Lessons from Silicon Valley: What Executives Need to Understand About Digital Marketing & Branding
By: Shiela Manalo
Tags: Talent Community, Jc Events, Digital Revolution, Branding, Digital Marketing

In the era of the digital revolution, marketing and branding have moved from traditional media, e.g., TVCs, print ads, billboards, etc., to more accessible and readily available media through the Internet. Existing and potential customers from all over the world now have access to various digital media channels like web portals and social media platforms anytime, anywhere. Companies have mounted their respective digital marketing campaigns, capitalizing on the benefits these digital platforms offer. However, there’s more to digital marketing than just, let’s say, setting up a Facebook page and getting “likes”.

It’s not just about the “likes”; it’s about making sure you have the right “likes”. –Nancy Uy

From an insider perspective, Nancy Uy walked executives through the power of digital marketing at the recently concluded breakfast forum, “Lessons from Silicon Valley: What Executives Need to Understand About Digital Marketing & Branding”, hosted by John Clements Consultants last September 27, 2017. Nancy has 16 years of experience in leading digital marketing, strategy, and business development for tech companies in Silicon Valley. She is a thought leader in the marketing industry, who received her MBA from the University of Washington.

Among the key takeaways from Nancy’s insightful talk were three lessons:

1. Align Your Campaign KPIs with Your Business KPIs

“Who needs customers when you have friends, fans, and followers?” This thinking has become common due to the rise of social media, where posts easily become viral; however, not all your friends, fans, or followers are or will be your customers. You have to make sure that your organization’s campaigns are targeted towards the right people, in the most effective way possible.

For instance, how would you be able to translate thousands of Facebook “likes” into profit? It is important that you engage potential customers and re-engage existing ones. Think of them as your growth partners and find ways to thank them for being loyal to your business. Since consumers nowadays automatically tune out of product advertisements, try to talk more about them and less about yourself when trying to sell your product. It would also be a great move to look for influencers who can promote your brand.

Of course, digital marketing campaigns differ from one company to another; it is important for the executive leadership to be open to different ideas. It is the digital marketing team’s job to figure out what the business objectives of the company are, so when you’re working with them, share what’s going on and what you really want to achieve. As a result, you will surely have a powerful digital marketing campaign that’s contributing to your business.

2. Digital Marketing Needs to Be in the Know

One common problem with most organizations these days is the “silo mentality”, where several departments within an organization refuse to share information with individuals or other departments in the same organization. With this mentality, departments are at odds with each other instead of working together to achieve one goal. Imagine treating your marketing department as a separate organization — how will they be able to successfully come up with a powerful campaign when they don’t have the necessary information? This is a big contributor to why you’re not getting your ROI; people in your organization are not talking to each other.

This is especially crucial when you hire an agency to handle your company’s digital marketing. Yes, these agencies are good in what they do — getting impressions, views, clicks, and likes. The problem is they’re not the kind of people who understand your business side of things, that’s why it is important for the organization to communicate its business objectives to them. In selling a product, for instance, brief your digital marketing team about your target market and the benefits customers can get from purchasing your product; in other words, put an emphasis on value proposition.

For most companies, digital marketing is just an afterthought; they would just come in after everything had been planned and laid out, ready for release into the digital world. What most organizations don’t understand is that not all product marketing materials, like videos and white paper, are suited for digital marketing. In today’s fast-paced world, people’s attention span goes from 30 seconds to a minute — they wouldn’t even bother to watch your video if it’s either too long or boring. In this situation, you cannot just ask your digital marketing team to swoop in, wave its magic wand, and make things happen. In order for your campaign to be successful, streamline all your campaign materials and involve your digital marketing team earlier in the process. Again, they need to be in the know.

3. Getting Likes Is Not the Be All and End All

People have become obsessed with getting “likes”. Yes, “likes” are good, but you shouldn’t stop at just getting them. The question is — what are you doing with those “likes”? Instead of merely keeping your “likes” growing, you have to make sure that these are being converted into something else; use it as a steppingstone to achieve greater things.

With digital marketing, getting “likes” is just the first step and your end goal is to create a community of advocates — people who would be ready to speak for you when you get negative reviews on social media, people who would rave about your company and your product, people who are or would eventually become your customers.

The goal of investing in creating a community is the hope that, one day, you’ll gain something from it. Look for people whom you can nurture to become your raving fans, people who can be supporters of your brand. This is what you should be getting out of those “likes”.

Digital marketing works differently for every organization; there is no one clear-cut strategy for all to follow. Start with your business objectives and take it from there. Make a conscious effort to know the value proposition of your product by heart, identify your target market to create a community, and, through them, get your message across in the most effective way possible. Just like what Nancy said, “To reap the rewards of digital marketing, you have to work it.”