Digital Marketing Checklist for those just starting out » Portal Insights

You know that “expectations x reality” meme? It is very real when people who have never had close contact with marketing decide to venture into developing a complete strategy for their companies. Therefore, we have prepared an essential Digital Marketing checklist for anyone who wants to position themselves in the online environment.

This way, you can not only create an executable strategy, but also track your progress and map out your next steps calmly.

Below we have prepared a checklist that condenses years of practices working with Digital Marketing with real clients. The idea is that from it you can have a clear roadmap of the steps necessary to develop – at least – an efficient and productive start for your company.

In other words, if you follow the checklist, you will be a little further away from seeing your digital marketing area illustrate the expectation x reality meme.

Let's go?

Digital marketing checklist steps

Your checklist needs to have some steps, they are:

• Initial setup
• Personas
• site
• Adverts
• IF THE
• Growth Hacking

Below, we list how to perform each step, check it out!

Initial setup

It is necessary to start at the beginning, as there is no other way possible. It may seem a little stupid, but it's true: many people forget that, before getting down to business, it is necessary to separate the ingredients of the recipe very well, in the conditions and quantities necessary for the result to be effective.

In our checklist, this is called “initial setup” and will help you organize the demands for starting work. Don't skip any item on the list! Following it exactly is another seal of guarantee for the success of your project.

• ( ) Create a Google Analytics account and install a tracking tag on the website;
• ( ) Create an account on Google Search Console and connect your data with Google Analytics;
• ( ) Create a Google Tag Manager account and install tracking tags on the website;
• ( ) Create and personalize profiles on the social networks most relevant to your company;
• ( ) Create the Business Manager on Facebook;
• ( ) Create an advertising account on Facebook Ads;
• ( ) Create an advertising account on Google Ads;
• ( ) Install Google Ads remarketing tag;
• ( ) Create relevant conversions for your company on Google Ads;
• ( ) Install Facebook Pixel on all pages of the website;
• ( ) Create the most relevant Personalized Conversions for your company on Facebook Ads;
• ( ) If you have an active customer base, create a Custom Audience and a Similar Audience from it.

Personas

For those who have been using the Insights Portal for a long time, here we are going to rain on the rain: it is essential to know and recognize your brand's personas so that any action can bring a positive result.

Before you answer that “my product/service is for everyone”, know that when something is for everyone, in reality it is for no one.

• ( ) Create your BrandScript;
• ( ) Interview at least three customers (or potential customers);
• ( ) Conduct target audience study on Facebook Audience Insights;
• ( ) Conduct a survey of Competitors;
• ( ) Carry out a survey of References;
• ( ) Analyze the most relevant keywords for your market using SEMRush or a similar tool;
• ( ) Document the main insights collected in the previous steps in a simple text file;
• ( ) Create your company’s Personas (maximum three);
• ( ) Document the Communication Line (how your company will communicate with your potential customers).

site

This is the time when we let age slip: who saw the advent of websites as those weird, very mechanical pages that were more institutional than informative?

I'm glad reality has changed, because it couldn't get any more boring than that. Today, websites are a source not only of information about the company, product or service, but also of long-term relationships with the public. Through the contents of a website, your potential customer can resolve their primary doubts and, if they find relevant data, they will certainly remember who gave this “help” during the purchasing journey – that is, your company.

• ( ) Perform a site speed diagnosis on Google PageSpeed ​​Insights and apply the necessary adjustments to increase the score by at least 70;
• ( ) Install the WP Super Cache and EWWW plugins to maintain site speed;
• ( ) Analyze the responsiveness of the website and make the necessary adjustments to maintain good usability on mobile;
• ( ) Install and configure Yoast SEO for basic search engine optimization;
• ( ) Optimize website content based on the most relevant keywords for your business and good copywriting practices;
• ( ) If necessary, create landing pages to promote the service/product according to the pain points of each Persona (don't forget to install the same Google, Facebook Pixel and Conversions tags).

Adverts

Making ads, in digital marketing, not only means thinking about the message and where it will be delivered, but also when, for how long, to which persona, at what time and location, at what point in the purchasing journey and so on.

In other words, ads are an important step in the success of a strategy. To get the most out of them, remember that, in addition to configuring campaigns, it is essential to create performance indicators that can be measured frequently.

• ( ) Create the first campaigns on Facebook and Instagram;
• ( ) Create the first campaigns on Google;
• ( ) Establish an ad optimization routine;
• ( ) Establish a testing routine.

IF THE

“Céu”, “Ciôu”… no matter how you pronounce it, the message of SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is clear: your website needs to be relevant, consistent, constant and fast to be well positioned in search engines.

If we are being honest, when we talk about “search engines” we are basically talking about Google, since it is the most used engine in the world for this purpose. So, when we optimize a website or content for search engines, we are basically using the algorithms suggested by Google to define ranking.

Taking into account that they change frequently, it is best to have the digital marketing checklist always on hand – and always updated – so as not to miss any new “rules”.

• ( ) Carry out Content Planning with a frequency of at least 1x / Week based on keyword research, competition and originality;
• ( ) Prospect for Backlinks to publish at least 2x guest posts per month on websites related to your market, with domain authority equal to or greater than that of your company.
• ( ) Configure Off-page SEO aspects.

Growth Hacking

No one who positions themselves on the internet thinks: “I’m fine like this, this is how I want to be”. Even because companies managed by those who think like this must be on the fifth page of Google behind…

Everyone wants to grow; expand not only your virtual presence, with a website, blog, social networks, advertisements and other resources, but also increase your sales capacity and annual revenue.

And can you do this by following a digital marketing checklist? Yes it does! As long as you know where you are and where you want to be, in terms of numbers, insights will come and can make a difference in your scope of work.

Here's a tip: the digital environment thrives on trial and error. Therefore, don't forget to schedule frequent experiments to see which solutions give the best results in the shortest amount of time.

• ( ) Establish a Reporting and Insights routine;
• ( ) Establish an Experiment Routine;
• ( ) Establish a Personas Optimization Routine;
• ( ) Hire an external consultant to analyze usage and guide the next steps.

Conclusion – The digital marketing checklist is easier than you think!

In conclusion, this type of checklist makes a difference in conducting marketing strategies because, when used, we have another mechanism to ensure we don't forget anything.

Human memory is flawed and, no matter how much you do the same thing a thousand times in a row, there is always a risk of missing some detail. In this case, having access to a “reminder list” is essential, especially when the digital marketing planning in question is carried out for small companies with limited resources.

Remember that you can only see the return on each action if you measure it! Without measuring results, it is impossible to say that something was successful or failed. Also use the checklist to quantify your campaign attempts and, with luck, the strategy history will show what works, what doesn't and what needs to be included or removed from the list.

Did you like this content? Read more articles from Portal Insights! They were designed to help you boost your brand regardless of the size of the company.