On digital marketing integration

The possibilities of what a marketer can do within digital marketing are astounding. Never before has it been easier to connect with customers, engage them in your brand, let them experience it with other fans and build relationships for the future. Unfortunately, people still apply the old laws of marketing and advertising to this new, limitless frontier.

If you work for a digital agency, you have doubtlessly seen this scenario play out:

Client: So, we want to really integrate our offline marketing communications with our digital strategy
You: That's great we can...
Client:Here is a Quark document our designer put together from our newspaper ad/billboard/brochure/etc.
You: Hmm. We were actually thinking about...
Client: Can you make the logo spin too?
You: *sigh* Sure.

I only half kid here. I've been handed many a Quark/Photoshop document in my day designed by print designers who have no idea what digital strategy is nor what it takes to execute online. While this trend is dissipating, with digital's rise in actual and perceived value, the habit is a hard one for some people to break.

The updated version of this scenario usually plays out in throwing somebody's :30 spot into YouTube or adding it to a rich media ad. While that is a quick way out, it's not using the full power of digital. As we move into a broader band world of digital where interactive is creating and driving the (internal and customer) conversations, it becomes easy to look for the easy path to integration, but that pitfall should be avoided.

Here are some questions to get the conversation started:

• When the options are endless, why do people return to familiar formats?
  
• Is your digital strategy created separately from your offline strategy? Do your agencies talk?
  
• Digital is the best two-way communication tool, why do we still talk AT our customers?
  
• It's also the easiest medium to turn off. Knowing that, how do you keep people engaged?
  
• Are you letting your fans bring you into their lives as much as they'd like?
  
• Do you allow your fans to take you along to where THEY live online?
  
• What campaigns have you seen that REALLY integrate offline and online to reach people?
  

What do you think?

Technorati Tags:
interactive marketing, marketing, Matt Dickman, relevance, social media, Techno//Marketer, trends

Comments

[Valeria Maltoni]

Matt:

What I think is that I'd like to read a post from an expert on addressing these questions ;-) I am starting to think about digital marketing and with the exception of banner ads I do note really have too much experience in the space. Where do you start?

[Herb]

The first thing I say is, 'what are you trying to achieve', hopefully this gets them to talk about their 'ideas' and not their 'preconceived-digital-tactic'.

[Matt Dickman]

Valeria -- You beat me to it! That's where I am going with this post, I'm trying to put together a whole week of posts and you'll be the first to know when they're ready to roll. Thanks Valeria!

Herb -- That's a great opener especially when there are not any pre-conceived notions. What do you do when there are? How do you approach a situation where the client is already tactical without the strategy?

[Tim Brunelle]

Matt: We shouldn't necessarily be surprised by all this. It's human nature to jump to tactics (perceived solutions). As homeowners we might do this with plumbers. As designers we might do this with developers. We're trying to Get Work Done. And we'd prefer not to have to take a few seconds (or days)...think it over...weigh the options...develop a strategy...and *then* take action.

Tactics-givers might think they're being efficient. Or they might be arrogant in assuming more than they actually know. Herb: The only problem with "What are you trying to achieve?" is the response: "I'm trying to achieve [tactic goes here]!"

I've found the biggest obstacle in achieving digital marketing integration is Time -- Time to truly talk it all through with all the players in one room, time to learn to respect other disciplines and their eccentricities, time to actually integrate.

If you can get a client to make the time, then the integration tends to be more fruitful.

But then, Time = Money.

[Matt Dickman]

Tim -- Thank you for the comment and welcome!

You're right about human nature in jumping to tactics. Even in most strategy sessions I attend, it's often weighted more to the tactical side. I think, however, when it comes to traditional/digital companies make mistakes when they start in either space and develop tactics independent of strategy.

I guess I am more talking about developing a media-neutral strategy and then executing it. I think that's easily the most fruitful approach, but few companies or agencies can execute it. Ad people know ads, digital people know websites, media people know media, etc. It's when they all come together to talk about the goals, develop the strategy and then help each other plan that the best work comes out.

Time does = money, but wasted money is always wasted money. Time upfront will at least make sure that the digital is working in its space. How pissed off would an Art Director be if the roles were reversed? What if the digital guys handed the AD a website and said "just make an ad real quick using this". No reason to think it should work the other way around.