Are you going down for the third time using your DYI digital marketing strategy?   That was what I was told is happening with a large number of businesses who develop and then use their own digital marketing strategy.

In my blog on SyncLab Media, When Is It Time to Seek Advice, I outlined a few points on why so many business people go it alone with their digital marketing.  To compound their unsuccessfulness I found they will also use their self created strategy on producing low quality video content and post them on all of their social platforms thinking they will get viral results.

I always wonder why so many businesses do what they do with digital marketing and social media.  The SmartInsight report I found did answer most of my questions.  Hopefully, it will help you.

Too Cautious 

It is hocking to know there are so many businesses who do not use any type of digital marketing.   One of the main reason expressed to me on why businesses do not use any type of digital marketing was from there being a large numbers of businesses owned and managed by the overly cautious, mature, business leaders.  

Many of these overly cautious business leaders are still bleeding from the ‘.COM bubble’ bust 15 short years ago and then had to survive the 2008 global financial collapse that is still holding the economy down today.  

These businesses endured the recession.  Naturally they would see many of the digital marketing schemes being developed my the millennials as smelling like the same buzzword driven ventures that got them into trouble ten years ago.  

Nonetheless, these same business now see the need to have a presence online to validate their existence to their consumers.  This is where New clashes with OLD.

Typical Cause

The businesses who are driven by experience and are lead by innovation are rightfully weary of anything new in marketing.   These businesses feel more comfortable when they have  control of every aspect of their marketing…including digital marketing.  

This drive cautious businesses to not let someone, or something outside, their control handle something as important as their company’s marketing. This is one of causes for the mistakes for not using digital marketing.

Hot Potato Assignment

The first mistake the leadership team of these businesses will make is to challenge their CMO or Marketing Directors to find out what Digital Marketing is all about.  The CMO/Director, not wanting to get personally involved in what could be an unsuccessful endeavor that will get them fired, will send their sales managers, or project managers, out to gather up best practices on using digital marketing.

These underlings of the company, who are tapped to go out and gather evidence on how digital marketing works, are usually the (trying to be nice) overly educated, less-experienced in business, career ladder climbing individuals.  They naturally will gravitate to going to conferences or seminars that are lead by so called ‘experts in social media’.  

What these junior execs find to take back to their bosses will be information based on buzzwords and catch phrases that are associated to sales pitches slanted towards strategies focused on using one social platform.  Most, if not all, of the information being offered during these summits of social media and digital marketing influencers is based on a strategy developed for a particular identity or business plan.

Unfortunately, what is brought back to these businesses as how digital marketing works is portrayed as the gospel they should be following as exactly how they should be using digital marketing.

What happens next is what I see happening everyday.

The reaction these cautious businesses leaders will then make is to first gain control of the strategy as is interpreted by the information gathered.  The next steps taken then will be based off cost analysis made on the internal staff needed to execute the strategy.  Then, bada-bing, the company has it’s own digital marketing group pumping out social media that is based on a strategy not matching their business plan or brand image.

From there, the business usually will rapidly seek to the bottom of the deep of the pool of digital marketing processes involved with initiating a digital marketing strategy destine to not enhance the company’s revenue horizons.

More Bad Reasoning

I see on Facebook everyday businesses I know who offer high quality product and services posting low quality videos content.  The reason I am given on why they are doing what they are doing usually has something to do with them following a strategy they based on what some dude, or dudest, on the internet said they should be doing.  

It’s really a shame so many businesses do not seek help with developing their digital marketing.  Hopefully, many of these awesome business leaders will reach out for help before they go down with the other businesses who drown in their DYI digital marketing strategy.

Let me know how I can help.

Scot Duke is a contributing blogger and the Director of Operations for SyncLab Media, a video-centric digital marketing consulting agency located in Dallas, Texas.