This short video podcast (3 minutes) introduces the REACH element of Dave Chaffey’s RACE digital marketing methodology.

Watching this video will ensure you understand the critical stages in developing a digital marketing plan that delivers reach to your target audience.

The ‘Reach’ step in the RACE Marketing Framework defines how to build awareness and visibility for your brand and drive visits to your websites and social media pages.

Driving reach and demand for your products and services, that’s vital, of course. A great place to start is to understand how effective you are now. So, it’s reviewing your existing performance of the media you’re investing in.

One of the great things about digital marketing is there’s many free and low cost methods of using media to increase reach. So we’ve got content marketing, we’ve got organic search, we’ve got social media. Then, of course, you’ve also got your paid media like Google AdWords, or using other forms of banner ads, native advertising.

And then you’ve got your owned media as well, like using influencers to encourage people to find out more about you and getting recommendations.

Across all of those paid, owned, earned media techniques, what you really need is to know which are most effective or ready, and where you’re getting the biggest bang for your buck.

Tracking and goals

To get that right, you need to have the right tracking in place for your different media, and you need the right goals set up in Google Analytics, if that’s the tracking tool you’re using, so you can see which media are most effective. What I say again and again is while every business is using Google Analytics, but very often it’s not set up in the right way to show whether the media is effective.

A big part of RACE planning and our data-driven approach is to start by setting up the tracking so you’ve got a solid basis for the future.

It’s best to break it down into those broad areas of paid, owned, and earned media, and then I’d say, take a look at what’s most relevant for your business.

Across all businesses, really what brings together all the different media is content marketing, because content is the fuel that you use to power your search marketing, your social media, and email marketing as well.

Take a look at content marketing and how that works. We run a survey every year and for the last three or four years content marketing has been the most sought-after skill. I’d say start with content and search because those can be applied in any type of business.

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Recommended reading:

Using the RACE model improves your Digital Marketing – by Dr. Dave Chaffey

InterACT with your customers – What is your “Middle Of the Funnel” strategy?

Interpreting customer pathways and CONVERTing your customers using RACE.

Start using a more data driven approach to measure customer ENGAGEMENT