My digital strategy playbook: Proven ways to maximize your online presence

Digital marketing strategies define how a business reaches its audience online and achieves measurable business goals. These strategies connect channel and content choices to a budget, clear responsibilities, and KPIs that show progress.

This guide covers seven steps for building or updating a strategy, from audience research to execution and measurement. It includes guidance on channel selection, real-world examples of how businesses apply their strategies, and a free marketing plan template to organize the work.

Table of Contents

• Marketing Strategy vs. Campaign vs. Tactic
• Core Components of a Digital Marketing Strategy
• How to Create a Digital Marketing Strategy in 7 Steps
• Digital Marketing Channels and Strategic Approaches
• Digital Marketing Strategy Template
• Digital Marketing Strategy Examples
• Building a Digital Strategy: Worked Example
• How to Measure and Refresh Digital Marketing
• Frequently Asked Questions About Digital Marketing Strategies
• Grow better with marketing strategies that improve your digital presence.

Marketing Strategy vs. Campaign vs. Tactic

A marketing strategy is the overarching plan that guides all marketing efforts. It defines the target audience, what makes the brand unique, and how the business plans to achieve its goals over time.

A digital marketing campaign is a coordinated series of activities designed to achieve a specific goal, like launching a new product or driving sign-ups during a promotional period. Campaigns operate within the broader strategy and execute over a defined time frame.

Marketing tactics are specific actions taken to execute a campaign, such as sending an email, publishing a blog post, or running a paid ad. Tactics are the individual tasks that make campaigns come to life.

When all three align, marketing becomes more purposeful and measurably effective. Strategy sets the direction, campaigns create structured momentum, and tactics carry the plan forward.

The example below shows how all three layers work together, using a hypothetical accounting software company.

Changing an ad headline is a tactic and leaves the wider strategy intact. A decision to target enterprise finance departments would require a fresh look at the offer, channels, and sales process.

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Core Components of a Digital Marketing Strategy

A digital marketing strategy is only as strong as the elements it is built on. Before choosing channels or launching campaigns, teams need a clear picture of who they are targeting, what makes the brand worth choosing, and how success will be measured. The components below cover the foundational decisions that shape every tactic that follows.

Goals and KPIs

Goals are big-picture ideas, while objectives have clear deadlines and show what success looks like. Key performance indicators (KPIs) define how progress will be measured. A quick example makes the distinction clear.

• Goal: To increase brand awareness.
• Objective: Grow social media following by 20% within the next quarter.
• KPI: Month 1: Social media following increases by 10%; Month 2: by 15%; Month 3: by 20%

I always start goal-setting with SMART goals as a key digital marketing tip, using our in-house framework that specifies the outcome, target, and deadline, leaving no room for unrealistic expectations. It also includes a SMART KPI calculator that links goals to progress, providing a clear starting point.

Audience

The audience is the specific group of people or organizations the digital strategy aims to reach and convert. Customer profiles should capture who buys, what prompts a purchase, and what might stop it. Include the questions buyers need answered and where they look for answers. For B2B, distinguish the product’s user from the person who approves the purchase.

I recommend using HubSpot’s free customer profile templates for beginners.

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Positioning and Messaging

Positioning explains how an offer should be understood in relation to customer needs and competing alternatives. Messaging turns that position into the words, claims, and proof used in marketing communications. State the customer problem the offer solves and why it deserves preference over the alternatives.

Channels and Content

Channels are the digital platforms used to reach the audience, while content is the information or experience delivered through those platforms. Choose digital marketing channels according to audience behavior, goals, resources, and measurement needs. The content plan should identify the questions each asset answers and the next action it supports.

Include the website experience: visitors must be able to complete that action on mobile, whether through a form or checkout.

Budget and Resources

The budget and resources define what is available to execute the strategy. A strategic digital marketing budget covers media spend, production, software, and staff time. Each channel needs a named owner and a realistic estimate of monthly hours, with time built in for design and approvals before committing to a publication schedule.

Technology and Workflows

Technology and workflows describe the systems and processes used to create, deliver, track, and improve marketing activity. Teams should specify which tools hold customer data, publish campaigns, and report results, with clear ownership over AI-assisted work including factual checks and final approval.

