HOW TO MAKE A DIGITAL MARKETING PLAN STEP BY STEP

INTRODUCTION

First of all, I would like the support received, which encourages me to continue with the fifth installment of the series “how to create a digital marketing plan step by step.”

Some people have told me that this series is being very useful to them to plan and shape their digital marketing plan, so I want to thank you for your support from this page. THANKS!

If last week the article had as its central theme the SWOT and CAME matrices, this week the title of the post  is “Competitive Advantage Digital Marketing Plan”

In this post we are going to see that the identification of competitive advantage is a key success factor both at the business level and for our online marketing plan.

DIGITAL MARKETING PLAN COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE

WHAT IS COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE?

If we are going to talk about strategy, we cannot fail to refer to Michael E. Porter, considered the father of corporate strategy. In his 1985 book Competitive Advantage, Porter, in addition to creating the famous  5 Forces of Porter,  defines the concept of competitive advantage in the following way:

The competitive strategy takes offensive or defensive actions to create a defensible position in the market, in order to successfully face competitive forces and generate return on investment.

To identify your competitive advantage, it is very important that you take as a reference both the strengths and the opportunities that you have identified in the SWOT analysis. 

The CAME analysis will also be of great help, especially the “FO strategies” section.

TYPES OF COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE

First of all I would like to refer to the first post in this series, in which we discussed the difference between corporate strategy and generic strategy.

We saw that there are different levels of strategy in the company.

The same thing happens with competitive advantage. To be successful, we must identify various levels of competitive advantage. 

Since the digital marketing plan is integrated into a business framework, it will be essential to identify the different competitive advantages that the company has to be competitive, both in the business plan and the marketing plan.

In order to make it easier for you to understand the types of competitive advantage, I am going to divide this section as follows:

1. Business
2. In marketing
3. In digital marketing

BUSINESS COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE

LEADERSHIP IN COSTS

Cost leadership is fundamentally based on offering consumers the most competitive prices on the market.

First of all, it must be taken into account that in order to apply a cost leadership strategy it is essential that the product or service you offer has low production costs.

Having low production costs will allow you to offer your products to the market at a lower price than your competitors, always obtaining benefits.

Remember that the main objective of a company is to MAKE MONEY!

In conclusion, in order to apply a cost leadership strategy we must be able to reduce production costs to the maximum.

For example , production costs can be reduced by automating processes, using machinery in the production chain, or using cheaper labor.

In short, an efficient production process that allows the same competitive products to be produced in a more efficient way, minimizing production costs.

Finally, digital marketing company near me comments that it is probably one of the oldest types of strategies since it has been applied successfully throughout history.

DIFFERENTIATION

Differentiation allows a company to be competitive in offering a product or service to the market that has characteristics or benefits that make it unique.

There are many ways to differentiate yourself from your competitors, such as:

• Offer a more exclusive service
• Use better raw materials to produce products

If this is your case, you are providing a service or product with a UNIQUE VALUE.

For example:

Apple is the number 1 company globally because it has managed to get consumers to associate high-performance products with groundbreaking design with the brand.

This results in a better brand positioning and makes it more competitive.

By applying differentiation strategies, new competitors can always appear that use better raw materials.

It could also be the case that they are more exclusive than us, so sustainability is very relevant.

That the product you offer is very difficult to copy or imitate or that it is not easy to replace will make your differentiation strategy more sustainable over time.

As a result, you can be MORE COMPETITIVE!

Some examples of competitive advantages by differentiation can be:

• Unique and innovative product or service difficult to imitate by the competition.
• Great brand value.
• A technology that allows to produce products with a net return superior to the competition.
• Highly qualified personnel that ensure high productivity or provide excellent customer service.

FOCUS

Focusing strategies are mainly based on applying a differentiation strategy to a more specific market segment.

• Differentiation: Operates in a wide sector of the market
• Focus: Operates in a specific market segment

A company that markets a range of products for a particular sector or that operates in a specific market would be applying a focused strategy.

Example of applying focus strategies:

Let’s imagine two companies that offer consulting services in digital marketing:

• Differentiation: Specialized bespoke digital marketing services.
• Focus: Specialized bespoke digital marketing services for fashion trend companies.

EXAMPLES OF BUSINESS COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE

Competitive advantage enables a company to acquire a favorable position in relation to competition within the market.

For the competitive advantage to be unique and superior to the competition, it must meet one of the following requirements:

• Superior product quality.
• Brand value and reputation.
• Have highly qualified professionals.
• Customer orientation.
• Long-term distribution contracts.
• Possession of patents and copyright.
• Monopolies protected by government institutions.

COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE IN MARKETING

Once we know what the competitive advantage of our company is, it is time to identify where we are competitive at the marketing level.

If we offer unique and inimitable products, we have an excellent brand reputation or we have a patented product, we can consider that we have a competitive advantage.

Keep in mind that some of the examples of business competitive advantage may be at the marketing level as well.

The relevance of the competitive advantage will be the basis for deciding whether it is a business or marketing advantage.

If the strategic weight of this competitive advantage is very high, it will be business.