Thanksgiving is less than a month away, and we’re already dreaming about the turkey and stuffing, the sweet potato pie, the football games, and spending time being grateful with friends and family. All those thoughts about Turkey Day must be seeping into our daily work over here at Fly Pages, because we’ve been thinking a lot about the commonalities between Thanksgiving Dinner and Digital Marketing. Here are 7 of our favorite Thanksgiving themed analogies.
1. Hosting friends and family for Thanksgiving takes preparation.
Let’s face it, Thanksgiving dinner doesn’t just happen. It takes planning, shopping lists, cleaning the house, delegating responsibilities to family members, getting up early to put the turkey in the oven, and so on.
In the same way, your digital marketing strategy takes prep work. Running a business is more than a full-time job. We get it! And it can be tempting to just throw up a website, write a few blog posts, and toss in some social media for good measure. But taking the time to think through your digital marketing strategy is important if it’s going to be effective.
2. You need a recipe.
Just like you need a recipe for Grandma’s pecan pie, you need a strategy for your company’s digital marketing. There’s your website, SEO optimization, social media, email marketing, content strategy. All of these things need to be balanced and planned out. Keep in mind that you may not get it right the first time. Digital marketing can often be more art than science, and it might take a few tweaks before getting it just right.
3. Invite your guests—Don’t just assume they’re going to show up.
You aren’t Kevin Costner, and this isn’t Field of Dreams. Just because you build it, it doesn’t mean they’ll come. You have to drive traffic to your website. Attract leads with paid advertising and email marketing. Create stellar content that your target audience will want to read, and share it on your social media channels. Go meet your audience in their field instead of waiting for them to come to you.
4. At the end of the meal, you’ll be able to tell which dish worked and which one didn’t.
The dish with the mashed potatoes is wiped clean. The weird tuna casserole—not so much. By paying attention to what is successful and what isn’t in your digital marketing strategy, you’ll have a great idea for how to adjust going forward. Use analytics to measure your website traffic and email click-throughs. Use the engagement metrics on your social media platforms to understand what your audience is most interested in. Then take that information and use it to inform your strategy going forward.
5. Moderation is key.
It’s never good to OD on turkey. Same goes for digital marketing. It’s really easy to try and do it all at 100%, but if you take it slow, make sure you have a good plan in place for each area of your digital plan, that will serve you much better in the long run.
6. Leftovers!
“Reuse, Repurpose and Reinvent.” This should be your mantra when it comes to your digital marketing efforts. Identify the things that have worked well for you and breathe new life into them. Take a popular blog post and turn it into a video series. If you got a lot of hits on a particular infographic create a social campaign around it. By maximizing your time and budget when you get creative, the possibilities are endless.
7. If you can’t cook, have it delivered.
Some people just don’t like to cook. So, they have Thanksgiving dinner delivered. Some people don’t have time (or just don’t want) to deal with building a digital marketing strategy. Outsource it! Choose an agency that will take time to listen and understand your brand strategy and implement it well. A great digital marketing team will become an extension of your business as they guide and support you, becoming a valuable resource.
If you’d like help with your strategy, contact us today to see how we can create a clear and effective digital marketing plan that will reach your target audience and have them coming back for seconds.
