Focus on the customer for successful digital media – and leave the silos behind

Having worked on digital media in commercial companies now for some 12 years, we have no doubt whatsoever about the tremendous contribution well executed websites and, more recently, apps, can make to a company’s bottom line.

But, neither do we doubt that realising fully the opportunities of digital media in the commercial world depends on executing websites and apps that are fully grounded in a complete understanding of customer needs.

Of course, many organisations try to do their best in this respect. They set up customer insight (or understanding) teams that diligently beaver away to gain knowledge about their customers’ needs and wants. But all too often, that knowledge is not put to best use – or, desperately, any use at all.

All too often, the reason for this is the siloed structure of those organisations. Valuable insights about customers that could add significant value to the organisation’s digital media activities remain locked within its customer insight team.

When I’ve seen customer insight contribute best it is in companies that take an Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC) approach, where marketing communications is seen as a strategic core company activity as opposed to a tactical exercise or, worse, a glorified sales effort.

The best analysis and description of the IMC approach that I know of is that of Don E. Schultz in his book “IMC, The Next Generation: Five Steps for Delivering Value and Measuring Returns Using Marketing Communication” (2003). In it, he outlines eight guiding principles that underpin the approach.