Online strategy is like five-a-side football

Everyone loves an analogy. When I provide strategic social media training, I articulate online marketing as if it were a five-a-side football team going out to play a match against the customer decision making journey. Neither component can effectively work alone and are totally interdependent. Companies who continue to silo these disciplines limit their own effectiveness and potential, and thus waste budget.

So, let’s take a look at the starting line-up.

Goalkeeper: Search Engine Optimization. In sticks to catch all those relevant search terms – both paid and organic – it’s SEO. Depending on how the user found you the ‘keeper will bowl the ball to either player to build the engagement further.

Public Relations: In defence, we have PR acting as a Beckenbauer-esque libero. PR plays a dual role here: Firstly, to stop or quell any negative buzz around your brand online and secondly, to bring the ball out and create awareness, drawing people to your content, social networks or website (user experience – UX).

Social Media: The luxury player – ever so talked up and hard to make work, social media can deepen the engagement but needs to cover both defence (social CRM) and attack (content outreach and engagement).

Content: The real creator, content has developed a good relationship with SEO, PR and social media to maximise their potential on the pitch and draw people to the website.

User experience: Once the rest of the team has done its job in getting people to the brand’s website by drawing traffic in, it’s UX’s job to drive the conversion (i.e. score). So, is your site a Messi or just a Mess?

On the sub’s bench is the veteran Analytics and Measurement, helping the coach make tactical switches and coming on from time to time to improve things.

It’s a convoluted way of saying digital marketing is a team effort, so all departments should be talking to each other and pulling in the same direction – if they’re not doing so already.  On me ‘ead, son!

If your brand or agency needs help articulating its online strategy, get in touch.

Tags: digital marketing, online strategy, social media training, strategic social media