21 day digital advertising problem

How confident do you feel about your digital marketing strategy? If you don't see the results you were hoping for, this guide will take you through a 21-day digital marketing challenge that can help you achieve your digital marketing goals.

A 21-day digital marketing challenge

Whether you're a seasoned digital marketing veteran or a complete newbie, we all need a little help from time to time. That's why I created this Daily Challenge to help you create a marketing strategy from scratch in just 21 days.

These steps aren't necessarily in sequential order, and in truth it doesn't matter what order you do them. It's about breaking something overwhelming like creating a marketing strategy into small and manageable pieces – big chunks.

You only have to do one marketing task a day. However, don't let that stop you from jumping forward and checking off multiple tasks each day. I just provided the framework. How you meet the challenge is up to you.

Digital Marketing Challenge Day 1: Competitive Research

You can learn a lot from studying your competitors. From figuring out why they outperform you, to developing new blog post ideas, to developing new product offerings and marketing ideas for your social and PPC ads, spying on competitors can lead to some big profits.

If you want to outperform your competitors, I recommend using Ubersuggest (and its free Chrome extension that goes with it). Typing a competitor's domain name into the search bar instantly reveals important information like the best performing keywords, best pages, and backlinks.

You can also dig deeper into this data so you can see exactly where your backlinks are coming from and what you need to do to start competing for your keywords.

However, this isn't the only competitor outreach tool that I recommend. Check out this list of 12 competitive analysis tools that can help you improve your website.

Digital Marketing Challenge Day 2: Review the content of your website

We all know that Google loves fresh, relevant content. For this reason, it's important to do a content review of your website about every six months to identify articles or pages that need to be removed or updated.

First, make a list of all the pages on your website. You can do this by hand or you can use a tool like Ubersuggest or Screaming Frog to do it for you.

You can ignore core pages like your home page and service pages, but you might want to go through each other page of your website in turn looking for problems like:

• Thin content
• Out of date content
• Double content
• Gaps in your content
• Missing metadata

Next, prioritize the pages to be updated. You can't do everything at once. Hence, it is important to focus on the most important points first.

For more information on how to run a content checker, see my detailed guide.

Digital Marketing Challenge Day 3: Do Keyword Research

Good keyword research is the foundation of any successful online marketing campaign. You want to find out two things:

1. What your audience is looking for
2. How do you rank for these terms?

You probably already have a good idea of ​​the keywords that you want to rank for. However, do you really know every keyword your target audience is using? Probably not.

This is why using a keyword research tool like Ubersuggest is extremely valuable in identifying EVERY keyword that you can target. First, enter a keyword to see a list of the closely related keywords, their traffic, and the difficulty for them.

Click the Related Topics, Questions, Prepositions, and Comparisons tabs to find even more. Next, write down each relevant keyword.

Doing this for each keyword will give you a list of hundreds or even thousands of keywords to target. If you are a smaller website then you should start with less competitive terms and move on from there.

If you need more help, check out my YouTube video below.

Digital Marketing Challenge Day 4: Diagnosing and Fixing SEO Problems

When running a killer marketing plan, the last thing you want is novice SEO mistakes to hold you back.

First you have to find them. The easiest way to find SEO problems is to use Screaming Frog. Just download the tool and enter your website in the search bar.

Screaming Frog will then crawl every page on your website and report on just about every important on-page metric there is. You can find the following:

• 404 pages
• Duplicate content
• Thin content
• Metadata issues
• H1 and H2 problems
• Pages that are not indexed
• Much much more

Go through each category, write down the faulty pages, and then prioritize the repairs.

Screaming Frog doesn't highlight everything you need to fix, however. Also, check out my guide to the most common SEO mistakes.

Digital Marketing Challenge Day 5: Create a Backlink Strategy

Getting high quality backlinks is one of the most effective things you can do to improve your SEO. This is why it is important to implement a clear and repeatable backlink strategy.

There are dozen of strategies for getting backlinks to your site, but I prefer to focus on specific, repeatable methods.

The first is creating skyscraper content. Coined by Brian Dean of Backlinko, skyscraper content is content that is measurably better than anything else on the web. The idea is that you choose a reasonably competitive keyword and create the best article on that particular topic.

Once it's posted, reach out to websites that link to the content that currently applies to your topic and ask them to link to your (much better) version instead.

The second is to create an infographic. Everyone loves to share infographics because they're an easy, visual way to understand pretty much any topic. Create your own infographic about something interesting in your niche and reach out to other blogs to share it.

Finally, you can register with HARO, which stands for Help a Reporter Out. Every day they send out a list of journalists looking for information on various subjects. When you have something relevant to say, you can respond and get a backlink in recognition when a journalist picks you up.

If that's not enough for you, then here's how to find 50 backlink opportunities in 20 minutes.

