Digital Marketing Roadmap

Digital Marketing Roadmap

Business Scenario

Hello, everyone! So far in this course, we've learned how to set up a website, run Meta and Google remarketing, build a full performance funnel, and plan a media budget. Today we zoom out and look at the complete picture.

If a business owner walked up to you tomorrow and said 'I want you to handle my digital marketing,' would you know where to start — and would you remember everything, not just the ads? Today we build that complete starting point: a 15-stage roadmap covering strategy,

Pre-Lab Preparation

social media setup, paid ads, email, and WhatsApp — everything a real digital marketing implementation needs.

We'll walk through every stage using Spice Garden Restaurant as our running example, since you've already seen pieces of this roadmap play out in earlier labs. Then you'll apply the same complete roadmap to a business of your own choosing.

Topic : Digital Marketing Roadmap

Task 1: Build a 3-month digital marketing roadmap

Business & Market Discovery

Before any planning happens, understand what the business actually sells, who it sells to, and who else is selling it.

Turn the business owner's vague ask ("grow my business") into specific, measurable marketing goals.

Ask the client directly: what does success look like in 3 months? 6 months?
Define the KPI that will track each goal (bookings, leads, CPA, ROAS, etc.).

Understand the product/service, pricing, and unique selling point (USP).
Research 2–3 direct competitors — their offers, pricing, and how they market themselves online.
Build buyer personas describing the target audience's demographics, interests, and pain points.

EXAMPLE — SPICE GARDEN RESTAURANT: This meant researching local competitors like Desi Swaad and Malvan Tadka, building five buyer personas (e.g., young couples aged 23–28 looking for a date-night spot), and identifying the USP: an authentic, home-style menu with psychological pricing.

Goal Setting & KPI Definition

Decide what the business sounds and looks like everywhere it appears, before creating a single account or posting anything.

Define brand voice and tone (formal, playful, premium, budget-friendly, etc.).
Set the visual identity — colours, typography, logo usage.
Write a short positioning line/tagline that sums up the brand.

Convert the answer into SMART goals — e.g., "increase table bookings by 20% in 60 days" rather than "get more customers."

EXAMPLE — SPICE GARDEN RESTAURANT: Goal: increase online table bookings by 20% within the next quarter. KPI: number of completed "Book a Table" conversions, tracked via the Meta Pixel and Google tag once those are installed in Stage 5.

Brand Identity & Positioning

EXAMPLE — SPICE GARDEN RESTAURANT: Brand identity: Deep Navy, Spice Gold, and Cream White colours, Playfair Display and DM Sans typography, and the tagline "Taste the Magic" — so every account created in the next stage already has a consistent look from day one.

Social Media, Ad Account & WhatsApp Business Setup

This is the stage that fixes the sequencing mistake described in the introduction: every account the business will ever need is created here, before any tracking tool is installed and before any ad is built.

Create the Facebook Page and connect an Instagram Business account to it.
Set up the Meta Business Manager and the Meta Ad Account under it — this is the account the Pixel will live inside.
Set up the Google Ads account and link it to a Google Business Profile — this is the account Google Ads conversions will live inside.
Set up the WhatsApp Business account, including the catalog and business profile.
Apply the brand identity from Stage 3 consistently across every profile: photo, cover image, bio, and contact links.

EXAMPLE — SPICE GARDEN RESTAURANT: A Facebook Page, linked Instagram Business account, Meta Business Manager with its Ad Account, a Google Ads account linked to the Google Business Profile, and a WhatsApp Business account with a menu catalog were all set up first — branded in navy/gold — before any Pixel or Google Tag was touched.

Website & Digital Foundation Setup

TRAINER TIP: Make this dependency explicit to students: the Meta Pixel cannot be created until the Meta Business Manager and Ad Account exist, and Google Ads conversion actions cannot be created until the Google Ads account exists. This stage exists specifically so Stage 5 has something to install the Pixel and Tag into.

With every account already created in Stage 4, the website can now be connected to them — this only works in this order.

Confirm the business has a working, mobile-friendly website (or plan to build one).
Install the Meta Pixel from the Ad Account created in Stage 4.
Install the Google Tag and set up conversion actions using the Google Ads account created in Stage 4, plus GA4.

