Setting Goals in Digital Marketing

Setting digital goals and identifying your target audience and is the absolute, most crucial factor for… getting anywhere, really. The big question is: who and what should you focus on? Well, that’s your hot potato, isn’t it? As already mentioned in one of our previous posts, this is going to hurt. That’s just the reality of making choices. If you worked with strategy in the past and it didn’t hurt, you haven’t worked with strategy. You know what they say – no pain, no gain.

You’re probably itching to start building your strategy, right? The biggest tip here is to not rush off before you know where you want to get. That’s what this post is about: defining your goals. Specifying your target audience and choosing your digital goals in the very beginning is fundamental to ensure your strategy development keeps moving in the right direction. Be warned, though: making the decisions in this step may hurt — but you will be getting to the very core of your strategy. You didn’t think you would just flip a coin, did you?

The difference between analog and digital goals

Here at Zovo Media we have seen so many professionals weighing up the pros and cons of both digital and analogue marketing tools. Specifying digital goals is done in much the same way as analogue ones. But comparing analogue and digital means is like comparing a magnifying glass to a microscope. The difference in the amount of details is ridiculous. Digital tools allow you to pinpoint where your target audiences consume most of their media; where in the consumer journey they currently are; and where they are the most receptive to communication. What’s more, digital marketing tools seamlessly integrate into omnichannel strategies, making it easier to reach specific goals. You have to look pretty hard to find channels that match the digital means’ ability to engage customers and generate traffic.

Granted, some offline marketing channels are good for creating awareness, but most cases the digital ones ultimately produce better results.

Zovo Media Golden Insight: Those who try to reach everyone end up reaching no one!

To increase your odds of striking gold, you should analyze the chosen target audience based on these three dimensions:

• Consumer Needs: which consumers are likely to be the greatest fans of your products or services?
• Purchasing Power: who is more likely to shop `til they drop? Basically, how often and how wide are they willing to open their wallets?
• Social Clout: who has the largest social network and persuasion power?  Do they have the potential to influence others?

In traditional marketing, it was enough to know the consumers’ needs and Purchasing Power to get to them. But in the digital playing field the rules are different — and you can pinpoint your target with much more precision. Digital media changed the game and Social Clout came into play, giving new energy to the ancient word-of-mouth tactic.

Social butterflies and online influencers can add a viral factor to your revenue that takes your marketing efforts to a new level. People that have 4x as many online friends have 4x more possibility of bringing in new customers. It’s simple math.

What’s not so simple is putting these three dimensions up against each other. Which one weighs the most? Well, that depends on your product and your market, of course, but as a rule of thumb:

Consumer Needs stands at the entrance point —if there’s none of it, don’t waste time with an invitation.
Purchasing Power is important if you are dealing with a high-end (high-priced) product. For those selling out of the bargain bin, it doesn’t matter as much.
Social Clout makes more of a difference if you have a high-engagement product. Influence can be the ultimate clincher when it comes to selling mobile phones — not so much for toothpaste.

Simple, no? All of this can be a little bit overwhelming to begin with. Speak to one of our marketing professionals for more information.