Measurement and Optimization

Measurement and optimization are the ongoing processes of collecting performance data and making informed changes. Data analytics tracks traffic, analyzes which parts of the campaign resonate most, and even pinpoints where users might be dropping off.

Use Marketing Hub’s analytics dashboards to track how users behave on your website or social media, understand what they like, and even predict future trends.

How to Create a Digital Marketing Strategy in 7 Steps

1. Define the audience.

For any marketing strategy — digital or not — marketers need to know who they’re marketing to. The best digital marketing strategies are built upon detailed buyer personas; creating them is the first step.

Collect quantitative and demographic information:

• Location
• Age
• Income
• Job Title
• Goals
• Challenges
• Hobbies/Interests
• Priorities

Look at recent successful and unsuccessful sales. Talking to current customers and people who considered the product but chose a competitor surfaces what they needed, what options they considered, and why they made their final choice. Recurring answers can be captured in a buyer persona template.

• What prompted the search for a solution?
• Which alternatives made the shortlist?
• Where did the buyer compare those options?
• What nearly stopped the purchase?

Ask whether AI search influenced the shortlist, too. In HubSpot’s January 2026 survey of more than 3,000 CRM purchase decision-makers, a staggering 42% used AI search during evaluation.

For example, I run Breaking the Blueprint, a HubSpot Blog column for minority business owners and entrepreneurs — a more specific group than the general HubSpot audience.

I could publish content based on what I think they might look for and benefit from, but I’m much more effective, impactful, and helpful if I dig deep and uncover their specific interests, needs, and challenges.

Pro tip: Use LLMs to draft interview questions, then check the assumptions with customers.

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2. Set goals and KPIs.

Work backward from a business target to set marketing goals, using actual conversion rates. In a hypothetical plan, 20 new customers at a 10% qualified-lead close rate would require approximately 200 qualified leads. If that’s doable, go for it. If not, revise the marketing strategy.

Pro tip: I recommend using a high-level marketing plan template to outline your annual marketing strategy, identify top priorities, and more.

3. Audit channels and assets.

Review existing online marketing strategies at the channel and asset level. Record each asset’s cost, owner, qualified leads, and customers over a comparable period. Separate missing data from genuine zero results.

The inventory covers four categories.

• Owned: Website pages, blog articles, email content, and downloadable resources.
• Earned: Unpaid press coverage, customer reviews, and voluntary shares or mentions.
• Paid: Search ads, paid social campaigns, and sponsored creator content.
• Social media: Review brand-created social posts, including their engagement, response times, and contribution to qualified leads. Use Social Media Management to publish, monitor, and respond to social content from a unified inbox so teams can manage organic social as part of a connected digital strategy rather than a siloed channel.

4. Plan owned media and content.

Make a list of existing owned content and rank each item by past performance against current goals. Pages that deliver some leads but are stuck on the second page of the SERP are candidates for a content refresh.

A spreadsheet works well for this analysis. Each URL should include four types of information.

• Search performance: Leading queries, impressions, clicks, and average position.
• Business performance: Qualified leads, conversions, and revenue influence.
• Authority: Internal links and referring domains.
• Editorial quality: Audience fit, accuracy, depth, and supporting evidence.

Then assign one action: keep it as is, update it, or redirect/remove it. At HubSpot, we once removed 3,000 articles from our blogs to increase organic traffic. It might read as counterintuitive, but content pruning is a proven way to refresh your website.

Pro tip: Check which pages already appear for a topic before commissioning another article. Jake Ward’s content-audit approach starts with each URL’s keyword data. If an existing page serves the same search intent, consider an update first.

Finally, create a content gap list as an inspiration bank for new content. Take notes from customer interviews, sales and support questions. Analyze search queries your website doesn’t rank for but should and competitor coverage. Label each gap as a missing answer, weak answer, proof gap, or unsuitable format.

Prioritize gaps that affect purchase decisions, demonstrate demand, and can be addressed with credible evidence. Turn each priority into a brief that includes the question, proposed action, supporting evidence, and intended next step.

Use HubSpot’s free SEO audit template and checklist to guide content planning.

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5. Review earned media.

Use successful coverage to identify the next pitch: original research, a useful resource, or expert commentary.

Create a shortlist of publications and communities, with a relevant angle and outreach owner for each. Count paid creator collaborations under paid media.

