Strategic Digital Marketing

Citation

Dawn Edmiston (2015), "Strategic Digital Marketing", Journal of Product & Brand Management, Vol. 24 No. 1, pp. 90-91. https://doi.org/10.1108/JPBM-06-2014-0625

Strategic Digital Marketing is a definitive guide on how digital media channels and tools can be used to extend an organization’s marketing outreach and achieve a measurable return on investment (ROI). The authors of this book are affiliated with the Center for Management Development at Rutgers University and both have extensive consulting experience with the Fortune 500 firms. The book features insights from various experts who have contributed chapters on a broad range of topics related to developing effective digital marketing strategies.

The book is divided into three main sections: how to view our new digital world; how to achieve success in digital marketing channels; and how to ensure digital transformation across an organization. The topics covered include:

• content management;

• search engine marketing;

• mobile technologies;

• video;

• social media;

• measurement tools;

• legal matters related to digital marketing; and

• digital leadership principles.

The opening chapters challenge the reader to think differently about the evolving marketing environment. The authors contend, “Marketers in the digital age must be like water. They must ebb, flow and adapt their roles on a constant basis” (p. 21). “The more an entire organization is like water, and can overcome its size to embrace agility, the more likely it is to survive and thrive in the modern digital ecosystem” (p. 22). These “liquid principles” form the underpinning of the strategies that are examined throughout the book.

The authors quickly introduce the critical concept of ROI in the initial chapters and then probe deeper into how to determine ROI by leveraging digital marketing analytics in subsequent chapters. The authors explain that, The framework for Strategic Digital Marketing success involves four fundamental steps:

1. create stories for your brand using liquid principles;

2. feed and curate digital channels;

3. determine ROI of strategies; and

4. test, measure, and refine (p. 33).

The bulk of the book is dedicated to achieving success across various digital marketing channels. Before delving into specific channels, a primer is delivered on the importance of search marketing to include choosing the right search keywords and ensuring that your content is optimized to appear in search results. Once readers understand the power of search, the authors proceed to examine what has quickly become the most dominant digital channel: mobile marketing. This particular channel is developing so rapidly that the authors predict, “Five years from now there will no longer be content written about mobile marketing […] mobile technologies are becoming so ubiquitous, that soon mobile marketing will just be called marketing” (p. 79). In addition to discussing how mobile technologies allow for consumers to quickly access information, considerable attention is given to the impact of mobile applications and mobile transactions.

Subsequent chapters address the topics of video, social media and purposeful development of a Web site. Each of the book chapters concludes with a substantial list of endnotes and relevant resources. The chapter on measurement and ROI of digital strategies is especially helpful to marketers and was written by Rob Petersen, the former Chief Strategy Officer of Omnicom. This particular chapter examines key performance indicators and how to tie these indicators into measurement of ROI. In addition, this chapter features a measurement tool “mini-handbook” that is organized by digital channel.

Chapter 10 of the book focuses on understanding the law in digital marketing. Readers might actually want to review this chapter first to provide context for potential legal implications involved with the tactics outlined in the book. Topics such as social media governance and compliance as well as the Federal Trade Commission’s social media marketing guidelines are critical for marketers to comprehend when developing a successful digital marketing strategy.

Strategic Digital Marketing concludes with a thoughtful examination of principles required to ensure digital transformation across an organization. Of particular interest are the ten traits of digital leadership that include encouraging marketers to focus on ROI from the very start of strategic planning and taking the time to become active students in the digital world. “We are just beginning to understand the value of digital innovation to our organizations, brands, and services. This is why it is so critical that we transform all three to succeed in this journey” (p. 281).

This book is an excellent resource for anyone interested in learning about digital marketing and would appeal to senior-level undergraduate students as well as graduate students. Ironically, even though the topic is digital marketing, there does not appear to be any digital marketing tools to complement it (or even promote it). McGraw Hill publishes the book, but there is only a single product page on the McGraw Hill site and there are no additional supplements that would support educators in the classroom. This is perhaps the greatest limitation of the book, as a dedicated Web site and digital resources would certainly encourage greater adoption of the book and strengthen engagement with readers.

Strategic Digital Marketing delivers a comprehensive overview of the tactics and frameworks required to succeed with digital marketing. Ultimately, the real value of this book is in its strategic nature. This is not simply a book that educates individuals about digital marketing tools; it also presents new ways of thinking about how to leverage the digital revolution for organizational success.