Considering employing a digital marketing agency, or possibly want to make yourself aware of what is involved? Based on experience gained since the mid 1990’s, this series will shed some light to aid your decision (be it outsource vs. in-house, remain with your current supplier, or highlight considerations as to why you may want to move, review potential agencies, how to measure, and how to decide).
Welcome to Part 2 in this series – Components Blueprint.
Picking up from part 1 and all other articles related to this series that you can access on our blog, we will take an overview of the various components that should make up the digital marketing agency deliverables to your business. In subsequent articles we will drill down in more detail on each item that is required for successful, measurable and sustainable digital marketing.
To ensure you get the most value possible, and the right guidance in selecting a digital agency (if that is the route you have decided on for your business or organisation), we need to look at some key concepts.
- Audit
- What is an audit
- The examination or inspection of various books of accounts by an auditor followed by physical checking of inventory to make sure that all departments are following documented system of recording transactions. It is done to ascertain the accuracy of financial statements provided by the organisation.
- So what is a marketing audit
- Continuing to apply critical thinking, as for a financial audit, a marketing audit is an assessment that is performed to analyse your current marketing strategy from top to bottom. The goal of a marketing audit is to identify the strengths and weaknesses of your marketing efforts and to help you devise a plan to improve effectiveness and performance
- What is a digital marketing audit
- Drilling down to a digital marketing audit, this is an assessment of all active digital media channels and to evaluate how effective they are in the current campaign. Audits are useful to conduct in advance of the planning stage of your strategy to build a foundation on historical performance and to understand the available channels to include in your plan.
- To assess the performance of each channel, auditors often use digital marketing metrics or key performance indicators (KPIs).
- Quantitative analysis of your digital portfolio.
- Qualitative analysis of your digital portfolio.
- Crawl your website.
- Brief competitive analysis.
- Break down digital marketing efforts by communication channel.
- Recommendations and Strategy.
- Organizational understanding
- This is the understanding of the workings, structure and culture of your business as well as the political, social and economic climate in which your business operates
- What is an audit
- Strategy
- What is a strategy
- A strategy is a general plan or set of plans intended to achieve something, especially over a long period. It is comprised of three parts: Vision, Goals, and Initiatives: Vision describes who the customers are, what customers need, and how you plan to deliver a unique offering. Goals, are self-explanatory and unique to your business. Initiatives is what is done to deliver on the strategy all whilst taking into account the Four C’s – Capabilities, Capacity, Constraints and Culture
- What is a marketing strategy
- Drilling down from there, the marketing strategy refers to a business’s overall game plan for reaching prospective consumers and turning them into customers (and keeping them) of their products or services. A marketing strategy contains the company’s value proposition, key brand messaging, data on target customer demographics, and other high-level elements.
- What is a digital marketing strategy
- The digital marketing component of the marketing strategy (or your digital marketing strategy could be your organization’s entire marketing strategy) is using online channels to reach the target customer. This can be broadly broken down into 9 main categories including: Search Engine Optimization (web site, on-page and off-page), Paid Advertising (via Google and social media), Social Media Marketing, Content Marketing, Email Marketing, Mobile Marketing, Marketing Analytics, Influencer Marketing and Affiliate Marketing.
- Leveraging audit outcomes
- As touched briefly on under the definition of a strategy, part of developing the digital marketing strategy is to take into account the outcomes of the audit phase for your particular business in your particular industry in a time-relevant manner, so as to translate your business strategy or vision into an enabling marketing strategy and/or digital marketing strategy.
- What is a strategy
- Implementation
- Implementing the digital marketing strategy via actionable tactical activities across the relevant digital channels:
- As uniquely guided by your business requirement
- According to repeatable tested and proven processes
- Leveraging unique characteristics of digital channels whilst remaining business relevant
- That delivers on the mandate in the areas of awareness and/or sales and/or brand equity
- That is measurable, measured, reported, appropriately interpreted, and correctly applied moving forward
- Appropriately connecting, enabling and leveraging the various spheres of your business according to your business strategy, capabilities, capacity, constraints and culture
- Implementing the digital marketing strategy via actionable tactical activities across the relevant digital channels:
- Managing For Results
- Reporting on and managing in order to drive
- Current implementation impact
- Communicating organizational quality
- Sustainable value building
- Facilitator of business succession
- Reporting on and managing in order to drive
- Q&A
- Is the above in place for your business success, as provided for internally and/or via an external supplier?
- If not, what are the risks to your business?
- If so, whether partially or in totality, what opportunities are there to sustain your business? And grow your business ?
- Implementation partners are in place, but is there strategic direction?
- If not, how will the component parts collectively pursue and deliver on what is required by your business?
- If so, who owns and who manages the strategy? Where does the understanding sit?
- Is the above in place for your business success, as provided for internally and/or via an external supplier?
We are honest and transparent as to why we have put out this article. Yes it should be an asset to the industry and customers of our industry, but we also need to do business for many of the same reasons you do. So here is our ask.
Seeking a digital marketing agency, a traditional marketing agency, a combined agency or a service provider that can co-ordinate multiple suppliers (in-house and/or outsourced)? Why you should consider 3G’s Branding Consulting Digital and/or Marketing Head Outsource:
- All founders have been in marketing, branding, business management and digital online communication since the mid 1990’s
- Principals daily hands-on involvement
- Qualifications include
- BComm. Marketing
- Design Diplomas
- Program in eCommerce
- BTech Multimedia
- IT Specific Project Management (Levels 1 -3)
- Technology Qualifications
- Clients have included amongst others:
- B2B
- B2C
- Multi-Nationals
- JSE listed companies
- Government agencies
- National Lottery South Africa
- Gautrain
- Small Medium and Micro Enterprises (SMME)
- One-man operations
- Volunteer only operations
We As An Agency
- Are a specialist communication agency offering a complete consulting, design, implementation and management solution
- Have an experienced multi-faceted specialist team
- Leverage our organisational learnings to date
- Have substantial experience collaborating with third party vendors
- Have our proven processes and procedures
- Limit the risk of time, money, and client reputation
- Maximize synergies
- Leverage service and cost efficiencies
- Retain a high level of creativity, professionalism and quality outputs
- Have undertaken standalone projects as well as multifaceted projects that may or may not integrate to third party vendors offerings
- Have aided clients with operational improvements and increased productivity.
- Are grateful to our clients, some of whom are still with as from the very beginning
- Have working relationships with of our clients, within the context of what 3G’s provides, going back to 2002.
We received the following accolade from yet another satisfied client (Facebook post by Claire Baillie of Print@14th reproduced with permission)
Claire Baillie recommends 3G’s Digital & Consulting: “What a professional company and a pleasure to work with! They have been instrumental in changing my internet marketing, the results have been amazing. Would definitely recommend them!”
Access further testimonials
Well, that was Part 2. Access the balance of articles in this series as well as other series’ via our blog. You are welcome to access our other posts. Likewise you are welcome to reach out to us should you want to engage directly with us on this.
And…….. Expect more from your communication
#3Gs #3GsDigital #branding #consulting #digital #design #development #maintenance #digicards #socialmedia #website #ecommerce TraditionalMarketing #DigitalMarketing #DigitalMarketingAgency #DigitalAgency #MarketingHeadOutsource