6. Review paid media.

Compare the cost per qualified lead and customer across paid campaigns. Inspect the leads behind low-cost campaigns before increasing their budgets. If many fail the qualification criteria — such as serving the target market, having a relevant need, meeting the minimum company or deal profile — review the targeting, ad message, and offer.

Set a test budget and maximum acceptable acquisition cost before the next launch. Use a paid media template to record planned spend and results. Allow for the normal conversion delay before judging whether a campaign has paid off.

Featured resource: Use this Google Ads PPC Kit to learn how to leverage Google Ads for your digital marketing strategy.

7. Build, launch, and measure the strategy.

Turn the priorities into a campaign calendar with owners and deadlines. Before launching each campaign:

• Test the path from ad or email to the intended conversion, including on mobile.
• Confirm that forms record the required contact details and consent choices.
• Test follow-up messages and sales handoffs with a test contact.
• Check that conversions appear in reports and campaign links carry consistent tracking tags.

After launch, check delivery and data collection first. Review spend and qualified leads weekly, then assess customer acquisition after the normal sales cycle. Record any budget or campaign changes, with an owner and a review date.

To keep launch work and maintenance from slipping through the cracks, use HubSpot Marketing Studio’s one shared workspace that transforms how marketing teams build campaigns. Map out campaigns, assign asset owners, and track progress all in one intuitive canvas that is shared with the team.

Digital Marketing Channels and Strategic Approaches

There are nine core digital marketing channels, each having concrete goals, audience, and measurement criteria. They are not interchangeable but rather complementary.

1. Content Marketing

Content marketing uses relevant content to answer questions that delay or block a purchase. It is most useful when buyers need education, comparison, or proof before committing. The goal is to build trust, establish thought leadership, and drive profitable customer action.

Best use case: Explain complex offers and supply proof before sales.

Audience and funnel fit: Buyers researching a problem or narrowing a shortlist; awareness and consideration.

Primary KPI: Content-assisted qualified leads.

Pro tip: Prioritize customer interviews and original research over general topics that AI can write at ease. In HubSpot’s 2026 survey of more than 1,500 marketers, 62.7% said brands need more unique, human-centered content to compete with AI-generated material.

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2. Influencer Marketing

Influencer marketing means partnering with influencers who already have the attention of a relevant community. It suits launches and awareness campaigns when a creator can demonstrate the product in the style the audience expects.

Best use case: Introduce a product through a credible niche or local voice.

Audience and funnel fit: Consumer, specialist, or location-based audiences; awareness and consideration.

Primary KPI: Creator-attributed qualified visits.

Influencer marketing might seem unattainable from a cost perspective, as most businesses don’t have A-list budgets. But as Eric Munn, the director of marketing for the Chicago Transit Authority and a featured contributor to our Masters in Marketing newsletter, points out, local and regional influencers can be quite affordable and have valuable audiences.

“Our campaign was focused on using the CTA because it saves you money, which means more money in your pocket to go do all of the things that Chicago has to offer.” So Munn turned to Chicagoland influencers who make videos with themes like “five things to do in Chicago this weekend” or “Chicago’s hidden gems.”

Followers of those influencers were likely already in the CTA’s target audience, making it a valuable marketing play — but without paying national influencer prices.

Pro tip: Work with micro-influencers, as they bring in the most new followers and drive the most sales. In fact, 32.4% of marketers report the most success with micro-influencers, while 30.2% report the same with macro-influencers.

3. Social Media Marketing

Social media marketing is another way to generate brand awareness online and boost your digital strategy. It involves creating and sharing content on social media platforms, such as Facebook, Instagram, X, and others, to attract attention, drive website traffic, and generate leads.

Social media marketing is also great for building communities around your brand.

Speak directly to your audience, engage with followers through comments and messages, and start discussions to connect on a more personal level.

Best use case: Create discovery, gather feedback, and sustain customer conversation.

Audience and funnel fit: People active on the selected platform and existing customers; awareness and retention.

Primary KPI: Social-assisted conversions.

Pro tip: Go crazy about reusing content that has traction across platforms. Reuse the idea, but adapt the hook, format, and CTA to match the best-performing format for a social media platform. HubSpot’s 2026 State of Marketing survey found that 49.4% of marketers reuse the same content across platforms, while 39.5% tailor it.

