Thinking Like a Digital Marketer is More Important Than Ever!

Marketing has always been about connecting with your audience in the right place, at the right time. With more people working remotely and digital technology drawing us together, digital marketing may be the answer in allowing you to better connect with your clients.

But, how do you become a digital marketer? Here are a few tips to get you started.

1. Develop a Strategy
A strategy helps plan everything and clearly sets a goal, or desired outcome. Whatever you are dealing with, and we’re all dealing with a lot right now, it helps to have a goal in mind. What are you trying to achieve? What are the obstacles in your way and what are some of the ways you might get to your goal? Most digital marketing efforts include, or are part of a larger, strategy. Take the time to think deeper about the outcomes you want to see, then work backwards, setting up the paths to get there to help make it happen.

2. Test & Learn
Try new ideas. Don’t be afraid to get creative and do something different. If the ideas work, keep doing them; if not, stop and change direction. We do this all the time in digital marketing. We look at the data to teach ourselves and then we put our time and efforts into what the data tells us is working instead of with things that aren’t. Now is the time to let go of that mentality of “this is how I’ve always done it, so this is how I’ll do it.” That will just not work anymore. Test out new ideas, make mistakes, learn and go forward.

3. Know your Audience
As digital marketers, our best efforts are generally the ones targeted to a specific audience, rather than the ones blasted out to everyone. Everyone sees the world through their own personal lens, and different messages resonate with each of us depending on that lens. One message might be perfect for one group, but another group may have very little interest in that same message. Use this time to hone in on who you are trying to reach, anticipate what their needs may be, and then develop the best ways and words to reach them for the most optimized outcome.

4. Communicate with Purpose
You want to engage your intended audience in a meaningful way. This is key in digital marketing. Consider your text messages and email subject lines, IM messages, and social posts…what content are you presenting? How will it be received? Are you using fear tactics or positive themes? Are you telling people how to behave (people generally don’t love to be told what to do) or sharing best practices that provide real value? Going through these exercises may help as you navigate the new normal of everything virtual.

Let’s take this opportunity to work – and think – like a digital marketer. Not because we have any more answers than anyone else does, but the skills we have developed to best do our digital and virtual work have put us in a good position for the moment at hand.

Please be aware of the need to have marketing you create approved by compliance.  All marketing created by agents in the Affiliated Channel is subject to prior review and approval by National Life’s advertising review unit.  Marketing created by independent agents may be subject to compliance review – guidelines can be found here. Note that email marketing is subject to Federal anti-spam regulations.