The digital age has given businesses an increasing number of ways to reach new customers. Despite the rapid change in technology and opportunities, marketing’s basic principles and ends – increasing market share and building the brand – have not, and mostly will not, change. So how does a small business reconcile digital and traditional marketing?

In a post on CIO Journal, a Wall Street Journal blog, marketing veterans Rory Finlay and Dick Patton wrote that small businesses need to take the time to find a consultant or internet marketing agency that truly understands their needs.

“The immediate danger,” Finlay and Patton wrote, “is that freshly recruited experts in Big Data, social media, SEO and other digital disciplines will fail to mesh with the marketing function’s more traditional expertise (e.g., branding, promotion, product management, research), in effect creating two marketing functions who work in proximity but not fully together–a scenario certain to produce frustration and disappointment in full measure.”

To minimize risk and to get the best out of a digital marketing campaign, the authors suggest that marketing managers look for digital and mobile consultants with the following qualities:

  • Awareness – The marketer should be able to see patterns in large volumes of data and use their reasoning skills to develop a plan to help the business
  • Curiosity – A digital marketing consultant should desire new intellectual challenges and regularly ask for feedback
  • Determination – A good marketing consultant is willing to take risks, but also knows how to quickly bounce back if there is a problem.

Creating an effective online marketing campaign is essential to staying competitive. Companies that want to increase their online presence would be well advised to partner with a firm such as Key Media Solutions.