When it comes to digital marketing, overnight success is a myth that many businesses get entrapped into believing. They put on their rose-tinted glasses and go about trying every trick in the book – they want to tie paid, owned, earned, and shared efforts together to tell a better story, they want to blog, vlog, and create viral videos, they want social PR, user-generated content, and a strong brand following. The problem is that most companies want it overnight and they aren’t prepared to spend the time, money, or resources it takes to do it right. The fact, however, is that looking for slingshot success though digital marketing is like looking for a pizzeria in the Stone Age! So, for businesses wanting instant success through digital marketing, here’s my two cents – you’re wasting your time and you would be better off doing something else. Here’s why.
1. There’s a lot of behind-the-scenes hard work.
Behind every successful business typically lies a story of blood, sweat and what is most likely years of toil. While we’re tempted to draw conclusions at what might appear to be the overnight success of a brand, most of us fail to understand that success is rarely overnight. Really. The same idea rings true for digital marketing. While you might find brands riding on their successful online presence, you should realize that it takes a lot of hard work and failed attempts to find success through digital marketing.
2. There’s no magic button to push.
There’s no set formula and yes, there’s certainly no magic button. When it comes to digital marketing, there are several strategies a brand can follow – email marketing, mobile marketing, omni-channel marketing or 1:1 marketing, etc. They can even create a marketing mix of two or more strategies. However, you have to develop an understanding as to what suits your business best. Knowing your customers, their interests, needs, and requirements combined with a few sessions of trials and errors can give you an idea of how you should proceed.
3. Learning never stops.
Digital marketing is an ever-evolving field where new ideas and concepts emerge frequently. Being adaptable and open to new ideas is critical. Even more important? Understanding that rapid change is the new normal will go a long way toward helping you be better equipped with the knowledge and strategies to keep pace with the dynamic business landscape. In today’s business world, there’s no such thing really as saying “I’ve got this” and being on auto pilot. If you want digital marketing success, you’ve got to keep your learning shoes on.
4. Only consistency pays off.
Half-baked efforts rarely net results and this is especially true in the case of digital marketing. While there are any number of stragegies you can employ and tactics you can use when it comes to digital marketing, hopping from one strategy to another randomly is a recipe for disaster. To fully understand the implications and benefits of one strategy, you need to understand the formula: conceive, launch, test, tweak, test, tweak, etc. This is a continuous cycle and a given when it comes to the realm of digital marketing. So you’ve got to learn to be a little patient. Develop your strategies based on sound research and a firm understanding of both your customers and prospects and your ultimate business goals. Develop your strategy and your campaigns accordingly, give them time to work, testing and measuring and tweaking along the way. Then evaluate them with your data as your guide. Did they do what you hoped they would do? Did they move the needle? What worked and what didn’t? Use this information to plot your next course strategically and you’ll be stronger (and ultimately more successful) as a result.
5. Building an image takes a helluva lot of time.
Rome was not built in a day and your online image is no different either. Brand building is a painstakingly-crafted art that needs practice and perseverance. You have to make meaningful connections with your audience, engage them, talk with them, build your credibility and then keep at it. Obviously, this takes time and lots of well-meaning efforts. If you mail it in, it shows.
So while you’re reading that online success story with a starry-eyed wonder and planning to go digital, let me warn you – digital marketing is not for the faint-hearted. If you’re ready to spend time, money and resources, you’ll have your moment of success here; however, as Richard Branson puts it, “If you spend your time looking for shortcuts, you will find one — right out of business.”
[Photo Credit: Creative Commons]
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