Digital knowledge is all about playing to your strengths
Tim Hipperson, CEO, RMG Connect, examines digital training and the client/agency relationship…
As the capability and reach of digital marketing continues to both grow and attract attention at a rate of knots, there has been increasing debate about training. Talk across the industry revolves around the ‘skills gap’, and how so many marketers are utilising digital techniques and spearheading online campaigns without the proper training or knowledge to support them. The Digital Britain report, issued this month, has entire chapters dedicated to increasing digital training and development across all industries, with the creative sector given special attention. The report made it clear that it’s hugely important that everybody, from schoolchildren to CEOs, plays their part in and has access to the vastly growing business of digital communications in the UK.
However, although this kind of debate is encouraging, we need to be careful not to miss the point. The issue here is not who needs to know about digital marketing, but who needs to know what about digital marketing. In terms of the client/agency relationship, it’s especially important that we get the balance right in order to avoid crossover and confusion. Of course it’s important that all parties are working to the same rules and the same goal, but if they are both pursuing the same actions, it’s a waste of time, money and resources.
Marketing directors should think about digital campaigns from a practical and executional point of view. Their concern is how effective the digital activity will be in terms of revenue, ROI, and how to spend budget wisely in the digital space. After all, if budgets go over or targets are not met, the responsibility lies at their feet, so it’s vital for them that these concerns are tackled and overcome.
On the other side of the spectrum, an agency’s job is to understand the strategic approach to delivering digital campaigns. Their role is to make sure that digital techniques fit in logically and effectively within a wider marketing strategy. It’s not enough to take ATL creative and ‘adapt’ it to a digital platform – there is no point in using digital in a campaign unless it has a particular role and provides the customer with a connected, relevant experience.
The agency needs to maintain the fine balance between devising the creative, making it relevant and effective across every channel, and ensuring that the consumer’s experience at every touchpoint is enjoyable and as interactive as possible. The best outcome for any campaign is one where a value exchange has been achieved, meaning the brand is informing and engaging with its consumers, and consumers are contributing to and commenting on their relationship with that brand.
The key to digital marketing is not who knows what, but who does what in terms of making sure that digital is used effectively and wisely within a marketing strategy. Every party will have a skill or role to play that will add value, and if everybody sticks to these roles and fulfils them to the best of their ability, then the chances of a campaign, and indeed a brand, succeeding are greatly increased.