Content Strategy & Content Calendar

Verify tracking is actually firing correctly before moving forward.

EXAMPLE — SPICE GARDEN RESTAURANT: The WordPress website went live, and only then was the Meta Pixel (from the Meta Ad Account) and the Google Tag with a "Book a Table" conversion action (from the Google Ads account) installed and verified — the exact groundwork used in every remarketing lab in this course.

TRAINER TIP: This is the corrected order: in the previous version of this roadmap, tracking setup was taught before accounts existed, which isn't actually possible to do in a real Meta or Google Ads account. Point this out directly so students don't repeat that mistake with a real client.

Plan what gets posted organically on the profiles created in Stage 4, to keep them active and build trust.

Define 3–4 content pillars.
Build a simple weekly posting calendar.

Platform & Channel Selection

EXAMPLE — SPICE GARDEN RESTAURANT: Content pillars: menu highlights, behind-the-scenes kitchen moments, customer stories, and limited-time offers — posted three times a week across the Instagram and Facebook accounts created in Stage 4.

Choose where to actually invest paid effort, based on the audience and business type identified in Stage 1 — not just "because everyone uses Meta."

Match platforms to audience behaviour: Meta/Instagram for visual, broad-reach businesses; Google for high-intent search behaviour.
Confirm Email and WhatsApp will be used as supporting owned channels (almost always yes — they're low-cost and reach people who already know the business).

EXAMPLE — SPICE GARDEN RESTAURANT: Both Meta and Google were chosen for paid ads, since the audience is visually driven (Instagram) but also actively searches "restaurants near Kamothe" on Google — with Email and WhatsApp added as owned channels for repeat business.

Media & Budget Planning

Once platforms are chosen, decide how much of the client's fund goes where.

Split the total budget across funnel stages (TOFU/MOFU/BOFU) before splitting it across platforms.

EXAMPLE — SPICE GARDEN RESTAURANT: The client's ₹1,00,000 monthly fund was split 50% TOFU / 30% MOFU / 20% BOFU, and then further split across Meta and Google within each stage — exactly the process built in the Media & Budget Planning lab.

Meta Ads Funnel & Remarketing Setup

Build the paid Meta campaigns inside the Ad Account created in Stage 4, using the Pixel installed in Stage 5.

TOFU: an awareness video ad to a cold, interest-based audience.
MOFU: retarget people who watched 50% of the video, plus fresh prospects, driving traffic to the site.
BOFU: retarget website visitors who didn't book, plus fresh prospects, with a direct offer.

EXAMPLE — SPICE GARDEN RESTAURANT: The Meta funnel ran a TOFU awareness video, retargeted 50%-video-viewers at MOFU, and closed the loop at BOFU with a 15%-off table-booking remarketing ad — built across the Meta Remarketing and Meta Funnel labs, inside the Ad Account set up in Stage 4.

Google Ads Funnel & Remarketing Setup

Mirror the same funnel logic inside the Google Ads account created in Stage 4, using the tag and conversions installed in Stage 5.

TOFU: A YouTube awareness video to a combined Affinity + In-Market audience.
MOFU: A Display campaign retargeting engaged viewers plus fresh prospects.
BOFU: A Display campaign retargeting website visitors who didn't book, plus fresh prospects.

EXAMPLE — SPICE GARDEN RESTAURANT: The same funnel was rebuilt on Google — a YouTube awareness video, a Display MOFU campaign retargeting engaged viewers, and a BOFU Display campaign retargeting visitors who didn't book — reusing the exact audience segment from the Google Remarketing lab.

Email Marketing Setup

Turn one-time website visitors and diners into a list the business can reach directly, at near-zero cost per message.

Capture emails through the booking form and post-visit follow-ups.
Set up a welcome email introducing the business.
Plan a recurring newsletter (new items, offers, events).

EXAMPLE — SPICE GARDEN RESTAURANT: Emails were captured through the "Book a Table" form and booking confirmations, feeding a welcome email introducing the restaurant and a monthly newsletter featuring new menu items and offers.