Make content repurposing a one-click action with HubSpot’s Content Remix tool. It repurposes a single piece of content into multiple marketing assets across all your channels — in seconds.

4. Paid Advertising

Paid advertising buys controlled distribution through search, social, or other digital placements. I recommend paid advertising if you’re still growing your blog or business and not getting as much traffic as you want. Consider adding one of these types of advertising to your digital strategy:

• Social Media Advertising
• Pay-Per-Click (PPC)
• Google Ads
• Online Advertising

Best use case: Capture demand, reach a defined audience, or test an offer.

Audience and funnel fit: New audiences, high-intent searchers, and previous visitors; awareness through purchase.

Primary KPI: Customer acquisition cost.

Pro tip: What I like the most, and the biggest benefit of paid advertising, is that it’s not dependent on a content or SEO strategy where success can take a while to build.

Teams choose a platform, set a budget, write copy, select images, and launch campaigns. To ensure success, I’d recommend creating an advertising plan that outlines the target audience, channels, and budget before launch.

Keep in mind that each ad platform will claim credit for conversions, which makes budget decisions messy. HubSpot’s Ads Software brings campaigns from Meta, Google, LinkedIn, and TikTok into the same view as CRM contacts and customers, so budget follows customers instead of whichever dashboard reports the most favorable click count.

5. Account-Based Marketing (ABM)

ABM is not a channel. It coordinates marketing and sales around specific high-value accounts, with research and messages tailored to the buying committee rather than a broad market. This strategy is particularly suitable for B2B marketing in industries with complex sales cycles, where forging strong relationships with specific key accounts is critical.

Best use case: Pursue B2B accounts valuable enough to justify tailored work.

Audience and funnel fit: Buying committees in complex B2B sales; consideration, purchase, and expansion.

Primary KPI: Qualified pipeline from target accounts.

Dustin Brackett, CEO and founder of HIVE Strategy, says he believes in the power ABM has for some organizations but understands why it’s not a popular trend.

“ABM is really only valuable for organizations that have high-value customers. There isn’t a ton of ROI to be had by investing in ABM for a B2C organization, or any organization that has a lower customer lifetime value because ABM is a large investment in time, resources, and dollars,” Brackett says.

6. Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

SEO covers a site’s content, structure, and technical health to improve its visibility and ranking in search results. That groundwork carries into AEO because LLM systems also need to find, understand, and trust a page before they can use it as a source.

Best use case: Capture recurring demand from search and answer engines for topics buyers actively research.

Audience and funnel fit: Searchers with informational or commercial intent; awareness through purchase.

Primary KPI: Non-branded organic conversions.

An AI Search Grader lets marketers gauge their brand’s — and competitors’ — visibility across AI-powered search engines, along with popular search results related to the industry or company. Use these details to better control what information chatbots pull from your website, guide them to accurate results, and create more relevant content.

7. Podcasting

Podcasting is a long-term brand-building channel. It suits expert-led topics that benefit from depth, nuance, or recurring access to credible guests. Having podcasts in the digital strategy allows marketers to reach people on platforms other than search engines and social media channels, and it’s a much more unplanned, natural medium — though, of course, plan each episode carefully and ensure content actually serves your listeners.

Best use case: Explore specialist topics through expert discussion.

Audience and funnel fit: Niche and B2B audiences researching a subject over time; awareness and consideration.

Primary KPI: Episode consumption rate.

Pro tip: In a June 2026 survey of 200+ B2B decision-makers, two-thirds used podcasts for purchase research, but most did not subscribe. Build searchable, self-contained episodes rather than relying on subscriber growth.

Dan Stillgoe, Blend’s Marketing Manager, spoke to my colleague Caroline Forsey and told her the same thing.

He says, “It‘s true that you can’t directly attribute leads or revenue from a podcast, but that’s not its purpose.”

Podcasts are a long-term brand-building channel that can improve affinity and connection for your brand like no other channel,“ he explains. ”When you realize the long-term and surrounding benefits, podcasting becomes a clear and obvious investment.”

He adds, “Podcasting is the perfect way to craft content that’s engaging and authentic — something buyers are beginning to crave in this AI era.”

