Mitch Joel has a\u00a0fantastic post\u00a0communications professionals should read asking 6 key questions you must address to win 2011. Question 1 is really the most important and defines the difference between companies that will\u00a0actually\u00a0see a results vs. those still stuck on the wrong side of the digital divide:<\/p>\n
Are you committed to a real strategy?<\/strong>\u00a0Sadly, most businesses get tactical and caught in the weeds. They hop on\u00a0Twitter because their competitors are there, but they have no strategy in place. Think about why you need the digital channels, and develop a holistic view of the digital marketing landscape. Figure out how the digital channels can best serve your brand. The net result should be a focused strategy that is based on your overall business objectives, economic value to the organization and a tactical plan.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Indeed. Either you devote resources, develop and execute on a holistic\u00a0digital marketing strategy\u00a0or you don\u2019t. It\u2019s cut and dry \u2013 and it\u2019s surprising that in 2011 Mitch has to write such a post. But he\u2019s right.<\/p>\n
I wrote about the\u00a0divide in digital influence\u00a0in 2009 and it just keeps growing. If your company is on the wrong side of this divide, still wondering\u00a0why<\/em>\u00a0you need to participate and not yet committed to a real strategy, you\u2019re in a lot of trouble. If the conversation at your company or agency is still \u201cwondering why we should even market digitally\u201d it\u2019s time to get with it, fast or be forever dominated by the competition. If your\u00a0competitors\u00a0aren\u2019t here yet either \u2013 pounce now or regret it when they wake up and trounce you.<\/p>\n
Rand Fishkin at SEOmoz noted what\u2019s happening with those who are savvy \u2013 basically,\u00a0the rich are getting richer:<\/p>\n
The email marketer with a giant email list has much greater leverage to add 100 new subscriptions through the power of their existing influence than their new competitor, just starting out with those first dozen email addresses. The website ranking in position #1 for a high volume search query likely earns a few, natural, reference links each day, while a struggling competitor, even one who might have better prices, quality, value or content, must struggle out of obscurity before any of those \u201clinks via discovery\u201d come their way.<\/p>\n
This principle applies cross-channel equally well.<\/p>\n
High search rankings can earn you lots of visitors who might subscribe to an email list. Thousands of Twitter followers can mean direct SEO benefit and second-order effects like more links and branding. A popular LinkedIn group can drive traffic that turn into more RSS subscribers, getting you noticed by industry lists, which then feed into more media attention and links, which delivers higher rankings. It\u2019s a virtuous circle \u2014 unless you\u2019re sitting on the sidelines.<\/p>\n
\u2026Overtaking a competitor or earning your way into a crowded field with strong existing players isn\u2019t just hard, it\u2019s getting harder, at a faster pace, every day.<\/p>\n
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In working with companies at all areas in the spectrum of digital sophistication the difference in the conversation is clear. Those who have embraced the web and executed\u00a0on an effective strategy are interested in how to effectively\u00a0spend more<\/em>\u00a0on digital and continue to shift their budgets away from what they have traditionally done.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s obvious why: more accountability, efficiency, results and ultimately they want to continue to dominate their less sophisticated competitors. They\u2019re not just a little, they are\u00a0way<\/em>\u00a0ahead and want to keep it that way. That\u2019s the savvy side of the conversation \u2013 while the side who has never tried is barely willing to execute tactics.\u00a0I\u2019ve experienced this time and time again with companies willing to embrace digital marketing vs. those who aren\u2019t. The results of both efforts are, of course, how you\u2019d expect.<\/p>\n
Really\u00a0none of this stuff is new. At this point, companies have to either \u201cget\u201d that modern society communicates using the web or they truly have the drapes to the outside world shut.<\/p>\n
To marketers who aren\u2019t\u00a0fluent in digital: do you think print is making a comeback? Is TV where you\u2019re still throwing your money? Radio? Sure about that?<\/p>\n
To management teams still tentative about allocating resources to modern communications channels \u2013 time to get comfortable with digital or be left in the dust by competitors with more relevant approaches.<\/p>\n
The good news is it\u2019s not too late \u2013 but as Rand points out above with the runner analogy, waiting will cost you everything.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Mitch Joel has a\u00a0fantastic post\u00a0communications professionals should read asking 6 key questions you must address to win 2011. Question 1 … <\/p>\n