5 stages of an Integrated Digital Marketing Life Cycle

I like this article from Socialmediatoday not only reviewing the stages of integrated marketing but touching on the disconnect between organisational expectations and time frames for returns vs. what the customer’s expectations are. According to this piece, the process is said to take 2 years! Considering the high turnover workforce, how many businesses actually have the opportunity to see a full strategy like this through?

This is where I highlight the difference between Sales and Marketing. Sales driven organisations would place rigid monthly time frames for these tactics to work. In such organisations, if tactics do not show returns in a short period of time, they would be abandoned.

I pasted the proposed process below from the article.

SETUP   (0-3 months)

assess touchpoints
build online environment
establish baseline
setup digital media infrastructure
establish listings on search engines
gain followers
initiate relationships
develop content strategy
assess digital footprint
increase member interactions
begin gaining new referrals/leads
initiate brand mentions

TRACTION   (4-9 mo)

transform touchpoints to conversation points
gain traction on social media sites
integrate mobile with social media
gain responses to call to action
place on search engines
gain new sales/members
gain initial thought leadership interactions
build member satisfaction/feedback
increase customer service  

POSITIONING   (10-15 months)

convert conversation points to conversion points
gain positions on search engines
gain thought leadership interactions
gain new sales revenue
develop brand loyalty

EXPANSION   (16-27+ months)

stabilize position on search engines
establish some recognition as a thought leader
gain brand  power
gain consistent stream of revenue

VIRAL GROWTH (future)

expand networks exponentially through fan/follower networks and social communities

ROI Measurement and Modeling

How does one measure ROI from all of this? Here is another good article that discusses measurement being applied to TOUCHPOINTS to get a proper assessment.
Proposed cycle: Listen -> Converse -> Convert -> Analyze -> Evaluate
See visual below:
Cheers,
Rick Speciale
MyCMO – Director

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