Most business owners wouldn’t spend money on something month after month without wanting to know what they’re getting in return. They would expect a supplier to explain what the service does, why it matters and whether it is worth the cost.
Digital marketing should be no different.
And yet, it is surprisingly easy to find yourself paying for SEO, social media, advertising, analytics tools or a monthly digital retainer without being entirely sure what all that activity is achieving.
You might receive a report every month, complete with graphs, percentages and enough acronyms to make a crossword enthusiast nervous. The numbers look professional, the work appears to be happening, and you assume everything is under control.
But if you can’t explain what the activity is doing for your business, it’s worth asking a few questions.
You shouldn’t need to be a digital expert
Digital marketing has its own language, and some of it is genuinely useful. Understanding the difference between impressions, clicks, conversions and organic traffic can help you make better decisions.
The problem starts when technical language becomes a substitute for a clear explanation.
If someone tells you that your click-through rate has improved, that may be encouraging. But what does it mean for your business? Are more relevant people visiting your website? Are enquiries increasing? Is the advertising generating enough business to justify the cost?
Those are reasonable questions, and you shouldn’t feel that you need a marketing qualification to ask them.
Anyone managing your digital marketing should be able to explain what they’re doing in terms you can understand, including what is working, what isn’t and what they recommend doing next.
Activity isn’t the same as progress
A business can be extremely active online without making much progress.
There may be regular social media posts, a steady stream of blog articles, ongoing advertising campaigns and monthly reports. Each activity has its own set of numbers, and there is always something to discuss at the next meeting.
But how do those activities connect to the business?
If you’re investing in SEO, you should have a reasonable understanding of how the work is intended to improve your visibility in search and attract relevant visitors. If you’re paying for advertising, you should know what the campaign is designed to achieve and how its performance is being measured. If you’re investing in content, you should understand who it is for and what purpose it serves.
Not every activity produces an immediate sale, of course. Building visibility, establishing credibility and making useful information available can take time to deliver results. What matters is having a clear reason for doing the work and a sensible way of assessing whether it is moving you in the right direction.
Ask better questions
You don’t need to interrogate your digital marketing provider or demand a guaranteed return on every individual post. Digital doesn’t work quite that neatly.
You can, however, ask questions that make the conversation more useful.
What are we trying to achieve? Why have we chosen this particular approach? How will we measure progress? What have we learned from the results so far? Is there anything we should stop doing, change or invest more effort in?
The answers should help you understand what is happening and make informed decisions about where your money goes.
If something isn’t working, that doesn’t automatically mean your provider has done a bad job. Campaigns need adjustment, search rankings fluctuate, audiences respond in unexpected ways and sometimes an idea simply doesn’t deliver as hoped.
The important thing is being able to recognise that, explain what has been learned and decide what to do next.
Your digital marketing should belong to your business
This is another point worth remembering. Your website, analytics accounts, advertising accounts, content and customer data are valuable business assets.
You should understand what you have, where it lives and who has access to it. You should also be able to access your own reporting and have a clear picture of the work being done on your behalf.
You don’t need to manage every technical detail yourself, any more than you need to service your own car. But you should know enough to make informed decisions about the service you’re paying for.
Good digital support should make you feel more confident about your business, not more dependent on somebody else to explain what is happening.
Digital should make sense
This is really what it comes down to.
You don’t need to understand every algorithm, master every analytics dashboard or keep up with every new platform. Digital changes too quickly for anyone to know everything, and trying to do so would be a fairly exhausting way to spend your working life.
You do need to understand what your digital activity is intended to achieve, how it supports your business and whether the results justify the investment.
That is where clear communication and sensible measurement make all the difference.
At Harry Does Digital, I believe the technology should serve the
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