Digital Strategy 101 - Getting More Than The Basics Right.

Although digital is an instant medium, it is s about pioneering long term customer engagement - understanding how the basic features of the digital landscape form and work together, and how they can be best used to achieve brand awareness and sales.

Rather than thinking of the digital landscape as channels, we should be thinking of four interconnected hubs that drive all interaction and digital behavior. We have tended to think of everything has separate channels, what is a better approach is to think of four spider webs that are linked together.

These four essential pillars/networks are:

Chatter - Often discussed as the ‘conversational' element of digital marketing. Including Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Niche Community Websites and Blogs.

Convergence - Involved and evolved technologies and strategies, games, widgets, mobile, activities and applications aimed at creating integration and experience

Loyalty/Legacy - Incorporating eCRM, eCMS, brand legacy, loyalty and awareness.

Traffic - Everything from SEO, SEM, Digital Pointers (sending some one online from somewhere else)

I hear you ask, why these four? What the above pillars represent, are the bare bones of the digital landscape. Each is its own meaningful hub that defines one element of digital advertising.

Also understanding the Digital lifecycle is essential, there are three main milestones :

 

  ACQUITION      -     CONVERSION     -     RETENTION & GROWTH

There are a few dominant trends that we can see across these hubs currently. One of these that is getting a lot of attention is what many companies and brands are trying to do to leverage their Legacy & Loyalty by using Digital WOM (Also known as Social Media).

This can be a very profitable and appealing strategy, but as I wrote previously in Lipstick on a Tweet, we aren't thinking about what is the best practice approach, similarly honestly is also lacking.

WOM has powerful potential to 'switch' on consumers to your message, it also has the ability to turn your consumer off. Like any medium careful consideration needs to go into the message that you are constructing and why. We should be avoiding idle chatter and space wasting posts. A brand's digital legacy is something that is both permanent and transient, what we produce will forever be available on the internet. Which is a radical transformation from tradition media, that sees the campaign only in the public sphere for as long as memory and bought airtime/space allow.

Many companies also engage in traffic strategies without really understanding the digital lifecycle, acquiring traffic is great - knowing what to do with it is more important. Very little time is being spent on developing well thought-out landing pages that entice the consumer to buy or engage with the brand. We also need to think of Search as a longitudinal advertising function - often Search can be used as the first step in relationship marketing, you need to move the consumer from looking to listening to you through your eCRM.

The other major issue with Search currently, which I will write more in depth about later is that Search is being viewed as a science. SEM is both a science and an art. While we strive to understand how data can be transformed into refinable search patterns, we need also to remember that it is the art of good copy, that is clear and concise and inviting that will ulitmately drive the consumer to the website.

We also need to under that Search is a primary tool mechanism that has tremendous reach potential, rather than relegating search to a position of support we need to recognise that Search is a powerful tool in brand differentiation.  Within those few short lines we can develop completely different propositions using terms that really reflect our product and brand aims.

The second part of successfully managing brands digitally is the process of a expanding your digital position is to remove the clutter and refine your digital presence. The professionalism and care that you place in your digital presence would ultimate be seen in your ROI. We are too quickly pushing out unrefined microsites with poor pitches that do not relate to the over all campaign aims.

Establishing a defined presence in the digital space is possibly one of the most thing, aligning how your company advertises and markets itself and how these fit into and compliment your offline endeavors.

Integrated agencies or partnered agencies are going to have the best chance of success, in the current economic environment. Agencies that understand the importance of a holistic, cohesive digital presence are going to in the long run be the best bet for your brand. I am not advocating that all agencies should bring everything in house, but as I have stated before, agencies that foster a more co-operative attitude with a clients other partners are going to be able to develop seamless long term brand propositions.

Campaigns may be short term, but they are working towards long term brand goals. Each campaign, is an addition to the brand, strengthen and telling a little more of its story rather than each time creating a new proposition. Brands should be looking for depth in their campaigns and how they can develop their position within the market from this. This could be done by gradually picking up new channels and methods, that is both organic in growth, and adventurous in tackling different aspects of the digital hubs is going to be the key to success.

This article is the third of a ten part series re-evaluating how we think and relate to the digital space as an advertising platform and how we should be populating and shaping that landscape.