Digital roadmap: plan 12 months of web and marketing projects

Digital roadmap: planning 12 months of web and marketing projects

A 12-month digital roadmap transforms your goals into clear and measurable actions. It helps you structure your web and marketing projects while taking into account the specificities of the Swiss market. Here are the key steps to succeed:

• Analysis of your current situation: SEO, UX, and marketing performance audit over the last 12-24 months.
• Definition of SMART objectives: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound targets, adapted to different language regions (FR/DE/IT).
• Prioritization of projects: Ranking based on their strategic impact and return on investment (tools like MoSCoW or RICE).
• Quarterly planning:
  • Q1: Quick technical resolutions and laying the foundations.
  • Q2: Development of structural projects (website redesign, e-commerce).
  • Q3: Web and bilingual campaigns to enhance visibility.
  • Q4: Results analysis and preparation for the following year.

Why does this work in Switzerland? With its linguistic diversity and local expectations, a well-structured roadmap allows budgeting in CHF, optimizing bilingual content, and respecting local habits. You anticipate activity peaks and adjust priorities throughout the quarters.

Recommended tools: Trello, Asana, or Jira to organize tasks and track KPIs. Integrate templates tailored to Swiss standards (date formats: dd.mm.yyyy, budgets in CHF).

Key to success: Rigorous management and quarterly adjustments ensure concrete and lasting results.

Your Roadmap to Digital Marketing Success in 2025

Building the foundations of your digital roadmap

Before planning projects for the next 12 months, it is crucial to assess your current situation. A well-thought-out roadmap relies on three key elements: a detailed audit of your current position, objectives aligned with your overall strategy, and rigorous prioritization of initiatives. Without these solid foundations, you risk dispersing your efforts and missing important opportunities for your business in Switzerland. These three pillars will help you effectively structure your annual plan.

Conducting a digital audit

A thorough digital audit gives you a clear view of your current performance. This involves evaluating your online presence, SEO, user experience (UX), and marketing efforts over the last 12 to 24 months. Collect quantitative data such as traffic, conversions, or , as well as qualitative data like user feedback or usability test results. For businesses in French-speaking Switzerland, it is essential to analyze your bilingual content: compare the engagement of content in French and English to identify gaps. Are your local keywords, such as "web agency Geneva" or "custom development Lausanne," well-positioned? A SWOT analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) can help identify your strengths, weaknesses, as well as opportunities and threats in the Swiss market^[1]. This audit will help you identify critical gaps and highlight untapped growth opportunities.

Aligning objectives with business ambitions

Without a clear vision, companies risk simply reacting to trends rather than anticipating them. Your objectives must be closely linked to your overall vision and follow the SMART method: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Time-bound^[1]. For example: "Increase traffic by 5% in three months through and higher publication frequency"^[1]. For the Swiss market, adapt your ambitions according to language regions. If your goal is to increase your visibility in French-speaking Switzerland, define specific indicators such as the number of visitors from Geneva, the engagement rate of content in French, or conversions from French-speaking cantons. Ensure budgeting in CHF and set realistic deadlines, taking into account local specificities. These objectives, combined with the mentioned pillars, ensure a roadmap well aligned with your priorities.

Effectively prioritizing projects

Prioritizing your projects involves measuring their strategic impact, the necessary resources, and the expected return on investment^[3][4][5]. Tools like MoSCoW (Must have, Should have, Could have, Won't have) or RICE (Reach, Impact, Confidence, Effort) can help you classify your web, SEO, and marketing initiatives. These approaches optimize the allocation of your resources. For example, a aimed at significantly improving the conversion rate will often carry more weight than a new feature whose adoption remains uncertain. Be careful not to confuse urgency with importance. Analyze the effectiveness of your current channels (traffic quality, conversions, resources invested) to guide your future decisions^[2]. Clear prioritization will allow you to focus your efforts on projects with the most impact.

Structuring your roadmap over 12 months: quarterly distribution

Once your foundations are well established, it's time to structure your annual plan into four quarters. This division allows you to maintain a clear direction while remaining agile in the face of the specificities of the Swiss market. Each quarter has its role: the first sets up the fundamentals and aims for quick results, the second focuses on major projects, the third intensifies your SEO and marketing efforts, and the fourth is dedicated to optimization and preparation for the following year. This progression, inspired by the "crawl, walk, run" model^[6], ensures methodical progress without haste. Let's see how to distribute your strategic initiatives over the year.

Quarter 1: planning and quick wins

The first three months are crucial for laying solid foundations and achieving immediate results. Start by refining your existing objectives and customer profiles. Then, focus on urgent technical fixes like optimizing loading times, resolving 404 errors, and improving mobile experience. Also, ensure your analytics tools are well configured to track your KPIs from the start. These quick actions help build a robust base for measurable results in the long run. This initial phase, or "crawl," prepares the ground for major developments to come.

