What does your CEO think of your digital marketing performance?
We complete different digital marketing courses, learn tools, do certifications, learn from our own experiments, and utilize this knowledge to create a new strategy for the company. But often it is observed that most of the plans never work out the way we want simply because we fail to communicate them properly. Most of the time we fail to get approval for our task or marketing budget for our initiative. That’s why I would like to share 5 things I learned from my own experiences. It will help you to achieve your goal better and avoid communication friction between you and your management.
#1. Put yourself in your CEO’s Shoes:
Remember one thing, CEOs are busy people. They have established a brand and are looking for people who can contribute to their specific purpose in the long-term business objective. What matters to them is, what you can bring to the table.
When you propose your digital marketing strategy to your CEO, whether it is the content plan ( blog / social media ) or paid campaign(s), you actually mean the execution strategy. This means you already have a concept in mind about the ideal frequency of the content and the best platforms suitable for your industry. However, as a CEO, one would like to hear about the bigger picture like how to cut down the marketing cost by x% with the same results or What will be the ROI if ‘y’ amount of money is spent on your initiative. So when you are asked about your plan for next quarter, remember it is not just about the no of blogs to upload or paid campaign budget to spend but something more than that. In simple words, think from your CEO’s perspective and act accordingly.
#2. How to respond – How many leads you can generate?
When your CEO asks about no of leads you can generate, don’t panic. Every business has a sales funnel.
Ex. No of leads >> No of sales-ready leads >> Actual Sales in given time frame >> Revenue etc.
What your CEO actually means by that question is whether the budget allocated for a particular task is worth it or not. In some initiatives like google ads campaign, you have numbers to show whether the campaign was successful or not as it gives you the details like no of clicks, no of leads, etc. In other cases, you will have to find out the way to showcase your achievement in some tangible format.
#3. Discuss on Output not Tools:
Being a ‘Social Media Evangelist’ and ‘SEM expert’ you often suggest the different platforms for paid campaigns. Keep in mind, for a CEO, these platforms may be just the tool to buy advertising space. Your Facebook likes or clicks on Google Ads serve no purpose for him/her if it does not get the desired output. So it is always beneficial to have some clarity about the output expected from your initiative before you start.
#4. Define KPI’s:
Define the KPI’s in advance and communicate the same clearly with all the stakeholders involved. You know the capabilities of google analytics better. It is your responsibility to share the relevant reports in a timely manner.
Find out the relevant terms and identify KPI’s ideal for your business. Find out more about the KPI’s here.
#5. Involve all the Employees:
You must have heard about the term ‘Working in Silos’. It is a universal term and digital marketers are no exception. You may not be that knowledgeable in your company’s product/services but as a marketer, you constantly need to create the quality content around it. So you need the help of many people in your company especially if you are marketing a software product. Involve as many people from the company as you can simply by communicating what you are looking to achieve and check how they can contribute to your efforts.
From my own experience, I can surely tell you that the best piece of blog content, case studies, testimonials comes your way when you effectively communicate with your colleagues what you are trying to achieve with it.
I would like to know about your challenges and what you did to overcome them?