By Saher Ghattas
Source: Forbes
History has a tendency to repeat itself, and with digital marketing in particular, there is a pattern of disruption.
After finding that B2B organizations are not getting the most value out of the old digital marketing playbooks, our company decided to create digital marketing frameworks. These frameworks, which should be visited at least once every 12-24 months to ensure relevancy, are a guide to help prepare for periods of disruption.
We’re entering into the fourth digital marketing framework — the first was in 2000 — and there are things your business can do to prepare for the next disruption.
What Is Digital Marketing 4.0?
The prior framework includes websites, email campaigns, digital advertisements, basic social media management and basic blog publishing. It only focuses on increasing visits to websites but has no focus on lead conversion and proper online lead qualification. This most recent iteration, though, includes:
More Integrated Global Marketing: Inbound and outbound marketing should now be combined. In comparison to cold-calling, consider this “warm-calling.” For example, after someone reads a blog article on your site, follow it up with an email sharing more meaningful content.
A Cohesive Marketing Technology Stack: No one software tool can save the day. Marketing is not about the creative aspect alone anymore. Marketing technology infrastructure needs to be designed and integrated correctly. One social media tool alone will not save the day, nor will one CRM tool be the solution to a challenge anymore. Consider your full stack and how it can work together.
Evolving Marketing Roles: Digital transformation is no longer limited to the CIO. Your CMO now needs it more than ever. The CMO needs to know more about the possibilities of implementing marketing automation to not only help execute on the marketing playbooks but also to help CIOs measure a full, end-to-end ROI.