I recently spoke with a CEO regarding their frustration with their digital marketing. Despite the time, money and effort her company had spent, no one could really identify any meaningful outcomes.
I couldn’t think of a nice way to say “you’re doing it wrong”, so instead we drew on football as an analogy to digital marketing. After exploring competencies, coordination and competition, this prospective client was able to better understand why activity wasn’t producing success. The takeaway message she found most meaningful was “just because you’re running the field, doesn’t mean you’re winning the game“.
On the surface, football seems like a simple game. One ball, two teams, everyone battling for position. In reality the game is quite nuanced, with each team trying to outsmart, outmaneuver and outplay the other. Success, in football, comes from the coordination of talent, strategy and opportunity.
Digital marketing is no different.
In many ways digital marketing is even more complex. In football, you know the positions, you know the players, and the rules are clearly defined. With digital marketing, it’s a little fuzzy. You have your head coach (CEO), and your offensive coordinator (Marketing Director). Maybe you have talent willing to put it all out on the field (your web designers, your copywriters, your social butterflies). At this point most companies will put everyone in play and tell them all to run down field as hard as they can.
And to most executives this makes sense. You know you need SEO, Social Media, Content Marketing, Digital PR, Conversion Optimization etc., but the specifics are where you make or break your online marketing. Yes you’d like to show up for often sought key words and phrases, but which ones actually matter? Yes you should be social online, but which properties actually allow you to reach people in a meaningful way? Yes you should continuously generate content, but what, how and for whom?
“Everybody run like hell” doesn’t succeed in football, and it won’t succeed in digital marketing either. You need someone on the field, reading the defense, calling audibles, seizing opportunities and putting points on the board.
You need a Digital Marketing Quarterback.
A digital marketing quarterback is an expert in the constantly evolving playing field, and is able to leverage your assets, talents and strategies into a position to succeed, allowing you to achieve objectives even when plans fall apart.
This game moves quickly. There are no halftimes, no off-season, and you have competitors you’ve never heard of encroaching on your territory even as you read this.
Who’s manning your digital marketing efforts? Or, are you just leaving it up to luck?
