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Previously, I wrote about the confusion of web marketing and how overwhelming it can be. In this 2nd series of a 3-parter, I would share about the critical element in getting support for the digital marketing initiatives you intend to embark on.
Senior Management Buy-in. Which, Where and Why?
The web can be a very ‘noisy’ and confusing place.
Business development, marketing and sales personnel are constantly exploring ways to grow. There are social media marketing strategies and tools to reach out to potential clients. But, as illustrated previously, they can be confusing.
I have identified some salient points to cut through the noises.
Ultimately, most businesses which adopted web and social media marketing initiatives had the end objective of pulling in (more) sales. This is especially more so for SMEs.
Unfortunately, many companies became disillusioned by social media fluff and formed an opinion that it didn’t work.
While there may be some element of truth, it could often be due to (mis)presentation of outcomes and the mis-management of expectations.
There are goals and objectives in running (traditional) marketing plans. Same for social media and web marketing. However, many of the goals and objectives in the traditional form cannot be ported over, wholesale, to the digital world.
This I think, is what happened to those SMEs which became disenchanted. Below is an example of the goals and objectives from a web marketing campaign I ran…
Digital marketing campaign goals and objectives
Setting up indicators should probably be something you want to go through during the initial phase. Here are some pitfalls (and recommendations) to be mindful of when developing metrics to measure the potential success of your web and digital marketing programme…
- Don’t immediately measure in sales number. You would likely be disappointed. Do keep your ideal sales number in mind and tie it back with some of the social media marketing metrics
- Do instead, measure by the number of responses from the channels you run on. For instance, if you advertised in YouTube, how many audience click on your advertisement?
- Don’t be taken in by ‘views’ or ‘impressions’ alone. These two measurements are what I called ‘vanity’ metrics which only look good but may not be useful as standalone results
- Don’t fall easily for ‘Like’ on Facebook. It is also a form of look-good figures which doesn’t usually translate to real numbers, especially in a B2B setting
Remember when I mentioned earlier that some domains may not be suitable for web marketing?
But some B2B businesses could and perhaps should. IT system integration (SI) business is a good example. SI typically provides professional services to another business by integrating disparate computer networks, equipment and systems.
Some telecommunication service providers cater to only corporate clienteles. These two businesses are suitable to leverage on web marketing in B2B. Some other B2B businesses which might be suitable include:
- Accounting and bookkeeping services
- Stationery suppliers
- Name cards and company stamps vendors
- Event management related businesses
- Finance, e.g. project financing and corporate loans
There are other areas to look out for but this should provide you a kick-starter in your web marketing conversation internally and with your digital agency vendors.
Hope you find this useful in your continuation of learning to help you make better decision and where you could zoom in, in the complex web of digital marketing.
In the next post, I would talk about the factors of success and list out some simple tactics for you to follow through. Stay tuned!
