Frequently Asked Questions
First, you should know there is insufficient digital marketing talent to be hired. That’s because institutions have yet to train a sufficient talent pool from which organizations can easily hire at a fair price. Even now, highly relevant digital and social media marketing subjects form only a small fraction of the entire communications syllabus. This is why most fresh graduates, hired for digital marketing positions, require re-training for valuable industry skills (often at the company’s expense). Current demand for experienced digital marketing talent far outstrips available supply. Companies often get into bidding wars to “win experienced talent” from a very limited pool for a business competitive edge.
If you’re lucky enough to retain this talent at a competitive market rate, keeping this talent is a greater challenge. The average life-in-company for millennials is about 2.5 years, according to some reports. Realistically, it makes little sense to keep worrying about losing your digital marketing talent. There will come a time when they will be offered something that cannot be refused. The effort in replacement can be a constant struggle if the accumulated professional knowledge is not sustained in-house.
At first glance, digital marketing might not seem too complicated or intricate. However, this notion is completely misguided. In order for digital marketing to succeed, an individual needs to be knowledgeable about everything related to graphic design, copywriting, content marketing, technical aspects, website development, conversion optimization, and social media. Not to mention how fast things change. You may be lucky and find someone who has a bit of previous experience, but for current awareness and cross-fertilization, hiring inside isn’t a good idea.
Here’s the final kicker. You may have, against the odds, found a multi-talented superman or superwoman—but to do their job to the full they need to subscribe to a bevy of expensive software tools. You can end up spending a fortune on apps in addition to salary.
As the world of marketing grows more digitized, the influx of digital marketing agencies continue to grow as well. In this digital climate, hiring a digital marketing agency may seem like a knee-jerk reaction for your business. In short, a digital marketing agency is not a quick fix and will not grow your business for you. So having a budget to hire an agency doesn’t mean you should.
There are over 13,000 digital agencies in the United States. If you hire one, expect to be a spectator on the sidelines. After months of bleeding money, research, pitch meetings, and vetting questions, it’s likely you still will not have reached out to one prospect.
Most agencies like to sell what’s called Search Engine Optimization (SEO). But the facts show that SEO doesn’t work. That’s a pretty bold statement. But unfortunately, the vast majority of what is passed off as SEO is actually Old School SEO—things that worked five or ten years ago, but are now completely out-of-date. Old School SEO not only doesn’t work, it is often counter-productive.
Back when Larry Page invented the idea of weighted rankings for all these newfangled things called “websites” and Sergey Brin was figuring out the math behind it, it was possible for a smart kid drinking too much caffeine to figure out how to fool PageRank—the primary driver of Google’s search algorithm for years. Today, it’s a different story. It’s no longer just two really smart Stanford grads, but 25,000 engineers working on the world’s largest code base of 2 billion lines of code. The goal of a huge chunk of that code? Give people the best search results possible. That means that agencies and SEO companies are now trying to outsmart 25,000 Google engineers.
Maybe it’s easier and you don’t want to create content, so you hire an agency. Content has become a weird, watered-down word, but it remains the core of successful digital marketing. People like to find cool, helpful stuff online. If you create cool, helpful stuff, they’ll come to you. Pretty simple in theory, but more difficult in execution. The very best digital marketing agency in the world can’t create branded content for you without hours, sometimes months and years of collaboration. Even so, with the explosion in growth of digital marketing agencies, nearly 83 percent of consumers reported that they have had a “bad experience with social media marketing.”
Inbound marketing agencies are among the fastest-growing. However, this approach requires a genuine investment of time and energy. A digital marketing agency taking an inbound approach will require your time and expertise, especially at the beginning of the project. You have to be ready to dig into deep conversations, research, and explore insights into your customers and their needs. If you want to hire someone and never talk to them again until the results are in, a digital agency probably isn’t the right fit.
Please don’t hire a digital marketing agency if you need more business immediately. There are other things that you need to focus on and there are other activities that need your money long before a digital agency does. If any agency convinces your otherwise, then that is your first red flag.
The graphic below shows the thousands of software options available for marketing and sales. It looks like a peacock hit a windshield. That’s because it’s a very complicated and confusing space. However, the most critical piece of your technology ecosystem is the following: Does it help you drive growth? How fast and at what cost?
Let’s start with true cost, which isn’t easy to find or calculate. There is the initial “price tag” to consider, of course, but the true “cost” of marketing software is not just the fee for the platform itself. We reference a recent study published by the Integrated Marketing Association that polled startups, small, midsize, and enterprise businesses to help determine the total cost of purchasing, implementing, and managing marketing automation platforms. Marketing automation platforms (MAPs) provide businesses with a multitude of benefits. However, many companies purchase marketing automation platforms without researching the total cost to adopt such a platform and how the platform will impact other business functions or technologies.
