube.com videos and channels. Start to get a sense of where in the process videos make sense for the customers. What types of videos on your relevant topics get the most likes, favorites and comments? YouTube is the top place consumers (even B2B) search for videos, so it should fit into your digital marketing strategy somewhere.

Find mobile apps for your industry or subject matter. What is getting the most downloads and best ratings? What types of information and tools are you customers looking for on the go? Is there an idea that hasn’t been developed you could run with? Is there a popular mobile app that you can get plugged into? Mobile MUST be a part of your digital strategy, as recent estimates put an average of seven mobile devices in the hands of each American by 2020. If nothing else, your site must be optimized for mobile viewing.

The Bottom Line: Don’t expect the Web to revolve around you. Go to your customers where they are, and join the conversation in a polite, useful and genuine way with your digital marketing activities.

Watch for tomorrow’s post on Step 3: Create a content planning grid.

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Step 1. Map your customers’ purchasing process

There is usually a logical progression of steps a customer (whether B2B of B2C) must go through to finally end up purchasing your product, service or solution. Think of yourself as the GPS to the destination – the purchase. You need to figure out the path, find your customers on the path (more appropriately help them find you) and lead them step by step in a very natural manner using your digital marketing activities, including: social media posts, your Web site, social networking tools, blogging, videos, images and other elements that will fall into your digital marketing plan.

Typically, it will start with a research phase. What type of research would they be doing? What is the business or personal problem your product, services or solutions solve?

From there is usually gets more specific at each phase. Do they need ideas, case studies, how-to information, product information, comparison information, local business information? You will use these phases to align your digital marketing strategy with the customer’s process as closely as possible. By understanding the “need behind the need” you can attract customers earlier in the purchasing process and stay engaged with them down the sales/purchasing funnel.

The Bottom Line: Know your customers’ process so you can align yourself to make the journey with them!

Read tomorrow’s post for Step 2 for getting started on your digital strategy: Find your customers online.

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It seems like an appropriate place to start my blog is where every business must start – with a plan. Each business need to make many decisions about their digital marketing priorities, but many struggle with where to begin. This doesn’t need to be an overly complicated endeavor. Ultimately, it comes down to attracting the right traffic, engaging your audience effectively, driving behaviors down the purchasing funnel in a natural, helpful and non-threatening matter, and measuring your results for ongoing optimization.

But how do you know what traffic you need to attract? How can you attract it? What will be engaging for these people? Which social networks should you utilize? How do you drive user behavior? How can you measure results? These will be the topics of my blog in various levels of detail over time, but taking the first steps is the most difficult.

Put together what you know from experience, from market research and from common sense. A few online tools and some basic planning will help you do the rest.

Here are the five steps I recommend for getting started with your digital marketing strategy.

Step 1. Map your customers’ purchasing process

Step 2. Find your customers online

Step 3. Create a content planning grid

Step 4. Do keyword research

Step 5. Put it all together, prioritize and start creating!

Once you have laid this foundation, the rest will come together very simply and you can easily determine exactly how all of your digital marketing efforts support your business strategy and goals. You will be able to identify the purpose and goal for every page and post on your site, blog and social media pages very simply. Knowing this allows you to use the right methods and content, employ the best keywords, use the best calls to action and multi-media elements to engage and drive behaviors, and finally to know what you should be measuring each step along the way to determine success.

Over the next five days, I will walk you through more details on each step to get you rolling, starting with mapping the purchasing process tomorrow.

The Bottom Line: Have a strategic plan, so you spend your time and money on the right activities to build your online presence and drive revenue using digital marketing.

If you have questions, feel free to post them in the comments area below.

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As our offline and online worlds increasingly become one and the same, all business must become social and mobile to succeed in a digitally-integrated environment. My goal with this blog is to help my clients and followers have consistent, timely and easy access to information and strategic planning resources for becoming a successful social business. After many years of writing successful blogs for clients and employers, I’m finally committing to writing my own digital marketing strategy blog.

Mika Lofton, Integrated Digital Marketing Expert

To help businesses DRIVE REVENUE, I will be blogging from my own knowledge and expertise, as well utilizing news, tips and resources from the best digital marketing sources around the Web.Topics include: integrated digital strategy, social strategy, mobile marketing, social media marketing, search engine marketing, content marketing, display advertising, ui design and usability testing, search engine optimization, Web metrics and analytics, content marketing, eCommerce, Internet marketing and technology news and more. If you like the content here, please share it!

Feel free to submit specific topic ideas to me for consideration via my feedback form.

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