Quarter 2: web and fundamental marketing development

The second quarter is dedicated to important projects that require time and resources. It's time to launch initiatives such as a , an online store, or the integration of new tools. Adapt your site to local needs: offer CHF payments and multilingual features. With over 60% of Swiss people shopping online and 75% of transactions made on mobile^[7], a smooth mobile experience is essential. Plan these projects with clear milestones and precise deadlines to avoid delays. This "walk" phase sets the stage for intensifying your marketing efforts in the following quarter.

Quarter 3: SEO and campaign escalation

Summer and autumn are perfect for ramping up your marketing efforts. Launch bilingual campaigns (French/German or French/English depending on your target) and focus on local SEO with geolocated keywords to capture seasonal activity. In cities like Geneva and Basel, micro-influencers (10,000 to 100,000 subscribers) often offer a better ROI than celebrities^[7]. It's also a great time to test new channels like TikTok, where 40% of Swiss users aged 45 and over interact weekly with short video ads^[7]. Monitor your performance continuously and adjust your campaigns based on the collected data^[10]. The insights gathered during this "run" phase will be valuable for optimizations in the last quarter.

Quarter 4: optimization and future planning

The last months of the year are dedicated to analysis and preparation. Review the performance of your : identify the most effective channels and pages needing adjustments. Automate repetitive tasks to save time and conduct a biannual digital audit to quickly detect areas for improvement. Prepare your budgets in CHF and set your priorities for the following year. Keep in mind that returns on investment in often appear after 9 to 12 months^[8][9]. Your roadmap must integrate a long-term vision while remaining adaptable to changes in the Swiss market.

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Governance, tools, and models for executing your roadmap

For a well-thought-out roadmap to yield concrete results, it must be supported by strong governance and suitable tools. Without rigorous monitoring, even the best strategies can get lost in the daily challenges. Here's how to structure this governance and choose the right tools.

Establishing governance for your roadmap

Aligning objectives among different stakeholders is essential to ensure the success of your digital strategy. An effective solution is to form a steering committee bringing together management, marketing, IT, and other key stakeholders identified from the planning phase^[12]. This committee plays a central role in validating priorities, removing obstacles, and maintaining consistency with your business objectives. As highlighted by a successful Swiss model:

Clear objectives and obstacle reduction effectively align teams.^[11]

Plan an annual review of your digital strategy at the end of the fiscal year (31.12.YYYY) to assess performance and adjust budgets in CHF. Additionally, organize quarterly checkpoints to track progress and react promptly to unforeseen events.

Using project management tools

Project management tools are essential for coordinating teams and tracking web and marketing initiatives. Here are some suitable options:

• Jira: Ideal for agile projects (Scrum, Kanban), it allows planning, tracking, and analyzing sprint progress^[13].
• Trello: Suitable for teams preferring a simple visual approach with intuitive Kanban boards.
• Asana: Perfect for complex projects, with features like milestones and dependency management.

These platforms centralize information, assign responsibilities, and set clear deadlines (dd.mm.yyyy format). They also ensure that all team members, whether working in French or German, access the same data. Opt for a single system to avoid dispersion and set up dashboards from the start to track your key performance indicators. These tools also simplify the integration of standardized templates, particularly important to meet the specific needs of Swiss companies.

Models adapted to the needs of Swiss companies

Using standardized templates that integrate local specificities is an effective way to ensure consistency and efficiency. For example, your templates should include Swiss formats for dates (dd.mm.yyyy), numbers (with apostrophe), and budgets (in CHF, such as CHF 50,000.00).

Create a one-page template summarizing key initiatives for the four quarters, milestones, responsible parties, and a risk register. This last one is crucial to anticipate and mitigate potential threats, such as technical delays, regulatory changes, or budget fluctuations.

EWM recommends organizing your roadmap into four phases:

1. Brainstorming: Define objectives and identify stakeholders.
2. Planning: Determine scope, budget, and deadlines.
3. Execution: Track progress and monitor indicators.
4. Analysis: Evaluate achieved results.

These models provide a clear structure and facilitate consistent communication among all teams in Switzerland.

Continuous improvement and risk management

Your digital roadmap is not set in stone: it must evolve according to market dynamics and changing customer expectations. Regular updates are essential to remain competitive and maximize your results throughout the year. Let's see how to adjust your content while anticipating risks.

Adapting to languages and local preferences

In Switzerland, linguistic and cultural diversity is an undeniable reality. Each project must integrate this complexity to meet the specific expectations of different regions. For example, effective content in French for Geneva may require style or tone adjustments to resonate with a German-speaking audience in Zurich. This involves complete localization: adapting visuals, local references, and even channel choices for each audience. This personalization goes beyond translation; it aims to create content that speaks directly to each customer. The result? Increased engagement and higher conversion rates, as users feel understood and valued. Once this localization is done, it becomes crucial to identify obstacles that could