Organisations have forever struggled with growing pains and issues associated with rapid change. Changes in structure, culture and responsibilities can lead to difficulties in developing consistency and understanding organisational culture and processes, and can often result in problems with delivering a consistent product or service. To reduce the issues associated with rapid growth, a pragmatic approach that relies heavily on planning is recommended.
Parallels can be drawn with the rise and rise of digital media and the explosion in ways businesses can connect with their customers. A recent article from eMarketer notes that while small businesses are broadening their approach across more multiple digital marketing platforms, there is also an increasing dissatisfaction at the performance of these channels.
"Website, email and search were rated most effective for customer acquisition, but even these had dropped since the prior year."
However eMarketer asserts that this is likely due to the inexperience of using new channels as well as a lack of resource to properly manage them.
The solution then, it seems, it to take a pragmatic approach to these new digital channels, based on thorough planning, a solid basis for decisions and a measured approach to assessing performance.
At Carat, we take this approach when planning digital activities for our clients. Rather than jump headlong into tactics that have no long term direction, we thoroughly assess our clients' customers to understand their behaviour and motivations, understand what success for their business looks like and formulate a solution that addresses their issues and allows us to understand what is successful and what requires further thought.
The result - a consistent approach across channels relevant to the audience, that we know will deliver a solution that matches the business objectives.
While the temptation is rush and embrace every new technology as it emerges, sometimes stepping back and considering the reasons behind it can make for a much better result.
