Juggling all the different pieces of your digital marketing efforts can be a real headache without a plan. So creating a digital marketing roadmap makes sense; it’s a blueprint that helps you organize everything – from campaigns to content goals to measuring results. It also gives your team a shared framework to strategize, and keep everything moving in the same direction to meet the same business objectives.
What is a Digital Marketing Roadmap and Why is it Important?
A digital marketing roadmap is a detailed timeline of marketing activities that will help you reach your goals. It includes the strategies and campaigns you plan to implement – and when they need to happen, like starting dates, duration, and deadlines.
Think about taking a road trip with friends. It’s more fun when everyone plans to go to the final destination, right? Developing a marketing roadmap lets your team talk about where you see the business heading in the long term (with hopefully no one running out of gas!)
Getting on the same page helps everyone stay invested and makes sure all your strategies are aligned. Developing a roadmap also prevents wasted hours taking detours. Instead, you can explore new routes together with purpose (and on purpose) rather than having your back seat drivers ask, “are we there yet?”
What are the Elements of a Marketing Roadmap?
Like any good journey, your marketing plan starts with sorting out the navigation.
- Where are you headed as a business?
- Goals and objectives. Sketching out clear goals and objectives gets everyone in agreement upfront.
- Marketing Strategies and Campaigns. How do you reach your target audience to achieve your goals?
- When do you want to get to your final destination?
- Don’t forget to map check-ins to make adjustments – no plan is perfect! f
- Roles and Responsibilities. Coordinate roles and responsibilities
How Can I Create a Digital Marketing Roadmap?
Creating a practical marketing roadmap doesn’t need to be complicated – it’s all about mapping out your journey to success – and specifically, what success looks like to you. Input from the whole crew can help you chart the best route ahead.
Step 1: Business Goals (Your End Destination)
Every great journey starts with a clear destination and clear intention. So, the first step in building a roadmap is to identify your company’s marketing objectives. Take some time as a team to dream big and sketch out clear goals. These goals can then become your North Star and guide all future marketing decisions to get you to your destination.
Step 2: Marketing Plan
Your marketing plan is the route that gets you to your end destination quickly and without a lot of wrong turns. Outline the major campaigns, content themes and strategies that will help guide your team in your desired direction. Think about what tactics make the most sense at different points in the journey, and take a test-drive.
Step 3: Budget
How much money do you have to get you to your destination successfully? Determine the marketing budget needed to reach your goals over the time it takes you to get there. Consider the direct costs of your campaigns and also allocate funds for unexpected opportunities and market changes. Flexibility in life and business gives you a cushion to experiment.
Step 4: People and Technology
This is your road trip crew; drivers, helpers, and watch dogs. Involve key players and departments across your organization so that everyone can contribute ideas. As long as they’re onboard and have a stake in the end result, their unique perspectives will help you plot the most direct and enjoyable path on your journey. It’s best if they believe in you and the project, and they’re not just naysayers, waiting for the proverbial “I told you so.”
Step 5: Timeline and Project Roadmap
When do you want to reach your destination? Once you have a final timeline for your marketing plan set, you can move forward creating a project roadmap. This should detail your plan over time, breaking up the project into phases, marketing channels and campaigns. Think about how you want to assign teams or specific people to each task that’s part of your roadmap.
Step 6: Evaluation and Updates (Course Corrections)
No route is perfectly straight and that’s definitely true with marketing plans. Leave room in your roadmap to tweak the roadmap and make adjustments along the way. Plan checkpoints to evaluate your marketing plan and progress made, get feedback and refine your approach, to stay on course. There are no hard fast rules in marketing. You can fine-tune dates, roles, or marketing campaigns so that your end goal has the greatest chance of success.
Marketing Roadmap Examples
Want to explore available tools? Check out these platforms to create a digital marketing roadmap:
Designing Your for Success
If you want to ace your marketing goals, you need strategy and a plan on how to get there. A formalized marketing roadmap will help you reach your end destination with fewer detours and delays – plus you’ll have a way better time along the way.
Have more questions about digital marketing roadmaps for your small business? Robin Samora is a marketing and PR consultant that works with businesses to increase sales, visibility, and credibility.
Schedule a call with her to get started.
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