For inspiration, check out the HubSpot Podcast Network:

8. Email Marketing

Email is an owned channel for consented contacts. Use it to nurture customers and prospects based on what they have done, bought, or asked. Subscribers can be earned through a blog, contests, and webinars.

When a contact provides their email and consents to receive communication, the brand has full permission to target them with an email marketing campaign.

“At HubSpot Media, email is still the OG. We’re all in on growing audiences and newsletters like The Hustle, Marketing Against the Grain, Science of Scaling, and Mindstream.”, says Kyle Denhoff, HubSpot’s senior director of marketing.

Best use case: Run lead nurture, onboarding, and re-engagement.

Audience and funnel fit: Opted-in prospects and customers; consideration, purchase, and retention.

Primary KPI: Click-to-conversion rate.

Pro tip: To deliver a bespoke, authentic experience to customer inboxes, use HubSpot’s Email Marketing Tools to personalize messages with CRM data and report engagement in the same CRM, avoiding manually matched exports.

9. Video Marketing

Video is a format that can run across social, search, email, and landing pages. It earns its cost when motion makes the message easier to understand — for product demos, walkthroughs, or customer proof.

Short-form video continues its reign on social media because it consistently performs in B2C and B2B alike. According to the 2026 State of Marketing, 60% of marketers actively use short-form video, and 49% say it delivers the highest ROI of any content format they use.

Best use case: Show something that is easier to understand in motion, including product walkthroughs and customer proof.

Audience and funnel fit: Prospects who need to see the product, process, or result; any funnel stage depending on placement.

Primary KPI: Viewer-to-next-step conversion rate.

Pro tip: Use clips for attention, then send interested viewers to the full explanation or conversion page. Erica Santiago, staff writer at HubSpot, explains the psychology behind bite-sized videos and why we love them so much.

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Digital Marketing Strategy Template

While a spreadsheet can work for mapping a digital marketing strategy, that approach can quickly become messy and overwhelming.

For long-term planning — typically six to twelve months out — I recommend a reliable digital marketing strategy document. HubSpot’s free digital marketing plan template is a strong starting point. It walks through a business summary and initiatives, helps build out target market and competitor information, and fleshes out the marketing strategy including budget, channels, and metrics.

Use this digital strategy template to build out an annual digital marketing strategy and tactics. Mapping out yearly plans makes it easier to see when each action will be executed across the team.

Digital Marketing Strategy Examples

What makes a winning digital strategy? Let’s peek behind the curtain at some of the best strategies from popular brands.

1. Béis: Paid Ad

Travel accessory brand Béis ran a social media campaign to announce feature updates to one of its products. And they did it in the best way: by showing instead of telling.

Lessons to Learn: In a 34-second clip distributed on Instagram Stories, the brand shows how its product performed before and how it performs now after updating the material.

Lessons to Learn

• It not only highlights product improvement but shows customers that the brand is committed to iterating and improving,
• It makes sure to include captions in the video so it’s accessible to everyone,
• There’s a CTA button at the bottom of the screen that encourages customers to make a purchase.

2. Omsom: Social Media

Asian food brand Omsom creates starter kits for home cooks who want a simple way to cook Asian cuisine without sacrificing authentic ingredients and flavors.

The brand leverages its TikTok profile to share behind-the-scenes content, recipes, and culturally relevant content.

In a recent video, the brand’s co-founder shared how it sources one of its key ingredients and why it chose the more difficult route to preserve the food’s integrity.

Lessons to Learn

• Highlights its brand values while still building excitement around the product.
• Includes its website link in its TikTok bio.
• Offers a discount to customers who find it through the video-sharing platform.

Sharing behind-the-scenes content is a great way to connect with the audience and highlight the brand’s mission and values.

3. The General: Paid Advertising

After reports that consumers thought the brand was untrustworthy due to its low-budget ads, The General decided to revamp its entire marketing strategy.

In a commercial featuring basketball superstar Shaq, the brand addressed the elephant in the room and introduced a new and improved look.

The General’s ad is a great example of effective crisis management.

• It addresses negative perceptions head-on, showing viewers that it’s in tune with its target audience and their needs,
• It rebuilds credibility by emphasizing how long it’s been in business and how many people it has helped.