The data shows companies spent an average of $45,193 per year for marketing software. Larger companies average spend of about $155,000 per year, with enterprise companies spending $1.5 million on average.
The research also reports third-party vendor costs accumulated to help implement the software. The data indicates 54 percent of companies report spending $1,000 to $5,000 per month in third-party vendor fees, while 11 percent spent $5,000 to $10,000 per month, 22 percent spent between $10,000 and $25,000 per month, and 12 percent spent over $25,000 per month.
This study proves that, in order to calculate the true cost of adopting marketing software, you have to first consider the impact on staffing requirements. Looking at the average staffing requirements below and salaries associated with that staff, you can see the technology costs are minimal in comparison. Based on the data, the cost of the software is about 35 percent of the cost to manage.
The average total staff hours needed to run a marketing software program is $129,633 a year, per location or instance. The breakdown is as follows:
$22,525 a year in strategic hours (325 hours)
$17,370 a year in director or administration hours (425 hours)
$68,648 a year in end user or manager hours (15,875 hours)
$10,560 a year in graphic design hours (550 hours)
$10,530 a year in programming or IT hours (375 hours)
So with all this cost, surely the results come quickly? Here’s the timeline we share with clients on almost any scale:
6-8 months: You should see positive movement compounding each month
12-24 months: You should see substantial growth of traffic, as well as MQL-SQL-Customer acquisition
What about the Return On Investment (ROI)? According to the study, the bottom line is that there isn’t one. Here are a few quotes from high-level marketing and sales professionals who took part in the survey…
“I wish there was a single clearinghouse tool that would allow our team to modify run-driven triggers across all of our solutions instead of having to do it manually.”
“There are no cost savings in adopting marketing software, but there is an ROI that comes from automation.”
“It takes a lot of research and time to determine the right fit organizationally for adopting marketing automation.”
“The learning curve for adopting automation was much more significant than expected.”
“Adopting marketing automation without processes in place is a waste of time and money.”
Still not convinced? Here’s the actual study:
https://salesleadautomation.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/IMA_Research_Brochure-Final.pdf
At ProfitHack, we create unbranded content that advocates your service or product.
Over the past few years, marketers have been focused on “collecting” instead of “connecting.” In other words, brands are more caught up in collecting social media fans instead of actually connecting with them. But when it comes down to it, having 100 passionate fans who love your brand or product is exponentially more effective than having 10,000 “fans” who signed up just to win a free iPad.
You must remember this: advertising guru David Trott claimed that only four percent of adverts are positively remembered, while seven percent are negatively remembered, and a staggering 89 percent are entirely forgotten. He argues that it is more important to be part of the 11 percent, whether positive or negative, than to fall into the vast abyss of forgotten ads. He, like many of the more ‘seasoned’ creative types, believes it is better to be daring and bold than to play it safe and sink into obscurity.
Enter word-of-mouth (WOM) marketing—one of the oldest and, still, most effective forms of marketing. Let’s look at the facts. According to Nielsen, 92 percent of consumers believe recommendations from friends and family over all forms of advertising coming directly from brands. That’s why 64 percent of marketing executives indicated that they believe word-of-mouth is the most effective form of marketing—yet only six percent say they have mastered it.
The reality? 75 percent of people don’t believe advertisements, but 92 percent believe brand recommendations from third parties. People are four times more likely to buy when referred by a third party or friend.
The overriding sentiment behind the latest growth trend in content marketing is the unassuming, unbranded ad. Long gone are the days when brands unabashedly touted their names. They’ve been relegated to the bottom of the commercial chain—the very last rung of the self-promotional ladder.
Some standout examples of unbranded content are L’Oréal’s content beauty hub Fab-Beauty.com (aimed at ardent beauty enthusiasts), Eurostar’s Somers Town film (which finely splices art with the travel bug), and Johnson & Johnson’s BabyCenter.com (providing information and resources for parents). They all have one thing in common—they sell more product and services than branded content. All successful unbranded content is centered around an idea, rather than a product, and all strive to add value to the consumer. They aim to build engagement, gain traction, and—in the long-run—promote brand recognition and/or reinforce brand loyalty.
One way to utilize the power of authentic, engaging content is to simply keep the branding to a minimum, as deftly demonstrated by Australia’s audacious Metro ad. Here, the content performs first before the brand steps up to take a bow. Another example of the light branding technique hails from boutique clothing store Wren, whose First Kiss video incited mass curiosity that resulted in both traffic and sales increases. Both examples effectively create intrigue and tap into the zeitgeist, while preserving brand integrity.