Digital Marketing Challenge Day 6: Update your old content

After you've done a content review, it's time to update any outdated pages. Out of date content is a big no-no in the eyes of Google, and it suggests that your website's content may not be serving users best.

Fix this by making sure that all of the content on your website is current and relevant. I recommend starting with content that is already ranked as Google has already indicated that this content is relevant.

If any of the content is out of date, update it with the most relevant research in your niche. Next, do a new keyword research for each post to make sure you're targeting the most relevant and searched keywords.

A word of caution: don't let that stop you from updating content. If some pages on your website are no longer relevant, consider deleting them and creating a 301 redirect to a more appropriate page.

Check out my video below for more information.

Digital Marketing Challenge Day 7: Start an Email Marketing Campaign

Did you know email marketing is one of the best ways to turn prospects into customers? All it takes is to create an effective campaign.

The first step is to get permission to send people emails. You can do this by giving away a guide or resource for free in return for a user's email, or by simply promising great content.

Once you have an email list created, you need to regularly create high quality emails that will help your users solve their problems. Finally, you can send a sales email or two directing subscribers to one of your own products.

However, don't overdo it with the sales emails. Sending too many sales emails with no value added is a surefire way of getting people to unsubscribe.

Digital Marketing Challenge Day 8: Hire high quality writers, editors, and subject matter experts

Your time is precious. You don't want to spend writing new blog posts when you have to run a business too. For this reason, it's important to hire highly skilled writers and editors sooner rather than later.

Two of my favorite ways to find writers and editors are Upwork and the Problogger job board. Make sure you vet each candidate thoroughly.

The hallmarks of being a good writer or editor include:

• A portfolio of works
• Customer recommendations
• A professional website
• An articulated cover letter

I recommend every writer fill out a paid review article before working with it. It's easy to make a resume look impressive. It's much harder to do a great job.

For more information, see my article on Hiring an SEO Freelancer.

Digital Marketing Challenge Day 9: Optimize Your Social Media Accounts

Some people don't think social media is important. You are wrong.

Social media is one of the easiest ways to build a fan base and keep in touch with your fans. All of this is only possible if you have well-optimized social media accounts.

First, choose the social media accounts that you want to focus on. I recommend using Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter to get started.

Then fill out your profile completely on each platform. You can add different information on different platforms. If possible, include the following:

• Company name
• Url
• address
• opening hours
• Description of your business

This is just to get you started. To improve your social media presence, you should check out my complete guide to social media marketing.

Digital Marketing Challenge Day 10: Write a guest blog

Guest blogging is a fantastic way to build your authority and get backlinks naturally. You should make this a regular habit, but let's start with a post first.

The first step is to find guest posting opportunities. Specifically, you want to find websites that are in your industry, have an engaged readership, and accept guest posts.

A great way to find these sites is to use Google search with your keyword followed by "Guest Post" or "Submit a Guest Post".

Read the guest posting guidelines on each website carefully, then come up with three ideas for each. Make sure you make the benefits clear to readers – not just what you get from them.

Don't start writing until your pitch has been accepted. That way, you don't have to worry about wasting your time anymore.

For more information on guest blogging, see my guide.

Digital Marketing Challenge Day 11: Join an Affiliate Network

If you want to make money off of your blog, affiliate marketing is the way to go. You don't have to worry about creating your own info product, SaaS tools or e-commerce shop. You make money promoting other people's products.

Amazon Associates is the most popular affiliate program, but the commissions aren't the best. Alternatives include ClickBank, CJ Affiliate, and ShareASale.

Also, don't be afraid to contact companies directly, especially if you work in a small niche.

If you are serious about making money from affiliate marketing, my advanced affiliate tips are a must have.

Digital Marketing Challenge Day 12: Create a content calendar

What do you do when it's time to write a blog post?

Are you struggling to write or open your content calendar, select the next topic, and start writing? Content creation becomes a lot easier when you have a well-planned editorial calendar.

A content calendar is also very easy to create. All you need is a table and some ideas. Open Excel or Google Sheets and create a simple calendar for the next six months, depending on how often you want to post.

For example, if you only want to publish content once a week, you only need 26 lines.

Next, go back to your keyword research, select the top priority topics and add them to the table. If you outsource writing, include your author's name next to each post. That's all you have to do to make a simple content calendar.

For full instructions, see my post on how to make an editorial calendar.

Digital Marketing Challenge Day 13: Choose a project management tool

By now your marketing strategy is getting pretty complex. It's time to make things easier with a project management tool. A project management tool can help you clarify what and when to do.

Remember, you don't need a team to get benefit from a project management tool. They are also great for solo exhibitions.

There are many tools to choose from, including:

Make the right choice by reading my guide to project management software.

