Online marketing is a complex system
Those who read my blog regularly, or have been to my conferences, talks, or university lectures know that I’ve been saying it since 2007 that online marketing is a complex system, where success can only be guaranteed if you utilize multiple tools strategically, instead of just one or two (Facebook, SEO, etc.) Many have taken this advice, and the world of online marketing consultancy has also changed. SEO firms promote themselves as SEO based online marketing consultants. Facebook professionals tout themselves as social media based marketing consultants. I’m glad that this is happening, that I’ve managed to steer the market in a more efficient direction, and that both customers and marketing consulting agencies are seeing the benefits. Unfortunately, however, my thesis hasn’t yet reached everyone.
I came across a shocking case this week during one of our online marketing audits. They had been recklessly wasting money thanks to lack of marketing competence. It’s not rare to see an in-house marketer who’s only good at one field of marketing and ignore the rest. They think, for example, that it’s worth running ads on Google, while paying no attention to search engine optimization, because they don’t understand the processes involved. This, of course results in the company losing a ton of conversions, with expensive Google Ads bids, but at least they don’t waste money on a consultant that does nothing but burn their money.