What Comes First in Digital Marketing: The People or The Plan?

Happy Hump Day Readers,

A belated newsletter this week, as I am fortunate to have just returned from a short trip and now have a burning desire to buy a red Vespa! ??

Today I want to debunk some very common digital marketing misconceptions that I hear every week.

Misconception #1:

Some business leaders believe they simply need a marketing unicorn or a junior team that can “do it all”.

This was certainly much more feasible 13 years ago when I was hired as the Marketing Assistant for BrightPoint (acquired by Ingram Micro). Fast forward to 2022, and with over 42 different facets of marketing, being a marketing unicorn is simply not possible.?

Misconception #2:

Other business leaders assume that their marketing department can simply follow their lead, despite having no in-depth knowledge of marketing themselves.

What happens is….

Because of these 2 things, many businesses hire their people first and then develop their strategy around them. The problem is, without a tailored blueprint, these businesses typically end up with a redundant, ill-equipped, confused or inefficient marketing team.

So let’s answer the burning question which I get asked every, single, week.?

"Do I build my marketing team first? Or my digital marketing strategy first?"

Well, unlike the chicken and egg debate, I have the answer for this marketing conundrum!?

The plan should always come first.

Here are 3 vital steps you can take.

Step 1: Determine whether your business is ready to invest in digital marketing.

Before you rush in, it’s a smart idea to take a step back and determine whether your business needs a digital marketing strategy in the first place. Some key indicators include:

• A growing sales team with ineffective processes and dwindling conversion rates
• A sales team that needs a better marketing presence to compete against larger, more established companies
• A sales team looking for new ways to improve conversion rates

Step 2: Once you’re ready, you need to develop a strategy.

Despite popular opinion, you cannot hire the right people without first developing an effective digital marketing strategy.

With the right digital marketing strategy, you’ll get:

• A marketing roadmap with clear deliverables
• Clear qualitative and quantitative goals to keep you on track
• Exact pieces of content to develop in priority order
• An effective resourcing plan

This allows you to effectively cover all your resourcing, content, and technology needs.

For more information, check out our?9-Step Digital Marketing Strategy Guide.

Step 3: Find the right people to execute your plan

We can help with this bit. Once you’ve got your digital marketing strategy, the person who delivered it should ultimately be the one responsible for determining whom you need to execute it.

Feel free to DM and ask me about our brand new service offering where Ask Marketing can step in as your outsourced marketing team.

If you want to continue reading more about this topic, click the link below.

Have an amazing week.

Ali