Digital Marketing Challenge Day 14: Create a Chatbot

You need to make the most of every person who visits your website. That means making your site a lead-producing machine. One of the best ways to do this is by creating a chatbot.

Chatbots can help with more than just leads. A well-written chatbot can also provide exceptional customer service.

Here are some other ways chatbots can help with your marketing plan:

• Collect feedback on customers
• Enhance the customer experience
• Upsell and cross-sell products

However, creating a chatbot is not easy. For this reason, I wrote a detailed guide on how to create a chatbot.

Digital Marketing Challenge Day 15: Optimize your CTAs

Another way to increase leads and sales is to improve your Call to Actions (CTAs). Much has been written about changing the color and copy of your CTAs to make them "perfect".

The truth is, there is no such thing as a perfect CTA. The trick is to tweak and test your CTAs forever.

There are several strategies you should try to improve your CTAs:

• Personalize the copy
• Change the size of your CTA
• Change the location
• Make your CTA more attractive

However, don't do it all at once. The secret is to optimize each time, test the results, and optimize again from there.

For more information on optimizing your CTAs, check out my in-depth guide.

Digital Marketing Challenge Day 16: Conduct audience research

Do you know exactly who you are talking to? Okay, you know they are interested in your niche, but do you know anything else about them?

If not, it's time to do audience research. A thorough audience research will tell you:

• who they are
• What are their pain points and desires
• What other websites do they visit
• How your product serves them

When you really understand your audience, you can start creating content that matters to them. The better you serve your audience, the more likely it is that they will convert.

Find out how to do your own audience research and get started.

Digital Marketing Challenge Day 17: Subscribe to newsletters and podcasts from SEO industry websites

As good as I think this marketing challenge is up and running, you need ongoing advice to get your marketing strategy up and running. There are many great newsletters and podcasts out there about the SEO and marketing industries.

However, I would be very happy if I didn't mention the two that I'm creating.

Marketing School is a daily podcast hosted by myself and Eric Siu from Single Grain. We deliver short snippets of powerful marketing advice from the trenches.

If podcasts aren't your thing, my own newsletter will keep your inbox filled with the latest marketing advice so you can beat the competition.

Digital Marketing Challenge Day 18: Create a podcast or video series

I can't overstate the power a podcast or video series can have on your brand. Both have helped me grow my audience significantly.

Whether you start a podcast or a video series depends on your skills. Most people will likely find it easier to start a podcast.

That's why I created a guide on how to restart a podcast in 14 days.

Try it out and see what a podcast can do for your brand. If podcasts aren't your style, create a video marketing plan – even if only a few videos are published a month.

Digital Marketing Challenge Day 19: Promote Your Content

There's no point in bringing content to the world if you're not ready to promote it. Even the best content in the world won't get a lot of views without someone promoting it.

Because of this, you need a plan to promote every piece of content you publish.

At the very least, send notifications to your audience through social media and email marketing when you publish a new post. However, let's not do the bare minimum.

To get the most out of your content, I recommend turning content into images, infographics, and presentations to maximize reach.

The more shapes your content can take and the more you publish it in the world, the more people will see it.

I also recommend reaching out personally to influencers and anyone you mention in the post to encourage them to share these as well.

For more information on promoting content, please see my guide.

Digital Marketing Challenge Day 20: Set up a process to track content performance

Congratulations, you made it through the last two days of the challenge.

Do you remember when I said there was no point creating content if you weren't promoting it? There is also no point in promoting content if you don't want to track its performance.

First things first, you need to be clear about the goals of your content. Next, set up Google Analytics to keep track of where your traffic is coming from. Finally, you need to set up advanced conversion tracking in the GA dashboard to calculate how many conversions your content drives are getting.

This can be a little tricky, which is why I've created a dedicated content tracking guide to help you out.

Digital Marketing Challenge Day 21: Find tools to automate your processes

It's the last day and now it's time to put your marketing on autopilot.

The secret is choosing the best marketing automation tool. The problem is, there are a ton of options. That means there's a tool for everyone, from corporate teams to bootstrap startups. However, it can be difficult to choose the right tool.

Because of this, I have shortlisted a few tools for you to review. You are:

• Hubspot
• ActiveCampaign
• Freshworks
• Pardot from Salesforce
• Act-on
• Trello butler
• Zapier

For more information, check out my in-depth review of the best marketing automation tools.

Conclusion

Developing a successful marketing strategy is not an easy task, but now you have a successful foundation from which to develop one.

Next, revisit some of the tasks in this list, such as: B. guest posting and creating backlinks to ensure your marketing strategy grows and evolves.

If you need a little help, don't hesitate to contact us. My team can implement these strategies so you can focus on what you do best – running your business.

How did you deal with the 21 day marketing challenge? What was your favorite or least favorite task?

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