The digital marketing world’s best-kept secret: ‘No one has it figured out’

“Where’s the button that’ll tell me what all this data means?”

On a projection screen next to the panel, this question appears in the form of Someecards meme.

(Image by IMA)

While the graphic seems laughable at first, it speaks to the real anxieties around big data in the realm of digital marketing. Many businesses, for instance, would rather outsource their brand’s digital marketing to a third-party consultant rather than hire an in-house team of their own.

On Wednesday evening as part of Philly Tech Week 2017 presented by Comcast, IMA President (and Technical.ly contributor) Greg Ippolito moderated a panel called Beyond Clicks of four marketing experts at MakeOffices. While digital marketing incorporates many different forms of media, the primarily focus was on social media in particular.

[Psst, tonight is the Philly Tech Week closing party. Get tickets now.]

Here’s a look at what we learned.

Identify which tools are best suited for your business.

• Steve Shea, founder and CEO of Everything Clicks, says a business’s worst mistake is “trying to do too much too fast.” Don’t focus on having all the social media platforms, but rather, pick the best platform for your business and concentrate exclusively on that. For instance, if you’re an art gallery, Instagram is ideal because of its visual nature.

Set measurable, attainable and reachable goals.

• Kate Bowen, digital and social media analytics manager of PwC, said, “[the goal to] generate awareness is bullshit.” Creating brand awareness as a sole goal is too vague and broad. Instead, be as specific as possible. Set a goal to gain a certain amount of followers, reach out to specific influencers on social media, and achieve a particular amount of traffic.

“No one has it figured out,” explained Janis Fratamico, Marketing Vice President of SAP.

• Even after working years in marketing, it’s easy to compare your brand to your competitors. However, it’s important to keep in mind that digital marketing is fairly new and many of us (including the Fortune 500 companies) still have a long way to go in terms of understanding the field’s nature.

Know what you’re measuring first.

• Kathy Hickey, former marketing executive director of Comcast, stresses the importance of beginning with your brand’s customer relationship management and working backwards. Track every exchange and transaction, and later evaluate to determine which strategies are most effective.