Standing out in a noisy world: building your digital marketing strategy
Today, digital marketing is everywhere. We see it when we wake up, on our daily commute, throughout every second of the day, and then we sit down with a cuppa to relax, having seen somewhere between 6,000 and 10,000 ads throughout the day.
Most industries now are saturated and busy. We’re all competing for the eyes of our consumers and it’s not easy – in fact, advertisers spent nearly £30 billion on digital promotion in 2023! (source)
Creating a digital marketing strategy comes with its own factors, but we’re here to discuss how you use it to stand out. More importantly, how can your business stand out in a crowded market?
At Novacom, we believe standing out isn’t about doing more, it’s about doing better.
So, where do you start?
- Build digital experiences, not just content
Good content grabs attention. Great digital experiences create momentum – whether that is UX, messaging, or interaction.
Consider the wider messaging of your brand and the customer interaction.
How does this piece of content fit into the wider puzzle?
If your ideal customer saw this piece of content, would the rest of their experience with your business have the same feel?
Don’t just post for the feed, create content that will build a seamless experience.
For example, have you ever seen an eye-catching video that looked amazing and made you excited to learn more about a product? And then you click through to find out more and the landing page is out-dated, hard to navigate, glitchy, and slightly dull. You feel let down and instantly switch off and disengage from the brand.
That’s what we need to avoid.
Think about the last piece of online content that really stuck with you.
Was it a slick interactive quiz that held your attention throughout and delivered the results straight to your inbox?
A short video that hooked you in, and made you feel something?
A beautifully designed landing page with a clear flow and all the information you needed?
That’s the difference between content and experience.
Great digital experiences create a journey. It feels effortless, intentional, and human.
Why it matters:
Your digital marketing strategy should be built around your customer and the goals of your business, whether that is more leads, sales, or brand awareness.
The more well thought out your digital user experience, the longer your users will engage with your content . It can also increase engagement and build emotional connection, helping to increase retention – and increase your sales conversions by 23% (source)
Don’t just take our word for it, though, research shows that brands that lead in customer experience outperform their competitors by nearly 80% in revenue growth (source).
- Don’t just optimise, differentiate
Optimisation is incredibly important but it’s pretty pointless if people won’t remember it.
Today, being discoverable is only the first step.
You need to give people a reason to pick you over the myriad other options in your industry, give them a reason to remember and consider.
For some, that is being ultra-competitive with price messaging, for others it’s having a quirky, direct tone of voice, or going the extra mile to be transparent and provide more information.
Even if your offering is not that different from your competitors, you need to find a way to focus on something new or unique to set yourself apart.
Take Monzo, for example, they are a bank like many others (no shade intended!) however, they have differentiated themselves by having a very particular tone of voice. They actually have stringent guidelines detailing how they can appear online however, it comes across as fun, down to earth, and human – things we are not used to associating with banks! (https://monzo.com/)
Source: Monzo Bank LinkedIn
Differentiation means building a visual and verbal identity that is so distinct, people remember you. Your tone, your visual design, your website structure — everything should signal “this brand is different.”
Being optimised means people can find you. Being differentiated means they won’t forget you. But be careful, different doesn’t always mean better if it doesn’t resonate with your target audience, you want to stand out for the right reasons!
Why it matters:
Google, social media, or digital ads might bring someone to your page, but it’s your brand’s voice and identity that makes them stay or return if it resonates with them.
It is the eye-catching and different that lingers in our minds.
That’s what we need to be tapping into.
You need to plan how your brand is going to be perceived and how to make that consistent.
A Lucidpress study found that consistent brands are so impactful to customers that they can lead to a 33% uptick in revenue. (source)
So, it’s more important than ever to ensure that your digital marketing strategy is planned, consistent, and differentiated.
- Think long-term, but move fast
Build creative with a long-term strategy in mind.
Whether you have an overarching brand strategy document or a detailed presentation with content pillars, messaging, and strategic moves, digital marketing strategy will look different for everyone but it’s key that it guides the business and can evolve with time.
Industries can move so fast that it’s essential that your strategy is agile – not reactive, just adaptable.
You don’t want to jump on every trend, but if something is relevant and timely, you need to move fast.
Similarly, if something is not working, you need to be able to tweak your approach to ensure that time and money are being spent on the things that work
The sweet spot is to have a long-term content strategy that guides your brand but also have the processes in place to make you agile enough to respond to trends, audience behaviour, and performance data in real time.
Why it matters:
Brands that adapt quickly to changes in the digital space can outperform those locked into rigid campaigns – especially with the rise of AI and the rapid changes we’re seeing in the market.
At the same time, short-term tactics without a long-term vision often lead to wasted spend and scattered messaging. This goes back to our point about consistency and brand building.
Digital marketing strategies need to consider the business’ goals and targets, ensuring its ability to plan, budget and forecast, but also the need to be flexible and adapt to market and industry changes.
- Measure what matters
It can be tempting to measure the ‘vanity’ metrics such as impressions, followers, and reach, however it is important to measure the metrics that directly correlate with the goals of your campaign or strategy.
For example, if you want to generate leads, clicks and general engagement shouldn’t be your main focus; instead, you’ll want to keep an eye on form fills, landing page clicks, or enquiries.
In that scenario, the goal isn’t to reach as many people as possible, it’s to reach the right people which is tracked in a different way.
Make sure that you are measuring what matters to you as a business and campaign team otherwise you can be blinded by great engagement rates and reach figures while not actually hitting your campaign, or wider business, goals.
Decide early on what the goals are and how they can be measured in a meaningful way.
While useful, some metrics won’t be able to show whether you’ve moved the needle and encouraged people to act.
Why it matters:
According to HubSpot’s Digital Strategy Guide, 74% of marketers say data-driven decisions improve their campaign success, although only 22% feel they’re measuring the right data.
This is where your goals and campaign targets can help you. The goal of your campaign can guide you on what metrics are most relevant for you to track.
The right metrics can help you know what is working and what isn’t, allowing you to make changes and improve them continuously.
They can also be incredibly helpful with feeding back to business leaders on the success and return of your campaigns.
Ready to stand out?
Digital experience, long-term thinking, and differentiation will help you stand out while the right tracking and reporting will help you know what’s working and, crucially, what isn’t.
The digital space will only get louder, especially with AI enabling people to create a mass of content quickly, but there’s also huge opportunity for brands who lead with quality, clarity, curiosity and intent.
You want to be aware of your competitors and the others in your field, but you need to operate in a world of your own, creating digital experiences that set you apart and elevate your brand.
If you’re not sure where to start, we’re here to help. With 30 years’ experience working with some of the world’s biggest brands, we partner with client teams to build strategies, launch campaigns, and drive results. Whether you need support from the ground up or a team to fine-tune your approach, we’ve got you covered.
