What benefits does a digital marketing strategy bring?
Peisajul de platforme, instrumente si indicatori de performanta din marketingul digital a devenit extrem de complex. Diferențele de abordare și adecvare din fiecare industrie, sector de activitate, tip de campanie îl fac și mai dificil de gestionat. Costurile unei campanii ineficiente nu sunt de neglijat nici ele. De aceea este esențial pentru companii să aibă o strategie clară pentru marketingul digital.
Unfortunately, the use of digital marketing without a strategic approach is still a common practice. Of course there are companies that successfully use digital media without having a strategy to do so, but they could achieve even better results if they adopted a strategic approach to digital marketing.
In my experience as Director of the Mind Shop advertising agency, here are the five most important benefits of such a start-up approach:
Linking business objectives with digital marketing
Most of the time companies without a digital marketing strategy don't have clear strategic objectives for what they want to achieve online. Their focus can differ greatly from campaign to campaign. So are the results, the mix of platforms, the indicators you're tracking. But the most important aspect is that, in the absence of a strategy for digital marketing, the correlation of online objectives/results with business objectives/results is deficient.
Building a relevant and consistent online presence
Only through a strategic approach, with clear directions and action plans then declined at the level of consistent tactics, can a strong company presence be built online. On the other hand, by monitoring competitors and listening to customers, the company can understand the dynamics of the behaviours of these two categories and make a strong value proposition.
Integrating traditional and digital marketing channels
It is common for digital marketing activities to be implemented separately from traditional marketing activities, whether it is a digital marketing specialist or a separate team. It is easier to do this way, but it is very inefficient. But digital environments work best when integrated with traditional environments, when the indicators tracked on these channels complement each other, and especially when their mix is optimal.
Measuring results relevant to top management
Digital marketing platforms provide a multitude of indicators and entire tables of real-time results. But the directors of the companies' management teams don't understand their significance, they don't have time to review them, and therefore they don't have to make decisions based on them. A digital marketing strategy allows you to identify business indicators relevant to top management. You can then translate them into the plan of specific marketing indicators and report them to the company's CEOs.
Continuous improvement of the consumer experience
The explosion of digital media has empowered consumers. They have at their disposal countless channels of information, comparison of offers, selection of suppliers, etc. Giving reviews and feedback has become very common for digital consumers. The digital marketing strategy makes it possible to allocate resources for the most important contact points in the shopping experience and to implement campaigns that meet real customer expectations.
Instead of conclusion
Even if a company has sufficient resources for marketing, they can be wasted, through duplication, lack of integration, tracking irrelevant indicators, inefficient implementation of campaigns, etc. The best way to align business goals with digital marketing is to develop a strategy. This will help to achieve clarity in communicating with the company's management on this issue, gain the support of managers and CEOs for online initiatives and achieve the relevant customer categories, achieving the expected results with an efficient use of resources.