Why Your Digital Marketing Manager is Not Performing

It’s month end and once again you’re looking at your business’s sales performance and wondering why your marketing efforts are not generating leads, your social media audiences are ignoring your posts and nobody but your employees and family are finding you on Google search. Is a digital marketing agency your answer to this problem?

For many SMEs, both budget and the work force are usually limited, which requires that many business functions be done inhouse. Once the business has grown it can be difficult to realise when your digital marketing needs have grown beyond the experience and expertise of your current staff and technology.

While a single Digital Marketing Manager may be sufficient for a while, no single person can be an expert in all disciplines across all digital marketing channels (paid media, SEO, and social media), let alone have the time to implement all executions points and marketing campaigns. This will often lead to subpar outputs and multiple sales areas being neglected or outright ignored.

To avoid these Digital Marketing Manager pitfalls and understand the signs when your business needs a digital marketing agency, we have put together the common pain points that SME’s experience leading up to their first engagements with us.

But why is your Digital Marketing Manager is not performing???

Your business doesn’t have time to invest in a full marketing team

Between all the various tasks required in providing a good service and/or product to your target market, most Digital Marketing Managers within SMEs just don’t have the time to invest in covering all the areas of the marketing mix. This often results in a somewhat ad hoc approach to digital marketing that results in either poorly executed campaigns, poor content delivered to the wrong audience or correct marketing channel, content that does not meet business objectives or an unfortunate combination of all these points. In 2019, an investigation by CB Insights found that 14% of SME’s fail because of poor marketing (and associated lack of strategy). The benefit of using a digital marketing agency is that they have the expertise and the time to not only create an all-encompassing marketing strategy and creative direction, but to identify the core objectives that this strategy would need to meet. This allows time to place your full attention on managing your business.

You require a high return on investment for your digital marketing budget

With many SMEs still feeling the combined effects of the pandemic and subsequent lockdowns, many are juggling costs on very limited budgets. This means that most SME’s have very little budget for their digital marketing and as such require a high return on their investment to justify the exercise. A 2019 investigation found that 72% of companies attribute their success to keeping tabs on their marketing ROI. The advantages of working with a digital marketing agency in this case is that their standard process usually involves providing maximum results within a prespecified budget and they have the tools to provide detailed reports on the outcome of their efforts. A good digital agency will never stop tinkering and reworking their strategy in order to ensure the required return on your marketing investment.

Your business may be lacking a full understanding of your target audience

As an SME you have likely already established your target market (usually from the inception of your business). However, understanding your target market and your target audience within it as well as how to target these segments effectively is an ever-changing process that needs constant tweaking. Case studies have shown a reduction in costs of up to 56% for businesses using quality audience analysis to back their marketing efforts. A digital marketing agency will assist SMEs in forensically understanding their target market and the micro-moments that represent the intersection of the audience and product or brand.

Efficient digital marketing can be the answer to unlocking your business’s potential so if you’re looking for ways to increase your brand’s online presence and maximise your sales performance, for a free consultation, contact our experts at Black Snow to discuss your specific needs and find a simple profitable business solution.