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Guidelines for Defining Digital Marketing Strategies for the Digital Economy

I recently received an email solicitation to enroll in the Digital Marketing Strategies for the Digital Economy program at the Wharton School of Business in Philadelphia. The program’s marketing materials promise “to explore the latest emerging online marketing and social media technologies.”

Along with their pitch was a link to a video featuring Professor David A. Bell expounding on a number of topics that would presumably be covered in the course. I thought the professor did an excellent job articulating key points, so I thought I’d share them here…

Key Factors When Creating a Digital Strategy

  • Understanding the customer/consumer journey and how it’s changing
  • Changing business models
  • What is the right mix and array of tools that one should deploy to reach these customers and get them to buy our products and services

“We really need to come back to the fundamental which is ‘what is the process that the customer goes through?’” If you can develop customer insights, you’re likely to find success.

Challenges of Online & Offline Distribution

  • Creating cohesive online/offline experience is one of the greatest challenges in the digital economy.
  • Customers don’t care if they’re interacting with companies online or offline. The experience must be seamless.

Three Common Digital Marketing Mistakes

  • Forgetting the fundamentals of customers and markets
  • Being overwhelmed by tools without letting the tool be the outcome
  • Having a very narrow view of what it means for attribution

Your Audience Has a Voice

  • Creating the right kind of voice is absolutely critical
  • If you’re doing something bad or inauthentic it will immediately be known
  • What’s said about you by yourself, your customers or adversaries becomes a critical part of the conversation

Content Marketing Strategies

  • Creating an effective content marketing strategy is absolutely critical in the digital economy
  • Content has 2 prongs:

    1. The first is the content you deliver. It must have functional, emotional and symbolic value while also being authentic, personalized and transparent

    2. The second is content created when you activate engaged customers to create material which then drives the next generation of content

The authentic voice coming from the firm + content extracted from the voice of the customer is the marriage you should be looking for.

You can learn more about the Wharton course and see the video with
Professor Bell here:
https://executiveeducation.wharton.upenn.edu/for-individuals/all-programs/digital-marketing-strategies-for-the-digital-economy