Why digital marketing needs CEO leadership - not just a budget

Where do things go wrong most often in business?

The biggest headaches in my business career have come when we’ve paid the wrong people to do the wrong things. The longer I let this go on without waking up and taking action, the deeper the hole we dug for ourselves.

I suspect most CEOs can relate.

Which brings me to digital marketing, which you could define as follows:

‘An expensive exercise requiring creative and linear thinkers to work together to deliver complex projects – the results of which (good or bad) may not be fully evident for many months or even years.’

Does this sound like a potential recipe for disaster to you?

Avoiding disaster and enjoying great outcomes requires CEO involvement and skilled leadership throughout the process.

This article addresses the areas where your input matters most.

Strategic direction aligned with business goals and objectives

It sounds obvious.

Of course, you need to align your marketing efforts with business growth objectives in both the short and long term.

It would be crazy to do otherwise.

The issue comes when the business goals and objectives are not clearly understood by the creative people on the ground doing the marketing work.

At Brilliant Digital, we get the best outcomes for clients who are actively engaged in strategy and reporting meetings and answer our questions about the business direction with clear and well-thought-out plans.

These great leaders readily update us with market shifts, internal business shifts and sector insights.

Through a process of discussion and analysis of the data, we can then shape content and strategy to get the best return on investment from our work.

Understand that content is the currency

Two key points in this section.

Firstly, it’s important to understand that content is the currency of marketing.

Carefully created words, images and videos are the nuts and bolts of the machine – the revenue-generating gold you want your market to absorb.

Every social media giant, industry website and media outlet is seeking high-quality original content at the lowest possible cost.

If they can get you to make content for them and put it on their platform, they can make huge profits from it.

If you keep content for yourself and put it on your website – an asset you own – you can also own the traffic it generates and drive your own marketing machine.

However, this butts up against concept 2.

Most humans seek the path of least resistance.

It’s easy to post content on social media, pay for an advertorial in an industry magazine, or throw money at Google Ads.

It’s much harder to diligently set up your own brand website, optimise it for all search engines, consistently add new content, report objectively and re-strategise based on the data.

But since there’s less traffic on the extra mile, this is where the gold is and this is where our clients have enjoyed the best return on investment year after year.

As a CEO, you can ask questions to understand where the content you are investing in ends up – who owns it and how much activity it is generating today, tomorrow and next year.

Budgeting for digital marketing

There are lots of choices in front of you here.

• Organic search – content on your website
• Advertising – search and/or display
• Social media – organic and advertising
• Database – communication via email
• Sales support – for example, capability statements and brochures

Clearly, you need information to make a good decision.

The best sources of information are

Experience – the big-picture knowledge of a digital strategist with runs on the board in your industry who knows how to get the best return on investment. (This is not the same as the opinion of a young team member with an interest in social media or an advertising specialist who doesn’t understand SEO).

Data – insights from what you are already doing. Which activity is generating quality leads and sales and which isn’t? How are people finding you? What are your competitors doing and not doing? What opportunity might you be missing?

The combination of the right experience and the right data will lead you to the right budget for each area and a winning strategy.

Meet the author

I’m Deb Croucher, a former veterinary surgeon with a passion for digital marketing.

In 2008, I permanently traded my stethoscope for websites, marketing and communications after successfully leveraging Google to power my vet business.

Diagnosis and treatment is still part of my day though.

In Brilliant Digital I identify issues, uncover opportunities and formulate strategies that lead to success and longevity.

You can read more digital marketing articles here or feel free to drop me a line.