DON'T IGNORE THE MARKETER WHEN IT COMES TO YOUR MARKETING STRATEGY
Getting the basics right will result in working with the best Digital Marketers for YOUR business.
When you talk about digital marketing, you will hear things like "Social Media" "Digital PR" "SEO" "Community building" "Podcasts" "Videos"... The list goes on, but when looking at what your business needs to develop or amplify your digital marketing, as a starting point you need to consider where to focus your efforts.
As the Beastie Boys asked all us Millennials 'So What'Cha What'Cha What'Cha Want?
Firstly... What are the 'basics'?
This is your marketing strategy.
The purpose here is not to go through how to put a marketing strategy together - the aim is to highlight the importance of a clear and well thought out marketing strategy which is fundamental if you are to achieve any decent success online with digital marketing. There are many digital marketing techniques that can be adopted, but all of them at the same time will be costly. Rapid growth costs money and lots of it.
Your strategy needs to incorporate the 'long and short'. Your business needs quick results. But it takes time to create a lasting business impact.
Marketers are twice as likely to think long-term, but the pressure to deliver immediate results remains short-term. You need a balance of both as long-term strategies are more effective at moving the metrics that really matter – market share, profit, revenue, and so on. A strategy heavily weighted on the short term will be volatile and carry higher risks. A strategy heavily weighted on the long term may not provide you with the revenue short term to achieve your goals.
Spread your budget strategically.
Next..
What tactics will you use to deliver this?
Remember the 'Digital' in Digital Marketing is the TACTIC.
Some examples of your tactics include Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Pay-Per-Click (PPC) Marketing. Content Marketing (Blogging & Article Writing) Downloadable Content Offerings (eBooks, Whitepapers, Webinars) Email Marketing. Social Media Marketing. Video Production.
When it comes to digital marketing for small businesses you arguably need to be more reserved with your approach. Ignore building up brand awareness and online communities organically at your peril. Consumer awareness builds trust - which builds customers. Jumping straight into bed with a PPC Agency and expecting an ROI just because you put £1000 behind them last month doesn't work in most cases, unfortunately.
Without a clearly thought-out marketing strategy complemented with quality and engaging content and oh.... not forgetting a sales funnel that works, the desire for quick wins will be short lived and you will quickly see your budget fall into the abyss.
Don’t be seduced by the promise of quick fixes and easy wins. Organic growth takes time and effort.
“Look at where you need to focus your resources - be pragmatic and realistic. ”
Once you have worked out where you want ( or more appropriately NEED ) to focus your budget then arguably the most important question needs to be asked…..
Who will deliver the results you need?
This is THE people - the human element that gets sidelined by all this amazing automation and digital wizardry.
No matter what software you use, you need skilled marketers to use it. Expensive software will not negate working with a half-baked marketer. Invest wisely here. It would be prudent to remember that human beings are social creatures and commerce is driven by human interaction. You need Marketers who understand your customers and can create content that engages and resonates with them.
We live in an economy dominated by calculated decision-making and a numbers-based approach to seeking and finding success. In this day and age numbers only tell a part of the story! Modern digital marketing is less about meeting technical digital marketing needs and more about creating valuable content for people. No one can work in the absence of data, but data cannot replace judgement based on experience and intuition.
Rapid advancements in technology over the last few decades as well as the pandemic has really highlighted and accelerated the importance of digital skills that were previously just not needed.
This means businesses will need to be flexible and adaptable in their approach to talent acquisition. Over the next few years, the competition to secure new digital talent is expected to boom.
There are many solutions to consider, with some businesses adopting several strategies to deal with this problem. One approach which Lead Kinetics can help with is to view the agency or contractor as part of the “extended team.” The concept is to bring our Digital Marketers into the company de facto, even if they remain officially on a contractor basis.
In an economy that is becoming increasingly digital, the organisations that can bridge the talent gap will gain the edge over those who standstill.
Contact Lead Kinetics to find out how we can open up your talent acquisition channels and avoid the problems the digital skills gap will cause for your competitors. We can put a plan in place which will keep you ahead of the game.
As a digital agency in Manchester, we have access to some of the best digital marketing talent in the UK and beyond.
Don't just take our word for it - speak to our Digital Marketers and find out how they can make an immediate impact on your digital marketing.
Marketing is an investment you get a return on if you trust your Marketers – After all, this is what you have hired them for.