Lorrie Thomas, author of The McGraw-Hill 36-Hour Course in Online Marketing and CEO at Web Marketing Therapy (http://www.webmarketingtherapy.com), joins us to discuss how you can decide in a practical way where to put your digital marketing dollars and how you can realistically project ROI... Read the Transcript

Lorrie Thomas CEO Web Marketing Therapy http://webmarketingtherapy.com

Lorrie Thomas is The MarketingTherapist and a proud Wild Web Woman.  She is a speaker, educator,  marketing expert and CEO of Web Marketing Therapy® (WMT).  Ms. Thomas was on the founding team at ValueClick Media.  She speaks nationally on a number of marketing-related topics and writes for several online publications.  She has been featured as a web marketing expert by Forbes, the Associated Press, eCommerce Times, Entrepreneur, DM News and Tech News World and has now worked her way up to the Trend POV Show.

In 2011, we expect for forward thinking companies to begin mastering the digital marketing space and using it to their full advantage.  In this article, we explore the practical questions including, how you can decide where to put your digital marketing dollars and how you can realistically project ROI. Adam Singer at TheFutureBuzz.com suggests that, “It’s not enough to figure out ways to gain attention from random people for fleeting moments.” We would argue that you must get that fleeting moment before you can get anything else and sometimes that moment is all it takes in an instant world, to have a consumer act, but he is right. Singer emphasizes the need for consistency even down to the spokesperson and notes that, “There is an inequality of influence on the web held by a minority,” He urges companies to seek out and partner with influencers. A business hoping to advertise in the digital realm has a lot of options. Ken Mallon writing for AdAge.com reveals that, “Most of the new formats perform very well in the short term.” That is, in the digital world, there is a novelty effect with new platforms that eventually (seemingly after 1-3 years) wears off and plateaus. Yes, according to the research, mobile is more effective than online. According to Mallon, “...mobile is two to five times better at driving brand metrics than online.” Of course the experimentation and expansion of new and existing channels is not over. It continues unabated. Mallon also sees social networks changing digital marketing even further. He suggests that, “If the late '00s were the era of the social network, the early '10s will see the rise of the ‘social graph’ -- the network of you, your friends, and the friends of your friends.” Mallon predicts that, “The next 12 months will continue the ‘privacy by design’ movement whereby consumer privacy and user control will become more important for those seeking to understand consumer behavior.” Privacy will continue to be a concern. Find a reputable expert to help in this regard and don’t let the privacy issue scare you away. To approach the digital world in a practical way, consider the following. New digital marketing formats work well in the short term. Use this effect but be prepared to move on. Your digital marketing must do more than catch their eye. Seek to create interaction. Ensure your company has a consistent influential spokesperson. Choose carefully from internally or externally, but preferably internally. Understand your customer’s social graph for better digital marketing. Who they keep close matters. Lastly, ensure privacy is part of your digital marketing strategy. Understand where they data comes from. From there, ROI is a matter of experimentation and measurement, so dive in!