Before we get into what the framework means and how to use it, we want to talk about strategy. This word must be familiar to you and you may imagine that it has a complicated meaning, but we use the meaning of this word in some way during the day to do the things and plans we do. From the way to work, shopping at the supermarket for the necessary items are all part of our strategies.
As we mentioned in the previous discussions, the strategy is the way to reach the goal, planning for it, the goals to be followed, and the means and tools needed in this way are all considered to be part of the strategy. Now, the goals that must be followed in this way are the goals that are defined for us in the form of KPI key performance indicators. Like the number of sales, the number of customers
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Why should we have a strategy?
The problem of organizations and companies is solved with a strategic approach because only the use of tools cannot create synergy. So, as a result, you have to design a planning method to make a strategy.
Strategic planning methods in simpler and more attractive formats are called frameworks. Now, frameworks are models of these planning methods that have been tested before and have been able to bring success to several people.
So we must know different frameworks and models and we must use frameworks to design digital marketing strategies. Using a framework is a common and common way to design a strategy. Now, the first and main framework or mental model, or the same framework that is presented for strategy design, is the SOSTAC framework.
However, there is another approach to solving organizations’ problems and strategy-oriented design, which is called the sales funnel approach. This sales funnel itself is divided into 2 different frameworks: the RACE framework and the AR framework
SOSTAC framework
It is one of the most popular marketing models used for digital marketing strategy. The first step in the SOSTAC framework is to analyze the situation to know where we are at the beginning of the work.
1. Analysis of the situation in the framework
Analysis of the situation means that there is a gap between our current situation and the situation we are going to reach, for example, we have 100 million sales now, and we want to reach 150 million, and this gap is supposed to be filled with strategy frameworks.
Where does this analysis of the situation begin? Position analysis is done from market research, that is, the beginning of marketing is from market research. Market research itself has 2 parts: 1. Microeconomics. 2. Macroeconomics
Microeconomics means using the reports and data that exist in Google Ads, for example, to see how many percentages of display share the competitors have in the keyword shared with us. So we should have an analysis of competitors to see what kind of traffic they have. From which side are their main traffic sources?
Customer analysis is the second part of situation analysis and you can understand what is the main need of your customers.
The next thing is to analyze the trends in your industry, for example, the economic fluctuations that exist in your business or the increase in the dollar rate. Another example is that if a new technology is presented in your industry and business, you will be one of the first people to market it, which will attract loyal customers.
The next part is the analysis of the state of the environment or macroeconomics. As a business, you are related to the macro environment, i.e. the country you live in and the tax laws of that country. You should also pay attention to the social and cultural trends that create opportunities or threats for your business.
The next thing in analyzing the income status of your company’s customers is, for example, events such as economic recession or inflation may occur in the company and cause your customers to fluctuate.
2. Objective-design
Goal design is an art and requires experience so that you can define a correct and accurate goal. That is, in the objective step, you should be able to draw a vision for each of your digital marketing channels and design a series of financial and numerical goals that can be measured. Until you can measure something, you can’t manage it.
I will make this clear for you with an example: for example, if we have reached 100 million five hundred thousand tomans from a campaign for which we have spent 100 million, it is not a good goal. But if we have a 30% increase in sales from the old customers of the collection, it is a good goal.
3. Strategy
The way to the goal
At this stage, we can run test campaigns to measure the best strategy. So, if we operate in a data-oriented and strategy-oriented approach, we have a framework and a mental framework, and we know that if we spend money on a campaign because we did the goal design in the previous stage, we will either reach that goal or not.
As a result, there is no certainty, but because the goal is designed correctly, the percentage of risk is reduced. So, in the goal design phase, we can say that we have a 30% increase in sales through the purchases of old customers, a 30% increase in sales through the purchase of larger subscriptions, or a 30% increase in sales through new customers. These goals are the correct and logical goals in the process of implementing the digital marketing strategy.
You can also use the ANSOF matrix to design your target
4. Tactic
Tactic means the practical implementation of the strategy that we have planned so far. For example, in the strategy phase, we mentioned that we would create a 20% increase in sales through repeat purchases of old customers. For this, we can implement a marketing automation platform. For example, to notify our customers automatically two months after purchase with a message to renew or buy a new product.
In fact, by making the ads smarter, you send a message to the same customer who purchased on a specific day and time, automatically sending a message that the subscription has ended and the purchase of a new product or a new subscription.
This action is called marketing automation, which means the automation of sending marketing messages in the form of SMS or push notifications.
5. Action executive measures
As can be seen, following the tactics of the previous stage by the manager or the relevant team is in the field of executive actions. Now, these executive measures can include attracting users through advertisements on the web, bringing back old customers through direct marketing (email and SMS), banner ads, Google Ads, etc.
6. Control
At this stage, we must continuously evaluate the actions we took and their results. We need numerical and data-oriented panels.