Don’t Weaken Your Brand, Build a Solid Digital Foundation!

Forrester’s Q1 2009 Global CMO Recession Online Survey, released last week, “…reveals marketing leaders under pressure to deliver results while enduring budget cuts in excess of 20%. To keep their businesses moving forward, marketing leaders are cutting back on traditional tactics and investing in digital channels like Web sites, social media, and email.”

Yep. Sounds about right. Who isn’t trying to squeeze the most out of their digital marketing campaigns? But how many of us are successful? And how can we improve when the digital ground is shifting underneath us? Here are a few no-nonsense tips that we have noticed from our own efforts. The key is building a solid foundation:

1. Make sure the content on your website is working for you. Are you providing the right information to your prospects? Are you using the right voice? Is both your content and tone consistent with your brand? And are you capturing your prospect’s information? If you answered yes to the above, you have a solid foundation for the rest of your digital marketing. If no, you need a cohesive content strategy. Get strategizing.
2. It is true…Social Media is best used for networking and link-building. It isn’t for the hard sell or the product demo. Not only will these efforts fall flat, they will do brand damage. Your prospects listen to you differently in the digital world. Use social media to get noticed for the right reasons, and then direct your prospects elsewhere for the sales pitch.
3. Start measuring the results of your email campaigns, and if you aren’t testing your campaigns…you better start. The process of discovering what works and what doesn’t with your email promotions will dramatically impact how you structure your next offer and how you segment your prospect base. There is no excuse for ignoring your email campaign stats, especially when a few minor adjustments can have a major impact on your bottom line.

As a result of their survey, “Forrester recommends that marketing leaders expand their focus to include enabling technologies that build brands and a true picture of the multichannel customer. This added emphasis will help deliver quick results while protecting long-term brand health.”

You said it, Forrester. Any and all digital marketing campaigns must preserve the brand you’ve worked so hard to build. Do not tear your brand apart with a lack of understanding of the fundamentals of Web 2.0.