4. Nike: Apps, Games & the Metaverse

Nike has impressed everyone with its digital strategies and innovative additions in recent years. First, they created apps like the Nike mobile app, SNKRS (for sneaker releases), Nike Training Club (NTC), and Nike Run Club (NRC).

These apps helped Nike sell more stuff, especially during COVID-19. NTC, for example, saw an 80% sales jump in China in one quarter

Source

Nike is also exploring the metaverse with a place called Nikeland on Roblox. Young people are crazy about Roblox, with over 216 million monthly active users. Nike jumped on this trend and cleverly integrated its brand into this world.

Nikeland sells digital clothes, shoes, and accessories for Roblox characters. They bought a company called RTFKT, which makes digital sneakers. People fell in love with these shoes, showing there’s a big market for this stuff.

Lessons to Learn

• Stay true to yourself. Don’t lose sight of your mission. Use tech to help you achieve your goals, not just to make a quick buck.
• Make it personal. Speak to people in ways that resonate with them, and personalize your digital offerings.
• Follow trends. Stay vigilant and in trend with what’s currently popular and appealing to make the most out of every opportunity.

5. Hinge: The Power of Disruption and Antimarketing

A popular dating app, Hinge, is doing something different than its competitors.

They want people to stop using their app once they find love! This is a cool change from most apps that try to keep you using them constantly, like Tinder. That said, Hinge’s message is “The dating app designed to be deleted.”

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Lessons to Learn

• Outcome-based marketing works. Focus on the user’s desired outcome, not just downloads, purchases, or engagement.
• Disruptive marketing helps you stand out. Use strategies that challenge the status quo and stand out from the competition in unexpected ways. For instance — with guerrilla marketing, bizarre campaigns, or unconventional partnerships — the key is to disrupt the norm.
• Unique selling propositions (USPs) attract customers. Use “antimarketing” tactics in your copy and ads to sell more. Instead of being pushy, create curiosity by not seeming too eager to sell. It might sound strange, but it works.

6. Spotify Wrapped: Turning Data into Engagement

Spotify Wrapped is a year-end summary of your most-listened songs, artists, and podcasts. And it’s a content marketing masterpiece.

Spotify leverages data to spark self-reflection, and that’s the best part of this strategy. In fact, Grace Kao, Spotify’s head of marketing, told HubSpot’s Masters in Marketing newsletter:

“Spotify Wrapped does so well because it‘s personal, but it’s also about community. All we want to do is share our Wrapped with others. I want to hear about your Wrapped because it’s a connection we both share.”

Lessons to Learn

• Make data engaging. Don’t bore your audience with raw numbers. Transform data into visuals, quizzes, or interactive experiences that are fun and informative.
• Personalization is still king. People crave personal experiences. Tailor content, reports, or recommendations based on user data to build a unique connection with each customer.
• Spark conversations. Use data to create content that inspires users to share and discuss it with others. This can be insights about their habits, comparisons with others, or even predictions based on their data.
• FOMO works. Create a sense of urgency or exclusivity around your data-driven experiences.

Building a Digital Strategy: Worked Example

Want to see how a digital strategy works in action? Let‘s build one together for my fictional brand, Charmaloo. This step-by-step process shows how I’m planning to take my idea from concept to online success.

• Crafting the brand identity. I want a fun, energetic brand that makes people smile. So, I took my artistic skills online and started designing custom clothes. Each piece is unique, made just for the customer, with whatever designs they want.
• Defining the audience. After the idea took shape, I defined my target audience, which comprises two main groups: Individuals who seek unique clothing not found in mainstream stores and people looking for heartfelt, customized gifts for loved ones.
• Choosing the right social media platform. To showcase Charmaloo’s fun, custom style, Instagram is the perfect place to start.
• Creating mockups with Canva. Starting a new business is pricey, and, unfortunately, fancy photos are out of reach. That’s where Canva comes in and saves us.
• Building community. I know people are looking for unique gift ideas, so joining Facebook groups where people ask for suggestions is a great way to organically promote Charmaloo.
• Collaborating with influencers. Next on my agenda is partnering with mom influencers. I’d reach out to them to promote my special offer: kids’ drawings printed on t-shirts.
• Collaborating with UGC creators. A collaboration with UGC creators is inevitable, so I’d send a sweatshirt to a couple, best friends, parents, etc., to get more great content for my feed and reels.
• Launching a website. I’d need an online platform where customers can personalize and purchase items quickly through an automated system.
• Getting started with email marketing. Engaging email campaigns would keep customers up-to-date on new designs, promotions, and inspiring stories.
• Starting an affiliate program. I’d create a program for affiliates who’d spread the word about Charmaloo and get rewarded for that.
• Testing paid ads. The idea is to run occasional paid ads to reach a broader audience.

