It is no secret that the online marketing world can make large corporate executives nervous. They know they need a presence online and the two safest services that pop up most often are SEO and PPC. These methods are safe; we know we can make a measurable impact using them. Over the years I have seen one too many companies playing the same old play book within small, medium and large sized businesses while their competition is out distancing them by using a multichannel approach to online marketing.
The main disconnect is that digital marketing agencies more often than not have little creative leeway in marketing the client’s brand. And I am not talking about unmeasured marketing tactics, I am talking about viable, tried and true pieces of the puzzle that when blended with PPC and SEO campaigns can have a tremendous impact on a client’s online marketing campaign success.
First things first – Internet marketers are still marketers. We know how to take a brand, a client or a product and make it appealing to your market base; our USP (unique selling proposition) is that we have extensive experience and knowledge in the digital world.
Multichannel Digital Marketing Case Study: 2008 Elections
Recently I read “Barack Obama’s Social Media Lessons for Business” by David Bullock and Brent Leary and it struck me that his 2008 presidential campaign was a great example of my thoughts on multichannel digital marketing.
In the 2008 elections we witnessed an amazing application of multichannel marketing. President Obama’s core message “yes we can” was syndicated and consistently streamlined across multiple marketing channels and set a precedent in online marketing, forever changing the way politicians run campaigns.
President Obama’s message was broadcast on banner ads; pre and post roll video ads, social profiles, video messages from his YouTube page, a micro site and even the kitchen sink! His YouTube page was so successful in communicating to his followers that he is still broadcasting on it after the election. He recently used his YouTube page to administer a form of reputation management in response to the media coverage of racial comments from his Supreme Court nominee, justice Sotomayor.
For your own edification and consumption I have included a few social profiles created during his campaign for you to review:
- Microsite: BarackObama.com
- Myspace
- YouTube
- BlackPanet
- MiGente
- AsianAve
- Eons
- FaithBase
- Glee
- My Barack Obama
As you can see from above, the Obama campaign created an outlet for his voice to reach just about every demographic in order to win this campaign. The administration utilized these multichannel marketing tools to reiterate the consistent message of “yes we can”. The message became impossible to ignore and in a recent clickZ report, Google attributed President Obama’s success to their 3 million dollar online ad spend.
I have never witnessed a political race that utilized social media and online marketing tactics this effectively before and in my mind it speaks to the importance of social media being as a viable tactic for big brands.
There is so much more to internet marketing then SEO and PPC.
Obama and his administration recognized this fact and carried out the countries most active digital marketing campaigning in history – and WON! By placing themselves everywhere their market base was and by utilizing strategic online marketing tactics created a consistent branded message with real ubiquity.
Not sure what other types of online marketing are out there? Below is a small list of marketing services to ask your digital marketing agency about. I will also be covering these services in more depth in future posts.
- Email marketing
- Behavioral targeting
- Social network advertising
- Local media planning
- Offline to online campaigns
- Podcast Marketing
- Content Syndication
- Conversation marketing and engagement
- Reputation monitoring and action plans
- Interactive display ads
- Online media buying
- Affiliate Marketing
- Video Marketing and Syndication
- Mobile advertising
- Widget and application development
- Blogging
- And more
Being aware of different online marketing channels and involving your digital marketing agency in the consistent ongoing message gives you the opportunity to reach a wider audience reach and create a mature, compelling and effective online marketing campaign. Don’t be afraid to tap their innovation, expertise and creativity or you could be missing out on ideas and strategies that could help your brand stand out amongst competitors.
In your opinion, what online marketing efforts did I not mention that you feel companies should be actively participating in? What strategies and tactics do you recommend for creating an unforgettable message and what are going to be 2009′s top tactics?
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This is an interesting article on developing ones marketing plan and making it something reaches out everywhere.
It seems everyone now a day is using Twitter (and other social media outlets like YouTube or Facebook) to converse – to share their opinions. And somewhere, somebody is probably tweeting (posting an update to their Twitter) about your company. Could have been that they were on the way to your bank branch, had a great experience ordering online from you, or even perhaps that they weren’t too happy with an experience with your company. Either way there is a conversation going on out there, and by your company joining in you can change the monologue into a dialog. This is why I think social media is definitely something a company should be actively participating in.
There is indeed a great disconnect between the social media marketing message, and the traditional voice used by large companies. However, it does seem that these companies are slowly realizing the changes necessary in order to utilize these new and influential marketing channels. Those that are not willing to give up their traditional model are quickly being left behind.
good article.
Barack was the underdog and therefore had the least funding going into his campaign, and ended up with more contributions then the big dogs… why do you think? Because he was the one candidate that tapped into the REAL people… and how do you think? This article nailed it, SOCIAL MEDIA! Truly the only way to reach every demographic and touch people that are now ignoring traditional advertising methods. Social media isn`t a fad or a craze, it`s the advertising way of the future
Joe,
Where do you think link building fits?
Some consider it a part of SEO, some think of it more as PR… I think the outreach portion of link building can definitely be related to social media marketing…
Do you think organic search becomes less important as a channel if you’re focused on social media?
I’m bookmarking this post so I can come back and read it more closely!
Garrett
Good article. It is true that Main stream media and politicians use marketing and different types of messages to get people to listen and read what they are saying.
Very true and something everyone needs to consider in this day and age.
Very interesting article; marketing is equally as important as the product itself, otherwise no one would be aware of it. Social media has completely changed the way marketing is carried out, as you mentioned with the Obama campaign and all of the social profiles. I can’t imagine what it will be like with the next generation of web applications like Google Wave.
@garrett
Really great comment! I really feel that all these types of internet marketing are just a tool in our toolbox and there is a lot of cross-over.
Link building can be a media buy for traffic, brand ubiquity and also for seo purposes.
I think on and off page seo are melded together in this blissful harmony but try to seperate the 2 and there is obvious issues.
As far as link building PR I also agree with that statement. Links strategically placed on relevant sites ads credibility to your own brand.
Congrats on the baby boy to!
@ross
So many companies now are moving away from departmentalized organizational life and moving towards a centralized information hub. It is my dream that companies working with a PR firm, marketing firm and an interactive digital marketing firm figure a way to all work in the clients best interest.
Good to see people are talking about internet marketing, not just our are of SEM – there is so much more to it than simply the search engines .. thanks!
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Very good article. Thats all true.
Obama’s Digital Marketing Campaigns : Joe Whyte – Digital Marketer – LOL