What we thought we understood about the digital world has turned out
to be just the tip of the iceberg.
The amount of money committed to digital marketing and communications
has increased dramatically in the last two years, posing a problem for
senior-level marketers who have been unable to keep up with the
changing
times. New tactics in digital advertising, social media marketing, and
SEO are evolving at a quicker rate than they have ever been.
People who have worked in marketing and communications for more than
twenty years should reassess their abilities and expertise. As you
battle to be heard in an electronic society with over four billion
people, don’t allow tactics you learned a decade ago to become a
liability.
In 2010, marketing was a hot topic.
Facebook and Twitter were gaining popularity, while YouTube was
producing video game celebrities. Some people were using Google
AdWords,
but the field of Pay-Per-Click (PPC) advertising was still in its
infancy.
We recommended to our clients in 2010 that they create Facebook pages
and Twitter accounts if they felt comfortable doing so. Individually
branded firms and artists were hesitant to “throw themselves out
there”
in a large global picture book or communicate in fewer than 140
characters.
On social media, simply posting on a regular basis was deemed
beneficial. Facebook was used a few times each week, whereas Twitter
was
used three to five times per week. How much has changed in ten years?
1. Roles have shifted, and marketing departments are now expected to
share parts of their work with public relations teams and vice versa.
There was a clear distinction between marketing, public relations, and
design in a corporate context. It’s impossible to get anything done
nowadays if these crucial components are separated.
2. Digital marketing and design thinking have enabled organisations to
hold more serious strategy sessions and establish plans for
introducing
new goods. Having representatives from all departments in one place
should now be a routine procedure. Bring different coloured post-its
to
keep track of all the fantastic ideas your varied team will come up
with.
3. Launching a product requires a community. Most marketing
departments
featured designers, copywriters, ad planners, and researchers.
Long-form
content writers and copywriters are needed by a digital marketing
team.
You’ll need a search engine marketer, web designers (who understand
SEO), analysts to pull data from social media and web platforms,
researchers, public relations people to manage to message and the
brand,
content schedulers, real-time social monitors who engage in real-time,
and designers and producers who can edit video and audio.
Consistent planning and quick expansion are essential.
4. Make a strategy and stick to it until you have an opportunity to
evaluate its effectiveness. Too frequently, I see digital marketers
change methods and direction in response to a client’s or manager’s
worry or new concept. Digital marketing is like playing whack-a-mole
without a strategy and some statistics to track success.
5. Growth is fantastic if it is long-term. There are certain new firms
that take off immediately and make a lot of money within the first
five
years. This is especially true in marketing, where word-of-mouth
spreads
in a matter of seconds. However, if you do not have a long-term
marketing strategy, you will not be successful. As quickly as you may
develop, a slew of different products is investigating and arranging
their counter-attack.
There is a lot to learn about digital marketing, but there isn’t a lot
of time. In the world of marketing and communications, it’s an
exciting
moment to be alive, but staying current is essential for success.
