Obviously, as a marketer you know that digital marketing can help your company, but it’s not always easy to convince everyone of that fact. If you’re pitching an online marketing strategy to your boss, you need to know how to sell it to gain buy-in. But how can you convince someone to get on board with your online strategy when they may not even fully understand it? These four steps will help you discover the right approach!
1. Explain, Explain and Explain Again
Explaining what digital marketing is in the first place is the most important step to gaining buy-in from your superiors. People are far more likely to give their approval of something if they know what they are getting themselves into. Take the time to explain what exactly goes into digital marketing, who will do the work, how much time it will take, what the timeframe looks like for each activity, which benchmarks and KPIs will be used and what kinds of results companies with a digital strategy often see. Make sure to allow time for questions and answer any that arise. Don’t be afraid to explain the principles of digital marketing again, as there’s often a steep learning curve when someone is first starting out.
2. Discuss the Benefits
Digital marketing can be quite lucrative from a customer acquisition and retention perspective, but the benefits of digital marketing are not simply financial. Make sure to discuss the softer benefits of customer experience, brand recognition, employee satisfaction and whatever else applies to your company when touting the benefits of digital marketing.
3. Make a Logical Comparison
While your boss may not be familiar with digital marketing, he/she isn’t blind to the concept of marketing. Tie digital marketing to whatever they may be familiar with (traditional media like TV and print, word of mouth marketing, etc.) and discuss the similarities and the differences to ground your discussion. This will have the added benefit of letting your boss feel like he/she knows something, as opposed to being completely overwhelmed by a presentation on a form of marketing that they know nothing about.
4. Emphasize ROI Tracking
The single biggest question you’ll get when talking about digital marketing is almost always “Is it going to work?” followed closely by “Well, how will we know it’s working?” Emphasizing the ability to track your ROI on things like PPC, social media and SEO will likely ease your boss’ anxiety over the matter. Focusing on the ability to have hard numbers can open the door for you to pursue a digital marketing strategy. What you do at that point, is up to you!
If you need help with your digital marketing efforts, contact us to learn more about what we can do to help you succeed online!
By Kate Pierce. Kate Pierce is the owner of LionShark Digital Marketing LLC, a West Michigan internet marketing company. Her areas of expertise include Paid Search, Search Engine Optimization, Social Media, Web Consulting for small businesses, Copywriting and Local Online Marketing. She lives in the Grand Rapids area with her husband and enjoys cooking, watching sports and spending time outdoors. Like a true digital marketing expert (i.e. geek), she loves talking about marketing theory and SEM trends… so don’t say you weren’t warned!
Explaining what digital marketing is in the first place is the most important step to gaining buy-in from your superiors. People are far more likely to give their approval of something if they know what they are getting themselves into. Take the time to explain what exactly goes into digital marketing, who will do the work, how much time it will take, what the timeframe looks like for each activity, which benchmarks and KPIs will be used and what kinds of results companies with a digital strategy often see. Make sure to allow time for questions and answer any that arise. Don’t be afraid to explain the principles of digital marketing again, as there’s often a steep learning curve when someone is first starting out.
2. Discuss the Benefits
Digital marketing can be quite lucrative from a customer acquisition and retention perspective, but the benefits of digital marketing are not simply financial. Make sure to discuss the softer benefits of customer experience, brand recognition, employee satisfaction and whatever else applies to your company when touting the benefits of digital marketing.
3. Make a Logical Comparison
While your boss may not be familiar with digital marketing, he/she isn’t blind to the concept of marketing. Tie digital marketing to whatever they may be familiar with (traditional media like TV and print, word of mouth marketing, etc.) and discuss the similarities and the differences to ground your discussion. This will have the added benefit of letting your boss feel like he/she knows something, as opposed to being completely overwhelmed by a presentation on a form of marketing that they know nothing about.
4. Emphasize ROI Tracking
The single biggest question you’ll get when talking about digital marketing is almost always “Is it going to work?” followed closely by “Well, how will we know it’s working?” Emphasizing the ability to track your ROI on things like PPC, social media and SEO will likely ease your boss’ anxiety over the matter. Focusing on the ability to have hard numbers can open the door for you to pursue a digital marketing strategy. What you do at that point, is up to you!
If you need help with your digital marketing efforts, contact us to learn more about what we can do to help you succeed online!
By Kate Pierce. Kate Pierce is the owner of LionShark Digital Marketing LLC, a West Michigan internet marketing company. Her areas of expertise include Paid Search, Search Engine Optimization, Social Media, Web Consulting for small businesses, Copywriting and Local Online Marketing. She lives in the Grand Rapids area with her husband and enjoys cooking, watching sports and spending time outdoors. Like a true digital marketing expert (i.e. geek), she loves talking about marketing theory and SEM trends… so don’t say you weren’t warned!
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