Posted on June 3, 2011 - by Justin Hartman
Digital strategy in SA simply doesn’t exist
If you know me at all then you’ll know how difficult it can be for me to make big decisions. It’s not because I’m indecisive but rather due to the fact that I often over analyze these decisions by looking at each possible scenario and then try to figure out what the possible outcomes could be in each case. Some would call it a pain, I like to think of it as rational decision making and the benefit of this is that once I have made my decision I act fast and without regret because I know it’s the right play.
That said, I’m an absolute sucker when it comes to motorcycles, case in point my recent acquisition of a super-sexy Ducati super bike. I saw it, I knew I wanted it, I bought it. No real further thought process went into the decision making process and today I suffer the consequences.
In the three weeks that I’ve had it I’ve spent at least one of those weeks repairing the thing. From batteries needing replacing, fuel jets needing cleaning and now a starter motor that is faulty. Crazy.
So what does all of this have to do with digital strategy in South Africa? Well, I like to think that companies thought processes around digital strategy is much like my impulsive need to own a gorgeous Italian motorcycle – foolish.
Who in their right mind invests a large sum of money into something that appears to be the thing you need when in actual fact it simply isn’t? Sure I love my bike and it gives me great joy when it actually works but let’s face it, a smarter approach to this purchase, along with a clearer understanding of my needs would have been wiser. Hindsight is a bugger.
Over the last six years I’ve been privileged to have witnessed digital strategies, or the lack thereof, being implemented without any real clear objectives in mind. Don’t for a second think that your company isn’t one of them. I’ve seen huge public listed companies make foolish decisions, traditional agencies attempting to provide digital strategy and I’ve seen small SME’s fail because no one really knows what they’re doing or what the ultimate end goal is.
The problem with South Africa is that we still follow a largely traditional mindset. Every year the marketing director sits with the agency or the strategists and they devise their marketing plan and budget for the next fiscal period. A road map is planned, objectives and targets are outlined and people go out and work from that blue print. This is a fantastic model and not one I’m trying to change but the issue comes in when digital is simply a line item along with street pole ads and billboards in said marketing plan.
My argument, if you will, is that just like a twelve month marketing plan you need the same plan for digital. You need to identify objectives, goals, targets, campaigns, how you’re going to get there, what you need to make it happen, who you need to hire and most importantly how to measure the effectiveness of the plan. Let’s face it, this is the beauty of digital versus traditional mediums, we can measure it all the way and make changes at will.
Most people think that coming up with a digital campaign is a digital strategy – well, it’s not. Digital campaigns are the line item that make up the digital strategy and should form part of the objectives which ultimately assist you in achieving a ROI. So much money has been squandered on failed campaigns and ultimately digital gets the blame and the end result is budgets get cut next time round because it simply didn’t work. Well yes, it didn’t work because you had no clear idea as to why you were doing it in the first place. Getting a million fans on Facebook or getting 100,000 visitors to your website are not clear objectives at all.
I can’t tell you how many people have spoken to us about campaigns they want to run, websites they want to build, iPad apps they want to develop only to realize after we’ve spoken to them that they really need to rethink why they’re doing this in the first place. It’s bad for business let me tell you but it’s good for the industry.
Digital has become a vital weapon in the traditional marketer’s arsenal yet too many are simply missing the point to truly realise its true potential to annihilate the competition.
8 Comments
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June 3, 2011
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Well said. too many agencies are going out there providing less than standard digital strategies. The problem with this is that the industry as a whole suffers because of these lazy, i-dont-give-a-hoot agencies which in turn makes it harder for the guys that can actually pull it off.
Like you said, at the end of the day it’s all about ROI and any marketing person would know this. if the campaign is not generating a positive ROI by the second/third month, its not worth carrying on.
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June 3, 2011
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it’s midnight in San Francisco, so i’m too tired to think about giving you a deep insightful comment on your posting. But I can tell you that it’s good to see you blogging again. When I saw your posting on linkedin about being your first posting this year, I clicked the link. And social media got you another visitor, and another reader!
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June 3, 2011
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We (South Africa) have always been a little bit ‘behind’ and stubborn when it comes to the defence and implementation of the New. I’m sure you’ve heard the phrase “South Africa is at LEAST 2 years behind everyone.” Many Marketing Directors are so keen to stick to their guns with traditional media because they know it works. We live in a digital age, ladies and gents, we’re being bombarded with information from so many angles at break-neck speeds and you have to ask yourself what you can do with it. The tools and resources are all there, it’s the matter of using them correctly and learning from the results.
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June 3, 2011
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Well said guys and couldn’t agree more with you!
Eric, thanks for your comment man! Good to be back
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June 4, 2011
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Great post J and certainly one to get some debate going
Too often I hear Digital peeps shooting down traditional channels in favour of Digital implementation. However, I have seen (and am trying to change) a mindset where Digital agencies, when given a clean slate to work from, come up with the same basic objectives and metrics to measure ROI. There is no link between business objectives and digital objectives so the metrics are meaningless.
As such, there is no tangible proof that Digital channels work or have any positive impact to a business. Traditional has proven itself and Digital needs to do so.
In order to be an effective player in the merketing mix and not just a line item on a budget, the strategists need to understand the brand and link digital objectives CLEARLY to business objectives. Only then will effective metrics be able to be determined and ROI measured.
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June 6, 2011
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@Sean Although I agree with you with what you said on objectives needing to be clearly defined, I disagree with you with regards to your comment on the fact that there is no tangible proof that digital channels work or have any positive impact on a business. I run a multitude of high profile advertising campaigns and my customers can identify the positive ROI from these campaigns.
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June 7, 2011
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Funny, I had a rant to a friend about this very thing this morning. And my main concern, which you touch on above, is that the “fools-rush-in strategy” is damaging to the industry as a whole. Companies who could leverage digital to their benefit are left with negative impressions about the effectiveness of digital in general as a result of kak work.
I think the problem is caused on two ends:
1. The man who controls the budget at said company is not making a point of gaining knowledge about digital. He’s throwing money at the “gurus” on a whim just to please the guy upstairs who’s given the mandate to “do that facebook and twitter thing”. Few goals are set and the ones that are measured are meaningless (like facebook likes). Businesses need to do more research into what they are buying and who they are buying from. Less rush in the decision like you point out above.
2. The “Gurus” are out there selling these meaningless metrics and bombarding the man with catch-phrases and client lists and then delivering very little and even less value at a premium cost.
I think there’s bound to be a tipping point when these large and medium companies realise they are being charged for the simple stuff they could do themselves more effectively. And that the perceived value and effectiveness they are receiving is merely smoke and mirrors in many cases.
I can’t wait for businesses to begin weeding out the garbage and making it known to others.
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July 12, 2011
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@Sean: I work for a digital agency and we clearly line our digital objectives with business objectives. I am specifically involved in media strategy and a client will outline their business objectives as being either: to generate mass exposure, to generate leads, to drive traffic, to create hype around a specific offering, or all of the above. We will then choose our media strategy depending on these objectives and we can choose to advertise within different digital channels to increase volumes within others. The great thing is that we can actually measure the success of our campaigns and the client can directly link online sales to either our advertising placements or our SEM and therefore measure ROI.
I can see how digital strategy can be faulted if it is the traditional agency who is creating the strategy when they do not understand the objectives or how to differentiate between the digital properties and their purpose, but if a digital strategy is done correctly, with all elements and objectives considered, the outcome far outweighs that of traditional media.