The digital train is leaving – are you on it?

We have all read articles about the ‘Digital Revolution/Explosion’. We know ourselves how easy it is to be connected virtually everywhere. But have you really considered the effect this rapid smartphone/smarttv/tablet adoption is having on how your customers buy from your business?

These were the predicted online trends a good few years ago that are now a reality.

Consumers are now;

• locating shops
• researching products
• comparing prices and reviews
• making purchases online
• relying  on the recommendations of friends and colleagues to help inform their buying decisions
• increasingly impervious to marketing hype preferring authenticity and honest answers
• in control with more power, influence, and discriminating than ever before.

So what is digital marketing?  Basically any digital channel that reaches consumers and that can build stronger relationships e.g. corporate websites, online communities, internet search-and-display advertising, mobile technologies, online videos, and social media such as Facebook and Twitter.

How much should you invest in digital marketing? It’s no surprise that there is a clear link between increased investment & increased expertise but what should you invest in digital marketing?  I feel that answer depends on where you believe your company is on the digital maturity scale. Within this scale I see three distinct stages & investment levels;

experimenting with <10% of total marketing budget

building with between 10% & 20%

digitally evolved with over 20% & sometimes over 50%

To help you decide on how digitally mature your business is I’ve listed below 8 statements.

1. Our digital marketing strategy is in line with our business objectives
2. We understand how our target consumers use digital channels & we select the most appropriate through testing their relative performances
3. We use objectives & metrics to select our  different marketing channels
4. We employ digital listening to assess our brand health
5. We have a centre of digital excellence
6. We have a  clear decision making process where digital overlaps with other departments
7. We encourage digital experimentation through a test & learn culture
8. Our CEO/MD believes in the importance of digital

Much like our SEO fitness scorecard, if you answered No to more than 5 then I would suggest you are in the experimenting stage & may lack the necessary capabilities in house.

Time to consider bridging this gap with some external support? Mind the digital gap!