Highly Tuned Digital Marketing

It's common to hear businesses say their digital marketing mix is no longer effective. This is often no fault of the business itself, simply that things change ... like the recent over-optimisation filter applied to Google Search. I think this will change SEO but not dissolve it. Welcome to Highly Tuned Digital Marketing.

Most businesses don't have the resources or skills to strategically plan SEO. But digital marketing planing is more than just SEO, it's the whole online marketing presence. It's fair to say that there's a a lot of buzz around right now focused upon social media. Personally, I don't believe that social media is in the small/medium business mainstream just yet; only the big brands and a few corporate businesses have had strong returns so far. SEO, social media and e-commerce work well together as a digital marketing mix - each with their own strengths. Have you ever considered social media as your own TV Channel? No? Yet that's exactly what it is, without the advertising slots. Brand perception and confidence is crucial here; connections are important as there's been a strong shift in weighting between outbound marketing and inbound marketing activities. The weighting is gearing towards inbound marketing; it's better that your customers come to you with their requirements rather than disrupt them in their normal every day business activities. Yet this doesn't mean that all outbound marketing should stop; simply things are changing. Email campaigns remain effective in terms of cost but they are becoming less effective as time goes by. It's something each business needs to consider now.

The balance between outbound marketing and inbound marketing is changing the why businesses are marketing
Over the next 18 months, intelligent analytical insights for both business websites and social media are going to be key. It's not just about being able to read and interpret the statistics, it's about how you react and use your available resources to gain the best advantage for your business. Remember, as a modern business you have to adapt to changes that are going on right now, so agreeing to a digital marketing plan at the beginning of the financial year and not reviewing it until the following year can be dangerous in today's businesses world. It should be reviewed every quarter at the very least, if not more frequently. So you must have confidence in the experts your business is commissioning that if something changes in the interim period, they will act in your best interests. You might want to set a mandate for this as it's no good if such changes to your marketing mix as a result are delayed by going through the upper management structure first; things change extremely quick.

It's important not to be too narrow focused with online marketing i.e. only doing SEO, not even considering e-commerce, no social media at all! It needs a proportional mix and realistic objectives, yet often overlooked in e-commerce for both corporate and small business websites is the requirement to review the '4P's': price, product, promotion and place. These are fundamentals of marketing and yet can sometimes be non-existent online. Look at your product or services online and review.

Online Discounts

Are your discounts difficult to justify? Are they even valued by your customers? You can engage users for feedback to help with this but consider: is the saving visually clear? Just typing the words 'save 10%' does not cut it!! Such discount offers can be easily backed by a banner or a strong visual with customers pleased about the discounted price they have just received. Don't forget about discussion threads with testimonials. Discounts play a huge role on quantity sales and can get the needed cash injection your business needs. You may also consider personalisingthe product offer or varying the base product on package solutions.

We specialise in insightful and innovative digital marketing, helping your business get the right digital marketing mix. Whilst there's no written formula for this, it can be said that marketing is both a science and an art. Marketers that focus on one often fail the marketing campaign (digital or not). Running the numbers, weighing up all the options and not being dynamic/creative can lead to missing the boat. Yes, there is a need to use science and to be analytical, but not to the point of obscuring your decision - creative reaction is the key. Move with the market and what customer is saying and engage the user with relevancy, not over-analyse what has been said (listening is important but this is for the long term).

Montage Media understands the science of digital marketing; we can both combine and leverage technology to aid a creative marketing decision. Essentially, we react to get results.