Remember back in those halcyon days of, say, the mid-00s and earlier, when starting your online program was as simple as…
- build (or update) and optimize your website
- get an opt-in customer/prospect list together for nurturing emails
- cross-market your URL on traditional print, packaging, and other offline vehicles
…plus some more or less optional tasks, like:
- develop a real content strategy
- enable website analytics and set some benchmarks
- assign responsibility for Web-related activities to relevant internal stakeholders
- monitor competitive activity, including website changes and online marketing spend
Ah yes, things were so simple then (and we won’t dwell on those B2Bs who still haven’t worked very far down their “optional” list… you know who you are)!
But things have changed markedly in just the last couple years. Posting on ClickZ, Robin Neifield points out that a company embarking on a digital presence today needs to deal with all of the above, plus:
- Proactive link building
- Social media monitoring: a regular review of what others are saying about you, with what credibility and influence
- Building a social media platform so you can engage and respond to the marketplace; training personnel to do this; advising all personnel on their corporate responsibility in their personal but public personas
- Customer Service training for multiple channels
- Broader competitive reviews, to include social media, e-mail, mobile, video and other vehicles
- Complete review of all company practices in the expectation that they’ll come to light in this age of transparency
…and more. Why has this happened? As Robin says, “More online activity around your brand is happening independent of corporate efforts. They started without you. Participating in business online today demands attention to channels you control and build, but even more so to those areas you have no control over.”
Clearly, most young companies are just not resourced to deal with all of this, all at once; some prioritization will be required, and outsourcing some of the tasks may be helpful. Your Web marketing consultants can probably be of use on both counts.
