By Tania Garcia
In the ever-changing, oft-debated role, scope, and influence of Marketing on a business’s bottom line, there are a handful of immutable truths – at least for those of us who live within the discipline.
- One is that “Marketing” generally looks different from one organization to the next. For some, it plays a leading role in charting corporate strategy, while others still view it as a sales support function (yes, sigh, still).
- Another is the importance of making an emotional connection with any and every potential “buyer.” That’s a tall order, given the near-constant barrage of messages everyone is inundated with at any given time.
- A third is that Marketing, when done effectively, drives the kind of engagement that boosts revenue, supports a winning customer experience, and provides deep insight into how an enterprise is faring among key stakeholder groups.
Yes, there are more – many more; but for the sake of limited space for the musings of a lifelong Marketing generalist, I’ll stop there.
So, what’s the so what?
There is a single enabler to all of the above, and on the off chance that the title of this article doesn’t give it away, I’ll say now that that enabler is Digital Marketing. This is likely not a revelation to anyone reading this article. Assuming most of you are connected to Marketing in some way, it’s probably safe to say that “Digital Marketing” is redundant – there is no Marketing strategy or plan that doesn’t seek to leverage the hell out of “digital” tools, platforms and tactics. How do you run an effective campaign without ratcheting up web search capabilities?
Today, building an experiential website, leveraging social media (strategically), and always-on SEO are table stakes. But the magic of Digital Marketing isn’t in the quick-to-launch efficiency it affords or its ability to serve up unique, sexy graphics and trendy, relatable content. It’s in the fact that it provides near real-time insight into what works and, more importantly, what doesn’t.
Recently, while I was coaching a team member to be as transparent as possible about marketing’s failures as he is about our successes, I found myself looking into the face of someone who thought I had clearly lost my grasp on reality.
Why, for the love of all things, would I advocate for failure? Especially in a field whose purpose is still so widely debated and whose ROI the discussion of nearly every executive review is so highly scrutinized and challenged? The answer is simple: for the same reason, we remember the toughest teacher, the most brutally honest friend, or anyone else who plays such a big role in shaping us. It’s because sometimes the most valuable lesson is what not to do, and nothing in the world of Marketing has given us as clear a picture of what doesn’t work as Digital Marketing.
So, how do we turn that into practice? One of the most compelling advantages of digital marketing is its inherent ability to facilitate testing. Unlike traditional marketing methods, which often require substantial investments before any measurable results can be seen, digital marketing allows for experimentation with minimal risk. Even simple A/B testing, for example, empowers marketers to compare different versions of an email campaign and ultimately determine what resonates most effectively with audiences. Powerful, but just the tip of the proverbial iceberg. Start testing graphics vs. video on a landing page or social media posts and multivariate testing that considers how visuals, content, headlines, CTAs, and other elements work together, and we can get closer to hitting our audience’s bullseye than ever before.
When marketers have the confidence to experiment, they create an environment where creativity flourishes. And being transparent about what works and what doesn’t is corporate gold. After all, pretty much everyone has an opinion on what will absolutely sway an audience, right? What better way to win over a skeptic and skyrocket your or your department’s credibility than with results?
So, go digital. Test away – flex your creative muscle; test messaging, design, timing, platforms, etc. Leverage the world of Digital Marketing to get out there quickly (without sacrificing quality) and creatively, and then share results. You may need to connect the dots for some folks, as does every corporate function from time to time, but nothing screams confidence and know-how than someone willing to present the bad with the good.
Tania Garcia is a seasoned marketing executive with over 20 years of experience leading high-impact initiatives across global organizations. She has served as Chief Marketing Officer at Omni Logistics, TE Connectivity, and American Global Logistics and held senior Marketing positions at UPS Supply Chain Solutions, First Data/Fiserv, Change Healthcare, Recall/Iron Mountain, and Equifax. Tania is passionate about building Marketing organizations, teams, and processes that drive engagement at all stages of stakeholder engagement worldwide and has spent the majority of her career doing so across Europe, Asia and South America. She is an active member of the Board of Directors of 21st Century Leaders, an organization committed to providing Georgia high school students with the training and development they need to take on leadership positions.