As crazy as it is to say this in a year in which NOTHING has happened how and when it should, it is somehow, yet again, fantasy football season. And while the normal excitement of the impending NFL season is understandably muted due to the global pandemic (among many other things), we thought it would be fun to think of digital marketing strategies in a draft format. So without further ado, it’s time for DMi Partners’ 2020 Digital Marketing Fantasy Draft.

For this scenario, we’re envisioning a scenario of building an ecom brand from the ground up, but this thought exercise could be a great way to help you prioritize your marketing efforts, no matter the size or history of your brand.

1. With the 1st pick in the draft, DMi selects: Branding – By this we mean the ideation of a brand name, mission statement, and logo. Without these, it’s hard to do much else. If you don’t know who you are, no one can! And while we are on branding, let’s talk about Your Team Name! Coming up with a cheeky clever name that embodies your team is best part of fantasy football! This year, we can’t stomach the idea of going with Tom Brand-y so we are going with Linkbuilding Financial Field!

2. With the 2nd pick, we choose Building Your Ecommerce Website. Whether it’s Shopify, Magento, Squarespace, or another ecom platform, you can’t drive traffic and sales through a site that doesn’t exist. This is potentially the most arduous and time-consuming step in the journey, but it’s a no brainer as the #2 draft pick.

3. In the 3 spot, we’re choosing the sleeper pick of Search Engine Optimization (SEO). While SEO is often thought of as a long game, it makes sense to invest in SEO soon after you launch your site so you can get off on the right foot and not make any technical mistakes that will hurt your rankings in the long run. Pro-tip: your friends will make fun of you for picking SEO at #3, but trust us – you will have the last laugh at the end of the sason.

4. At #4, we’re taking the veteran that has been around forever but still produces year after year – Paid Search. Once your brand is established, and your site is built and SEO optimized, it’s time to drive some traffic. And there’s no faster way to start driving relevant traffic than with paid search. This traffic can of course convert into sales, but even before that these users from PPC are critical in building subscriber lists and remarketing segments.

5. In the 5 spot we’re going back to a highly productive veteran – Email Marketing. Despite its age, email remains one of the most cost-effective way to build a brand and drive sales. Once you start to see some traffic, the focus should be on creating a rock-solid email signup funnel, and messaging to your customers about why your brand is superior to your competition. We consulted all the fantasy experts and they unanimously agreed – if you can get Email Marketing at #5 it will be the highest value pick of the draft.

6. At #6 we’re taking Paid Social Advertising. With the world of social media expanding more and more, in both audience size and platforms, the possibilities for driving sales via social are seemingly endless. Whether it’s a straightforward Facebook Ad buy, or a leap into a newer ad platform like TikTok, the ROI from social ads can be immense.

7. With the 7th pick, we’re diving into Affiliate Marketing. Harnessing the power of affiliates and influencers can be a wild ride, but luckily DMi has this down to a science. There’s nothing we love more than working with established DTC ecom brands to match them up with publishers that perfectly match their audience’s profile and watching sales skyrocket. If you are in a keeper league, you will definitely want to hang on to Affiliate Marketing or next year because it is one of the fastest growing ROI channels YoY.

We could go on, but we think this is a solid core to build a title-contending team around. As always, watch your analytics, keep an eye on that waiver wire, and don’t hesitate to talk some trash to your competition. Good luck out there!