Krista Neher, CEO of Boot Camp Digital, shares her secrets to effective digital marketing and assesses companies' current efforts in online branding.
Neher says digital marketing should be differentiated from traditional marketing. But the real question is: How has the buyer decision-making process changed? After all, the goal is not to use digital for its own sake, but to help marketers make smart decisions and persuade their target users.
Especially in the B2B space, digital today is “a big part of the buyer journey,” says Neher. Marketers need to realize that by the time a buyer arrives in the sales channel, “the buyer has already completed his 50% of the decision-making process.” So where does the data that informs the first 50% come from?Digital. “
Many sellers are not fully aware of the role digital plays in attracting potential buyers. They mistakenly believe that sales leads come entirely through the sales team, so they limit their online efforts to obvious social media channels and outdated websites. But just posting on Facebook or Instagram isn't enough, Neher says. “It's not strategy. The biggest mistake is getting into activity mode before thinking about the point and purpose of each thing a company is doing.”
The second failure is the lack of measurement and key performance indicators related to best practices for running effective campaigns. Without these, Neher says, companies will have a hard time understanding the value of what they're doing on the marketing side.
Search engine optimization remains an important online marketing consideration, but sellers have to do more than “game the system” or crack mysterious algorithms to rank high in internet searches. It has evolved to the point where we need to do things like: If approached correctly, Neher says, SEO can be a valuable tool for small retailers looking to differentiate themselves from the big box stores. This provides a “free opportunity to get repeatable traffic to your website.”
Hear more discussion on this important topic at the Global Supply Chain Marketing Summit June 5-7, 2024 in Amelia Island, Florida.
