The most neglected aspect of digital marketing is marketing, yes marketing itself. By marketing, we mean the marketing principles of positioning et al. Whatever business goals you have for digital marketing cannot be achieved by the digital part alone.
But when have you last heard a digital agency draw attention to the marketing part?
In particular, two aspects of marketing need more attention than typically given by digital marketers.
1. Positioning the brand
2. Good product or service
Effective positioning is critical – for every business
1. Positioning the brand
Most digital marketers think of and discuss with their clients issues such as performance of various ad platforms, choice of technology, analytics data, content and the look, but pay little attention to positioning and communication.
Now in our experience, much of the digital marketing being done today is for new products and services. And digital marketing is the preferred method of marketing for new launches.
But since these products and services are new, the communication (messaging) has often not been developed at all. So the burden on doing the right positioning and communication falls on the digital agency. Unfortunately, this is not traditionally something most digital agencies are good at, as they are not well staffed with people trained in classical marketing stuff. Thus, the product’s marketing communication and positioning does not get executed in the most effective manner.
2. Good product or service
The second aspect which is getting neglected with the rise of digital marketing, though inadvertently so, is ensuring the quality of the product or service being launched and ensuring that it has prior consumer acceptance.
In the world of offline (not digital) marketing, until a product or service has proven itself on quality and consumer acceptance, marketers don’t spend on marketing. This is because the costs of offline marketing – be it print, TV, outdoor , events or others – are considerable.
In digital, the absolute cost is relatively low compared to offline marketing (why this is so is a topic for another day). This can lead to the temptation to overlook the quality and consumer acceptance aspects and launch an unproven product or service. This is a danger against which both clients and their digital agencies need to guard against.
So when do you last remember discussing the above two issues – positioning and product quality – with your own digital marketing agency?