WhatsApp Marketing Campaigns

The WhatsApp Business account and catalog were already created in Stage 4 — this stage is about actually using them to market to customers.

Configure automated quick replies for common questions (timings, location, availability).

Go live across every channel built in Stages 4–12, and don't disappear until the next reporting cycle.

Check daily for the first week: is spend pacing correctly? Are ads approved? Is tracking firing? Are WhatsApp/email messages sending?
Move to weekly monitoring once everything is stable.

Build a broadcast list (with consent) for offers and reminders.
Plan recurring campaigns: booking reminders, weekend offers, festive promotions.

EXAMPLE — SPICE GARDEN RESTAURANT: Using the WhatsApp Business account set up in Stage 4, automated quick replies were configured for timings and location, and a broadcast list was used to remind past diners about weekend offers.

Launch & Monitor

EXAMPLE — SPICE GARDEN RESTAURANT: All campaigns — Meta, Google, email, and WhatsApp — went live together, with daily checks in the first week to confirm the Pixel and Google tag were firing and budgets were pacing correctly.

EXAMPLE — SPICE GARDEN RESTAURANT: After two weeks, the BOFU campaign showed a CPA of ₹75 against an average booking value of ₹800 — a strong return, so budget was shifted slightly more toward BOFU.

Use real performance data across every channel to improve the plan — this never really stops.

Compare actual KPIs against the targets set in Stage 2.
A/B test creatives, audiences, offers, and even WhatsApp/email message timing.
Reallocate budget toward what's working, using the same budget-planning logic from Stage 8.

Analyze & Optimize

Report & Scale

Close the loop with the client across every channel, and decide what comes next.

Build a performance report against the original SMART goals, covering paid, social, email, and WhatsApp.
Recommend next steps: scale what's working, fix what isn't, or expand into a new channel.

EXAMPLE — SPICE GARDEN RESTAURANT: A monthly report showed bookings up 22% against a 25% goal, so the next phase added more WhatsApp broadcast reminders specifically to help close that gap.

Activity

1.Pick a business other than Spice Garden Restaurant — a gym, a clinic, a boutique, a tuition class, anything you know a little about.

2.Write 2–3 sentences for Stage 1 describing the business, its audience, and one real or imagined competitor.

3.Write one SMART goal and its matching KPI for Stage 2.

4.Describe the brand identity for Stage 3 (tone, colours, tagline).

5.List every account that needs to be created in Stage 4 (Facebook Page, Instagram, Meta Business Manager + Ad Account, Google Ads account, Google Business Profile, WhatsApp Business).

6.Explain in one sentence why Stage 5 (Pixel/Tag installation) cannot happen before Stage 4 is complete.

7.Briefly describe Stages 6–12 for your chosen business: content pillars, platform choice, a rough budget split, what the Meta/Google funnel ads might say, and one idea each for email and WhatsApp campaigns.

8.Submit your full 15-stage roadmap as a short written document.

Congratulations!

You have successfully completed the Digital Marketing Roadmap for Spice Garden.

In this LAB, you learned how to:

Build a complete 15-stage digital marketing roadmap from strategy to reporting.
Define SMART goals, KPIs, target audiences, and brand identity.
Set up the required social media, advertising, website, and tracking accounts in the correct sequence.
Plan content, platforms, budgets, and TOFU–MOFU–BOFU marketing funnels.
Use Meta, Google, Email, and WhatsApp to attract, retarget, and engage customers.
Monitor, optimize, report, and scale campaigns using real performance data

Checkpoint

Congratulations!

You have successfully completed the Digital Marketing Roadmap for Spice Garden.

In this LAB, you learned how to:

Build a complete 15-stage digital marketing roadmap from strategy to reporting.
Define SMART goals, KPIs, target audiences, and brand identity.
Set up the required social media, advertising, website, and tracking accounts in the correct sequence.
Plan content, platforms, budgets, and TOFU–MOFU–BOFU marketing funnels.
Use Meta, Google, Email, and WhatsApp to attract, retarget, and engage customers.
Monitor, optimize, report, and scale campaigns using real performance data

Checkpoint