The purpose of unbranded advertising appears to be less about reaching customers and more about understanding them. L’Oréal’s Fab-Beauty has identified valuable insights through analyzing the behavior of its website visitors, including how they self-describe and what content they care about. This is where the potential of unbranded content really shines. It provides prime fodder for long-term brand strategy and, if leveraged correctly, can help marketers really hit their mark.
The raw appeal of the unbranded campaign is undeniable—it relies on quality, not quantity or reputation. Crucially, it builds trust—the holy grail of brand loyalty. Possibly best of all, the brand needn’t suffer the fallout of a conventional campaign that fails to deliver, as the unbranded ad comes with little risk.
Of course, unbranded and branded content needn’t be mutually exclusive. Ultimately, there is a lot to be said for the benefits of tapping into the unbranded medium of influence, and with a well-executed strategy and some long-sighted vision, it can definitely pay off.
Technology has made it easier for marketers to learn the behavior of their customers. Making the most of micro-moments and smart technology will place you well ahead of the marketing pack.
Apps can tell us the geographical location of potential customers, the types of products they usually buy and the times of day that they tend to be on the Internet. This is exactly the type of information that marketers need to pay attention to in the coming years.
One of the challenges is how marketers can tap into this information to get their messaging in front of clients exactly when and where they need it. Why would someone shop around with competitors when the perfect product or service popped up on their cell phone just as they were about to search for it? These are called micro-moments. Micro-moments attract shoppers who are ready to buy on impulse.
Here are a few tips for designing micro-moment ads:
• Give the shopper the main idea at a glance
• Add a clear call-to-action
• Make the call-to-action accessible in one touch
• Optimize content for mobile apps
Source: https://www.ventureharbour.com/marketing-ai-machine-learning-statistics/
In 2018, the average firm was expected to allocate 42 percent of their marketing budget to online, and this rate is expected to grow to 45 percent by 2020. Companies are shifting more and more money to digital because of its perceived ROI and the ability to spend less for more return. Facebook is expected to remain king, with 90 percent of social media users utilizing the platform. Instagram is expected to grow from 32 percent penetration to 47 percent by 2020.
Total marketing budgets are between 7 and 12 percent of total revenue. Digital spend is only a portion of total marketing spend for most businesses. Businesses that rely more heavily on the Internet to generate sales (e.g. an e-commerce business), invest a greater percentage of their marketing budget toward digital. While the latest Forrester Research report projects that digital marketing spending will make up 42 percent of all ad spend, this number can vary depending on a variety of factors including industry, growth plans, and local market. For more traditional businesses that rely on offline AND online activity to fill the sales funnel, a healthy mix of marketing investment is to be expected.
Most importantly, by 2020, 85 percent of customer interactions will be handled without a human. Leading marketers say artificial intelligence and automation are the most important aspect of their strategy. This is because humans are very expensive and research says they waste five hours every week trying to improve their data processes (and fail). That’s why these executives are turning to automation to cut out repetitive tasks such as paperwork, scheduling, timesheets, and now marketing (i.e., ProfitHack).
It’s not just executives, but consumers that are looking to fully automate their marketing. By 2020, 57 percent of buyers will depend on companies knowing what they want before the first interaction…and you need automation to do this. When AI is present, 49 percent of consumers are willing to shop more frequently while 34 percent will spend more money.
One example of the return is The Washington Post’s robot writer (Heliograf), which wrote more than 850 stories during the Rio Olympics and the 2016 US presidential election. Another example is Netflix, which saved $1 billion in 2017 by using machine learning to make personalized recommendations.
Here is a general idea of the spending breakdown:
- B2Cs generally spend more on marketing compared to B2Bs
- Smaller companies spend more on marketing as a percentage of their total revenue
- More mature marketers tend to slow their marketing spend as better results measurement enables them to spend smarter
- Search and Display marketing represent the lion’s share of digital budget
Source: https://www.snapagency.com/blog/how-much-spend-digital-marketing
We’re all familiar with the concept of “hacking.” It’s not uncommon to get through a day without seeing an online article or video that refers to job hacks, shopping hacks, relationship hacks, etc.
In its most basic form, a life hack is defined as “any trick, shortcut, skill, or novelty method that increases productivity and efficiency, in all walks of life.” The terms hack, hacking, and hacker have a long, ambiguous history in IT and “nerd culture,” especially within the realm of computing.
When it comes to business, money, and ROI, a “profit hack” takes on the same meaning. It’s a method of thinking outside the box to simplify the processes that lead to more customers, more business, and (of course) more profit.