How to Measure and Refresh Digital Marketing

Track the metrics below against a baseline and a target to track growth or declines in performance.

• Leading KPIs: Monitor impressions, reach, CTR, CPC, landing-page conversion rate, email click rate, organic clicks, and search position weekly. These show whether people are noticing, engaging with, and moving through the funnel.
• Lagging KPIs: Review qualified leads, lead-to-customer rate, customer acquisition cost (CAC), pipeline generated, revenue, return on ad spend (ROAS), and retention after the normal sales cycle. These show whether the activity produced a business result.
• Channel-level measurement: Calculate CPC as spend divided by clicks, CPL as spend divided by leads, and CAC as spend divided by new customers. Compare channels using the same date range, conversion definition, and attribution model.
• Business-level measurement: Combine channel data to track total marketing-sourced pipeline, marketing-sourced revenue, blended CAC, payback period, and customer retention. This prevents a cheap lead source from looking successful when those leads never become customers.
• Reporting cadence: Check delivery, spend, and tracking daily during a launch. Review leading KPIs weekly, lagging KPIs monthly or after the sales cycle, and the full strategy quarterly.
• Budget and resource reallocation: Move budget or staff time toward channels that produce qualified opportunities at an acceptable CAC. Do not shift investment based on CTR or CPC alone; inspect lead quality and downstream revenue with Marketing Hub’s analytics dashboards.
• Campaign or strategy change: Change the campaign when the audience and goal still make sense but the execution is weak, such as a poor offer, ad, landing page, or follow-up. Revisit the strategy when several campaigns show the same problem, the audience has changed, the economics no longer work, or the business has new priorities.

Frequently Asked Questions About Digital Marketing Strategies

What is a digital marketing strategy?

A digital marketing strategy is a plan that connects business goals with a defined audience, positioning, channels, content, budget, workflows, and KPIs. It determines where marketing should focus and how success will be judged.

What should a digital marketing strategy include?

There are ten core components of a digital marketing strategy:

1. Target audience
2. Goals
3. KPIs
4. Messaging
5. Channel choices
6. Content plan
7. Budget
8. Owners
9. Technology
10. Reporting process.

Each channel should have a job, an owner, a target action, and a measurable outcome.

What is the difference between a strategy, campaign, and tactic?

A strategy is the long-term direction. A campaign is a time-bound initiative that supports it, such as a product launch or lead-generation push. A tactic is one action used to execute the campaign, such as a paid search ad, email, webinar, or landing page.

How do you choose the right digital marketing channels?

Choose channels based on where your audience researches and buys. Then, estimate available resources and your ability to measure results. Start with one or two channels you can realistically manage.

How do you measure a digital marketing strategy?

There are universal leading indicators — such as impressions, CTR, CPC, landing-page conversion rate, and qualified leads. And lagging indicators — customer acquisition cost, marketing-sourced pipeline, revenue, ROAS, and retention. Both show whether people are noticing, engaging with, and moving through the funnel.

How often should you update your strategy?

Review campaign delivery and leading KPIs weekly, business results monthly or after the sales cycle, and the full strategy quarterly. Update it sooner if the audience, offer, competition, budget, or economics change significantly.

Grow better with marketing strategies that improve your digital presence.

The strategy document will be individual to your business. Its job is to connect the business goal and mission to the audience, channels, and measurement. It should map the actions you’ll take over a defined period, show what success looks like, and make it clear what changes when the evidence changes.

Start with the free marketing plan template to turn the thinking into a workable plan. Don’t wait until campaigns, handoffs, and reports spread across different tools. Marketing Hub offers one connected place to reach audiences and see which work contributes to pipeline and revenue.

Editor's note: This post was originally published in December 2016 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.

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