The Cost of “Free” in a Digital Age A Guide for SMEs Stephanie Webb Managing Director

Overview  Creating a digital strategy  Determining digital channels  Monetising resource costs  Allocating responsibility  Measuring for ROI

What is digital marketing? Digital Marketing is …  “The marketing of products or services using digital channels to reach consumers.” – Financial Times Lexicon  Examples  Mobile Apps  SMS  Digital Billboards  Anything else with a digital foundation

Creating a digital strategy  Should be included as part of your overall marketing strategy & planning.  Before you begin …  What are you wanting to achieve?  Who are you trying to reach?  What are you providing?

Creating a digital strategy  What should be included in your strategy?  SMART objectives & goals  Audience profile & target segments  Value proposition & messages  Distribution channels & planning calendar(s)  Measurement of KPIs … continued

Determining digital channels  Digital channels are not mutually exclusive.  Social Media + SEO + ________ = Inbound strategy  Points to consider …  Remember the purpose of your strategy  Know where your audience is present & engaging  Employee or outsourced costs – content, design, management, etc.  Make sure you know how to measure it against the KPIs

Determining digital channels Most recommended   Direct access to audience(s)  Personification  Search Engine Optimisation  Organic – relevant website content to searches  Paid – keyword buying  Social Media  Brand awareness  Direct customer engagement  Display Advertising  Similar to traditional advertising methods … continued

Monetising resource costs  How much does digital marketing cost? – It depends!  Each channel potentially requires different designs, content, amount of time spent engaging or setup, etc.  Things to consider for each channel …  Staff / Agency management time & fees  Graphic design or content creation fees  Channel costs (e.g. promoted posts)

Monetising resource costs Example Costs 1  Social Media – Facebook (single campaign; promoted) … continued  Strategy / Planning  Branded page setup (if required)  Graphic design  Content creation  Video / Photo creation  Feedback engagement  Editing / Approval loops  Platform monitoring & measuring  Cost of advert placement  Setup of advert  Graphic design for advert  Measurement of advert  Other

Monetising resource costs Example Costs 2  – single campaign; first time sending … continued  Strategy / Planning  List building  List purchasing (if required)  Template sourcing / setup  Social media integration  Image(s) sourcing  Image(s) purchase / creation  Content research  Content creation  Editing / Approval loops  SEO checking / analysis  Metrics review  Other

Allocating responsibility AdvantagesDisadvantages Individuals Multitasking Decision making Try to be everything Singularly focused Teams Divide & conquer Brainstorm ideas Too many cooks Opposing ideas

Measuring for ROI  Use KPIs that will demonstrate whether you have achieved your SMART objectives or not.  New leads  Membership sign-ups  Sales uplift – overall or within specific products / services  Increased social interactions  Only account for the data you need to know.  Each channel will output different data.

Measuring for ROI Common Metrics  Traffic  Overall site traffic  Traffic sources  Click-through rates  Cost-per-click  Revenue Metrics  Return on investment  Cost-to-acquire customer  Conversion  Conversion rate  Cost-per-lead  Page views per visit  Time on site  Rate of return visitors  Bounce rate … continued

Key takeaways  Knowing your audience is crucial.  Planning ahead can save you resources.  Repurpose content where and when appropriate.  More isn’t always better.  Don’t be afraid to experiment – no one gets it right 100% of the time.  Don’t be put off by the costs.

PMM Strategies Ltd Helping SMEs plan, manage & measure their marketing initiatives. Office Web Twitter