Why is it so many ‘Marketers‘ describe themselves as ‘Digital Marketers’? Come to that, what is Digital Marketing? Does it actually exist? Certainly, there are lots of effective and powerful digital communication tools which can be used to get your message out to your audience – but hang on a minute. The issue I have is that although these tools are out there for communicating your marketing message and engaging with your market, they are just channels. Ask yourself 4 questions:
- What exactly is the message you want to communicate?
- Who do you want to communicate with?
- Where do you find them?
- Why might they want to do business/engage with you?
If you leap straight for your web browser before answering these questions, there is a real danger that you will just chase after the NBIT (Next Big Internet Thing), setting up a website and signing up for as many Social Media accounts as possible. You are doing what many people do, look for (or be sold!) a marketing “magic wand”. Without a clear plan, these are unlikely to deliver any sustained marketing benefits – unless you are very lucky!
Let’s illustrate the point by looking at 2 NBITs: Search Engine Optimisation and Facebook marketing….
Search Engine Optimisation
Don’t get me wrong, I believe Google (as the big-boy of SEO) is a key to effective web presence therefore making sure that your site ranks well on search engines is important. If someone types your company name into Google, they should find you! However, although a high ranking for a relevant key phrase may make you feel good, a page one listing for some apparently relevant phrase is no guarantee of effective marketing communication – check out this post on an SEO experiment we conducted. Whatever anyone tells you about organic/natural search rankings, they are not free. Whether you are spending your time doing your own website optimisation or spending your money with one of the many SEO companies, search engine marketing costs. It needs to deliver tangible business marketing results. Furthermore, if you have answers to the four questions I asked above, you may well find that there are other, more appropriate channels you can use to engage with key segments of your target market in a controllable and cost-effective way. I remember one client who found his most effective marketing communication was done when he was playing golf with people. Search Engine Optimisation is important but not the ultimate solution. It should be considered amongst a ‘toolbox’ of communication options and (where appropriate) used as one element of a structured marketing communications plan.
Facebook Marketing
Facebook is a great marketing tool and there is no arguing that when used appropriately (check this post – Is Facebook right for your business?) it is a very powerful communications medium. My gripe is with the idea that a facebook page is regularly touted as a ‘must-have‘ element of any online marketing plan. Experience tells me that Facebook is primarily used by individuals in a social context. If you communicate with your target market in this context then Facebook is definitely worth looking at. If, however, your target market is B2B and you are communicating with people with their professional/work hat on, then I would argue that Facebook is at best irrelevant and, at worst,a distraction that draws resources away from other more fruitful marketing activities. BSA Marketing primarily works in SME business to business markets, so our opinion does reflect this! We did have a Facebook presence for a short while but it didn’t take us long to make the decision to pull it – read more here
A recent review
While reviewing a number of North West companies in B2B markets, I started looking at links to their Twitter and Facebook pages. Looking at these pages, some numbers tell a story:
|
#1 Company Manufacturing
|
#2 Company Manufacturing
|
#3 Company B2B Marketing
|
|
| Twitter Followers |
860
|
671
|
130
|
| Facebook ‘Likes’ |
21
|
8
|
2
|
These are 3 examples that illustrate a common position. Hence, they beg the question: why do these businesses have a presence on Facebook? I am sure that if any of these companies had spent time asking the question “who is my target market, and where can I interact with them?“, they would quickly have established that Facebook was not an appropriate channel; The very reason why BSA Marketing does not have a Facebook page.
Start with your Brand
If you know what your company stands for and how you wish to be perceived by your customers and markets, you are a good way towards understanding your ‘Brand’. Knowing your brand makes it much easier to make decisions about marketing messages and marketing communication tools. We have written quite a lot recently about brand – check out these posts. The internet has had a huge impact on SME marketing. It offers affordable, sustainable marketing communication opportunities to SME businesses. These options were previously only accessible to big companies with big budgets. Nevertheless, the marketing fundamentals haven’t changed. Addressing some core marketing questions before starting to click will really pay dividends. In conclusion, if you want to do some marketing, don’t start with the internet – start with your brand
