But what exactly is digital media strategy?
In advertising, a good account strategist asks questions. The right
questions. They question the creative team and they question the target market.
Once they have all the insight required, a good strategist can pull all the
strands together and identify exactly which audiences and which platforms are
the right fit for the message.
All too often, brands make an approach with requests to “do SEM” because
people like to search, or “let’s do Facebook” because the brand wants to
connect to their customer in a virtual world, or “let’s do display ads” because
they saw an ad on a news site and it seemed like a good idea. The best one is
“let’s do mobile”. I don’t even know what that means.
These are all potential communications channels and platforms to get the
attention of your desired audience. These platforms sell space for your brand
logo and a few lines with an image. And there are hordes of competitors out
there fighting for the same space and trying to reach out to the same people.
What does a great strategy look like?
In simple terms, a strategy should:
- Identify the opportunities &
challenges
- Understand the goals and have a vision
for the outcome
- Find the tools for the job
(Display/Social etc.)
- Improvise as you optimize
The most important thing in Digital is measure-ability, that's where it
thrives and differentiates itself from other media platforms. It’s tough to
measure the effectiveness of a billboard accurately. Linking billboard ad-spend
to product sale is an art form. Digital combined with data analysis reveals the
link between ad spend and product sale as clear as day.
Always plan, from the very beginning, what is it that you want to
measure, how quickly you want it and how can you get it from the best available
resources you have at your disposal.
