Organizations utilize online marketing for better returns on investment. While some have had it all successful and smooth, others have not had it easy at all.
Thus, there is usually this scepticism towards digital marketing for a successful business journey.
The reasons for this scepticism range from poorly managed and previously squashed business expectations to impersonations by some novices parading as “digital marketing” experts.
Had these organizations known the 5 questions to ask before engaging a digital marketing consultant, the story would have been different.
Regardless of this usual ugly experience, every business needs to maximize the abundant opportunities offered by Digital Marketing.
This write up is a guide against mistakes some organizations make. You too can overcome this usual scepticism to get the best of digital marketing for a successful business.
5 Questions to ask Before Engaging a Digital Marketing Consultant
1. What is your Organisation’s Marketing objective?
There has to be a reason why you have opted for Digital Marketing.
Is it brand awareness?
Could it be Lead generation?
Are you considering increased revenue generation?
Might you require improved digital communication?
Do you need increased website engagement?
Is it improved customer experience? Or a combination of two of these or more?
Does this clearly defined objective align with the overall business objective? What is your marketing budget?
A Digital Marketing plan will give clear indicators of how you can measure the effectiveness of any strategy adopted.
For result driven strategies adopted by organizations see these top 6 online marketing strategy for business owners
With your clear objective and project plan, your processes are not error proof yet. Read on to see reasons.
2. How Digitally Ready is your Organisation?
Digital readiness starts with the top management. A member of top management who must oversee all digital marketing campaigns should be appointed or hired. This person is saddled with the responsibility of gathering data of each campaign for analysis and top management discussion. The discussion and decision will be cascaded across relevant organizational units.
Is your organization ready for successful digital marketing campaigns?
Organization’s digital readiness is evident on skills being considered for 2019 recruitment. According to the Future of jobs report by the World Economic Forum, there is a new paradigm of skills organizations need:
| 2020 | 2015 | |
| 1 | Complex Problem Solving | Complex Problem Solving |
| 2 | Critical Thinking | Coordinating with Others |
| 3 | Creativity | People Management |
| 4 | People Management | Critical Thinking |
| 5 | Coordinating with Others | Negotiation |
| 6 | Emotional Intelligence | Quality Control |
| 7 | Judgement and Decision Making | Service Orientation |
| 8 | Service Orientation | Judgment and Decision Making |
| 9 | Negotiation | Active Listening |
| 10 | Cognitive Flexibility | Creativity |
Source: World Economic Forum
Being ready for a digital transformation is not the end of the discussion. Translating the marketing objective to measurable output is where the rubber hits the road.
3. Which Digital Marketing Consultant can you achieve your objective with?
There comes the decision to either recruit staff internally or outsource to a digital marketing agency. The choice of either becomes more demanding with the increasing number of qualified individuals and digital agencies.
Conduct interview for individuals or request for proposal for agencies. Then, tactically evaluate visibility, experience, success/ failure rate of previous jobs with clients, technical competence, ability to make input or interpret your objective and of course the emotional intelligence capability.
For your unique digital marketing experience, go for the consultant who adopts a Johari Window assessment of your business.
This holistic approach reveals your brand value, negative reviews, identified flaws from business audit, competitive advantage, marketing objective, activities of competitors, likely future trends and possible business projections/ advancement.
The experienced consultants will take a step further identifying your baseline data. This includes organic keywords guiding most traffic, organic website visit, online presence, and level of engagement across social channels etc.
The inexperienced ones sometimes apply the one-size-fits-all approach and might not appear proficient with tools. Such markers should help to separate the men from the boys.
4. What Resources Will the Digital Marketing Consultant Require?
Digital marketing profers and guides towards solutions. It is a complex process made simple with the availability of tools. Each tool subscription goes for a fee. Different packages are available to meet your need. So let’s get to the basics, what is your budget like?
Due to the flexibility of digital marketing campaigns, it is possible to tailor packages to suit your budget. Sounds good right? One more thing before you hit the ground running.
5. What is in it for your organization?
How do you measure the effectiveness of that email marketing, paid marketing, website redesign, content strategy, search engine optimization, corporate identity development, social media management or any strategy adopted?
If you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it. Set your KPIs in black and white, sign the agreement with your consultant and set the wheels in motion.
Without these 5 questions to ask before engaging a digital marketing consultant, you certainly need not be in a haste adopting digital marketing for a successful business.
You will see that it is not so difficult achieving your business goals. Subsequently, you do not need to waste time and resources on the wrong strategies.
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Need more on this topic, read this: 5 Reasons Digital Marketing Works
