“Digital Marketing”? What other type is there? The term “digital marketing” is already morphing into the original “marketing”.  Some friends and colleagues have already worked as specialists in this space for more than 12 years.   They tend to be discernable as creative or technical, but overall, the thinking automatically assumes digital.

From a platform perspective, there seem to be more and more available.  The demographics of users on each platform varies substantially, and changes as the platform evolve and matures.  This is made even more complicated by the variance between countries.  In some countries, using Facebook for business in a particular sector is a common thing, whereas, in another, it may be frowned upon.

Some clients I have had in SE Asia are using WhatsApp almost exclusively to communicate internally and with their client base.  Although WhatsApp is popular in Australia, I don’t know many companies running their business using the platform.

Some clients in Australia use Facebook for marketing their business and others would not think twice about using it.

The most valuable vehicle you have is your web page.  At first, it may be difficult to develop communities on your web page, but gradually your goal should be to bring people to your web page.  Content on 3rd party sites is not owned or easily controlled by you.

Before embarking on a digital marketing journey, it’s important to have a plan.  This is like any traditional marketing plan.  The marketing plan should be aligned with your strategy.  As part of this, a clear definition of the target market/s and also the markets where you are not willing to participate.

Here are some key points to decide on and develop:

1.       Decide on the target metrics you think that is going to be most relevant for business success.  Digital marketing is awash with metrics, but not all are going to drive business success for you. E.g. It's easy to get “Likes” or thumbs up on Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn.  Many companies get excited and track the number of followers.  However, I rarely see the tangible correlation between these metrics and business success. How many of the followers are actively engaged with the content?  Are they responding and giving input of their own?

2.       Decide on a comprehensive media or communications plan.  Content drives digital marketing success.  Who is going to write the content?  How often will it be published?  Make sure the content is relevant to the business and not just content to fill a gap.  Consider the best vehicles for posting the content.  Leverage each bit of content as much as possible.

3.       As far as possible, develop publishing standards which reflect your values and brand.  Of course, with community members also publishing or responding to your content, this can be difficult, but, with gentle moderating, this can be managed.

4.       Develop communities of customers.  Encourage them to contribute and respond to them when they do.  In some cases, your customers will vary according to their needs.  This opens to opportunity for multiple and smaller communities.  A business colleague I met recently described the evolving communities he was developing for his business.  Increasingly he was aware that there is a requirement for smaller communities catering for specialised interests.  If this is done well, then, the customers should be able to run the communities themselves without too much involvement from you.

One of the communities I established on LinkedIn gradually grew to over 7,000 regular users.  There were rules on what was acceptable for posting and in line with the community charter.  Within a short period, the community becomes self-policing and supportive of each other.  Of course, in the era of angry trolls, your plan can come unstuck, and you should have a plan B for this situation.

5.       Decide on what to do with your data.  Any digital marketing program will yield a huge amount of data.  Decide which parts of the data are important.  Which data points can be used as lead and lag indicators for your business? What are the key points for driving increased sales?  Above all, ensure your marketing resource is supporting the business as a business partner. 

Many business reports I have seen give comprehensive data reports complete with coloured charts and tables.  I always ask “so what”?  What is the implication for the business?  Why is the graph important?  What business decision will you make as a result of being informed?

6.       Consider using multiple media with your content.  Of course, text and video are very popular.  However, surprisingly, audio is on the ascendancy.  Whatever you decide, make sure you publish high quality and at regular, predictable intervals.

7.       Protect your customer's privacy.  Ghosh outlines the effects the GDPR initiative in Europe will have on digital marketing.  Privacy and data are already a big issue.  Take steps to satisfy your clients that you have it under control.

8.       Own the data and content.  This means as much as possible have the content and the community activity on your website.  This may not be possible in the short term, but gradually, you need to own the community and the content.  The only way you can do this is by controlling everything on your website.

There are many “hot” and emerging digital marketing initiatives.  The space is fast-moving and limited only by the evolving technology.  Some popular developments in digital marketing developments include online behavioural advertising and game advertising.  Before jumping on the latest great thing, make sure you have a solid plan and an expectation for the business result.

There are many digital marketing experts available now for supporting you in your business.  Decide on your requirements and then find the suitable talent (technical, creative or both) and work with them to put a plan together.  Then execute and build your business result.

Reference:

Digital Marketing – Wikipedia

How GDPR will transform Digital Marketing – Dipayan Ghosh May 2018