Companies have slowly transitioned to digital marketing with their marketing efforts. The global pandemic fast-tracked this transformation. However, there are some obstacles in play that are holding back this digital marketing transformation.
“The greater the obstacle, the more glory in overcoming it.”
Molière, a French dramatist
Companies are working hard to transition their legacy and traditional marketing efforts toward digital to gain deeper insights into their buyer’s journey and use digital channels to drive brand awareness and sales.
What is digital marketing transformation?
Digital marketing is the promotion of a company using the internet and other forms of digital channels to connect with current and potential customers.
Transformation is the process of full changing something. Combined together, digital marketing transformation changes how marketing operates in a digital world.
Some marketing departments are well along their way toward shifting their thinking, strategy, and resources toward digital marketing, and some are just starting. Some companies have mastered digital marketing transformation, while others are falling behind.
Rapid digital change is forcing buyers and marketers to make a change. With more information consumed on digital and mobile devices, buyers are ahead. Marketers need to commit to creating exceptional digital experiences for these buyers.
The trouble is there are many obstacles in the way to shift from traditional marketing to digital marketing. Marketers are drowning in data and tools.
They have problems connecting the dots between their customer relationship management (CRM), marketing automation, social media management, social selling, content management, website management, search engine optimization, and other digital marketing tools.
Marketing is going through a revolution, and there are many obstacles in making the transformation toward digital marketing.
The question now isn’t whether digital marketing is a suitable investment, but how to maximize your digital marketing to grow your business.
The good news is that challenges associated with digital marketing transformation can be overcome. The key is to start with identifying the roadblocks and then how to remove them.
Common obstacles for transformation with digital marketing
Let’s look at the top common obstacles marketers face when it comes to digital marketing transformation and how to overcome them.
1. Culture
“Nobody ever got fired for buying IBM.”
IT industry axiom
The idea of this old quote was that IBM was a safe choice because it is known. One of the most prominent challenges marketers face when shifting toward digital marketing is running into a conservative culture. Some companies have been conditioned over time to avoid risks.
In conservative cultures, employees keep their heads down, go with the status quo, and say, “we have always done it that way.”
They don’t want to rock the boat. They don’t want to make waves. Doing that gets them in trouble, and their hands slapped.
Culture is one of the biggest obstacles that marketers face because the rest of the departments are used to marketing placing an ad on TV, in a newspaper, or on a billboard.
The thinking at many organizations is that marketing is a cost center and doesn’t drive sales.
Many organizations don’t see the competitive advantage that digital marketing can provide for their company. Companies are often slow to evolve and don’t like taking chances.
Conservative organizations don’t take advantage of new technologies such as marketing automation and artificial intelligence. They don’t see how much data marketers can collect on their prospects and customers. This data can help marketing and overall company performance.
Conservative cultures can change. It starts with change agents and leadership buy-in. Leaders must provide the resources to move marketing into the 21st century.
How to overcome this obstacle
Changing the culture doesn’t happen overnight. It takes a lot of patience. It takes small wins to show that digital marketing works.
Launching a pilot program can help. The pilot should be long enough to collect information. It should be short enough that it doesn’t take up too many resources.
2. Politics
Almost every company has some type of dysfunction. They have poor leadership and conflicting goals. They have power struggles.
Most importantly, almost every company has some type of politics.
Politics is a result of big egos. Self-interests. Territory grabs. Blurry roles and responsibilities around projects.
Politics can hold back the transformation of marketing. The leadership team can control the pace of change. They can view marketing through a specific lens. They can lack confidence in marketing’s ability to perform and help reach business objectives.
Politics holds back progress and is all about power and control. This is the unfortunate reality of business. Politics can hold back transformation if it doesn’t benefit powerful and influential people’s agenda.
How to overcome this obstacle
Understand what motivates the leadership team.
- What intimidates or scares them about marketing?
- What is slowing down the progress for change?
- What is the leadership team judged on and how do they get compensated for their efforts?
Determine if your company really has a strategy. Approach change management in a way that strokes the egos of the people who use politics to their advantage.
3. Complacency
“Don’t be lulled into complacency.”
Alan Gerry, a cable-television pioneer and entrepreneur
One of the most common obstacles for not changing is a lack of urgency. The global pandemic prompted that urgency for new digital technologies. However, it is hard for employees to switch toward a new way of working.
If a company is successful with traditional marketing tactics like events, why they should change?
Success creates complacency. Business leaders become comfortable with a history of success. They lack the motivation to change.
If it isn’t broke, don’t fix it
Leadership teams and companies get complacent if something is working well. Why change? They assume they can maintain their success by doing what they have always done.
Circuit City going out of business is a prime example of what can happen when success breeds complacency. Transformation has the power to put companies out of business.
How to overcome this obstacle
The effects of complacency may not be evident in the short term, but it will be long term. Bring in fresh ideas to your company and learn from the best. Fight against routine and start every day from scratch.
4. Legacy technology systems
According to Gartner’s Digital Marketing Transit Map, more than 1,800 vendors help marketers with digital marketing. There are a lot of marketing technologies, and they are expanding exponentially. It can be tiring to keep up with the latest and greatest tools.
However, specific technology systems grow old and become obsolete. Marketing trailblazers are always looking for new tools to incorporate into the marketing technology stack. The key is to use marketing technology wisely and simply.
Some legacy technologies are complex and have integration issues. Old legacy technologies can be underutilized and unnecessary. And some technologies are not deployed properly, leading to less value, and wasted time.
How to overcome this obstacle
Adapt to new technologies by seizing on opportunities as they emerge. There are a lot of free tools you can test to see if they can work at your company. When you are building out new business capabilities, change your legacy systems. Manage your technology portfolio like your company manages its product portfolio.
5. Silos
Your customers and prospects don’t differentiate between how your departments are structured. When they interact with your company, they want their experience to be integrated and just work.
For example, people may call your phone on your website or fill out a website form. Each integration between teams needs to work and be consistent.
With digital marketing, companies must break down silos because digital raises the stakes. All parts of marketing and all aspects of your company must work together to ensure an excellent customer experience.
How to overcome this obstacle
Create a unified vision for your customer experience and a vision for collaboration between departments. Work together to use common collaboration tools.
Encourage communication and attend each other’s department meetings. Explore how different departments are compensated and how that drives behavior.
Bringing it all together
Five main obstacles hold back companies from digital marketing transformation. These roadblocks are culture, politics, complacency, legacy technology systems, and silos. There are some ways you can overcome these challenges if you get out of your comfort zone.
“Obstacles don’t have to stop you. If you run into a wall, don’t turn around and give up. Figure out how to climb it, go through it, or work around it.”
Michael Jordan, an American former professional basketball player and businessman
The most successful companies and leaders are those who leave their comfort zone. They let go of their fears, take risks, and build teams that work well together. They don’t rest on their laurels and look at obstacles as opportunities.