Disrupting Digital Marketing : The only way forward

The standard marketing plan that most agencies offer begins by using the brief the client provides to make assumptions regarding the target market and the features of the product or services. These assumptions inform the digital marketing strategy that is aimed at creating the highest return on investment. Most times, even if market research data is available, the sample sizes are too small and highly selective, making the results too skewed.

Which is why we suggest that there is another way to approach the digital marketing conundrum. It is by setting aside the online marketing research and design brief provided, and removing all assumptions that can possibly be made. This will enable the marketing strategy to begin looking at strategic marketing using the consumer’s point of view and taking into account behavioural perspectives.

Analysing the hidden data across the value chain can provide interesting insights into customer engagement and target market and group strategising. Scrutinizing every step from catching eyeballs to engagement to conversion and usage will yield better insights in order to formulate online marketing and a social media marketing strategy to make better returns on investment.

Therefore, it is important to define these steps while designing the digital marketing strategy and tactical execution details. The assumptions in this case will be backed by experiential judgement supported by partial data; leading to a better understanding of the target market behaviour through the process. Once a critical mass is achieved, it will then be time to step on the pedal and improve returns on investment by increasing customer acquisition.

Given very tight deadlines, sometimes clients expect an immediate push in spending to get immediate results. While it may be easier to acquiesce and show immediate short-term online marketing results; disrupting the brief will improve the long-term return on investment. It is vital that the marketing agency understands the difference between knowing consumer behaviour based on market research and that based on assumptions. Even though collecting data must begin by certain assumptions about the target market; once data is collected, it is imperative to trust one’s own market research and provide the client a digital marketing strategy that can be banked on. This way both the marketing agency and the client know that every online marketing dollar brings in a better return on investment than blind spending; making it a win-win situation for everyone.

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