Navigating the Digital Seas:
The 7 C's of Digital Marketing
In the vast ocean of digital marketing, success hinges on navigating with precision and purpose. Always keep in mind, while you continue to evolve and refine your strategies, try anchor your efforts in the fundamental principles known as the "7 C's” of Digital Marketing. These principles can help guide you in delivering value to your clients and their audiences, ensuring every digital marketing campaign is a voyage worth embarking on.
Customer:
Every successful marketing strategy begins with the customer. Understanding who they are, what they need, and how they engage online is foundational. We believe in putting the customer at the center of everything we do, crafting strategies that speak directly to them, in their language and on their terms. One way of helping you understand what speaks to your customer, is developing “ICA’s” or Ideal Customer Avatars (sometimes called a buyer persona). This is essentially your perfect or dream customer. So, what are they like? How old are they? Are they married? What type of job do they have? What are their interests? Answering these questions can help develop your ICAs to get a clear understanding of how to target your customers.
Content:
Content is the vessel that carries your message across the digital seas. You want to create content that either entertains, educates, or inspires your audience. When someone says “create valuable content,” that’s what they mean. You want to give your audience something of value, as opposed to just asking something from them. Creating content that resonates with your audience in some way and leaves them with something is crucial to building a digital presence. From blog posts to videos, every piece of content is an opportunity to connect with your audience on a deeper level.
Context:
Context gives your content meaning and relevance. It’s about knowing the when, where, and how to communicate your message. You need to strive to create campaigns that not only deliver the right message but do so at the right time and place, making your brand impossible to ignore. Now, this doesn’t necessarily mean posting at the “right time” on Instagram, but instead being mindful of external factors that may be going on, especially ones that are affecting your target audience. If your goal is to promote AirBnB’s in Florida, and there’s a tropical storm heading for the coast, maybe pause that campaign for just a bit.
Community:
Digital marketing is not a monologue; it’s a dialogue. Building a community around your brand turns passive viewers into active participants. Try focusing on fostering engagement, encouraging conversations, and nurturing a sense of belonging among your audience. A simple way to do this that we really enjoy, is giving people a choice. Pick between A and B. This could be for something like a merch drop, having your audience pick which design they like best or what color shirt to print it on. Interacting with your audience can be super fun, and super rewarding. Foster that sense of community within your content and across the digital sea.
Convenience:
In today’s fast-paced world, convenience is king. Think about how many times you’ve left a company’s website because you couldn’t find what you were looking for. Trying to optimize every touchpoint for ease of access, interaction, and transaction is important, but it’s not always easy. This can sometimes be a tedious process, especially if your brand stretches far across the digital sea, and on multiple platforms. Things like seamless website navigation and mobile optimization are things that are super important to us and our clients, so we make sure to hit those hard. Work to ensure that engaging with your brand online is a breeze for your customers.
Cohesion:
A cohesive digital marketing strategy ensures that all elements of your online presence work together harmoniously. You need to pay meticulous attention to maintaining a consistent brand voice, visual identity, and messaging across all channels. This helps to reinforce your brand’s character and values. Cohesion goes beyond just using the same colors in digital graphics, but doing things like maintaining a consistent tone of voice in social media captions and blog posts can have a huge impact for your brand online.
Conversion:
Finally, conversion, the step everyone wants to get it, though they often ignore the first six. The goal of any digital marketing effort is to drive conversions. Whether it’s a sale, a subscription, or a social share, we all tailor our strategies to meet specific conversion objectives. When steps 1-6 are done correctly and consistently, this step is much easier and comes more naturally. There are ways to help drive conversions, like offering incentives. You’ll see this a lot with things like discounts, but also on social media with things like giveaways (does “like, comment, and share to be entered to win” sound familiar?). No matter how you decide to try and drive conversions, make sure to employ analytics and KPI’s (key performance indicators) to measure effectiveness and adjust tactics as needed.
Conclusion (not one of the 7 C’s):
So, as you chart your course across the digital marketing realm, the "7 C's" serve as your compass, guiding you toward meaningful engagement, impactful content, and tangible results for our clients. Your journey is one of continuous learning and growth, and we can’t wait to join you as you explore new horizons in digital marketing.