 The Art and Science of Digital Performance The marketing executive fights a war on two fronts. Her boss expects her to deliver measurable results, make sense of disruptive technology, and satisfy digital consumers who become more empowered and finicky every day. Digital consumers crave immersive online experiences that require a strong dose of creativity and user-centered design. Increasingly, marketers must fight this battle on a global scale. Is it any wonder that the job tenure of a CMO continues to shrink? To succeed, marketers and their agency partners need a smart application of technology, customer insight, design, creativity, and analytics – a blend of art and science. Here’s how one agency, Avenue A | Razorfish, is responding. Left-Brain / Right-Brain Marketing Marketers using the best of both divergent worlds in digital media understand that the accountability of direct response media and the creativity of online branding programs no longer have to be mutually exclusive. The artistic becomes measurable; the accountable becomes creative. Looking left, to the accountability side of the brain, we find tools for the most sophisticated, transaction-based e-commerce program: search engine marketing, contextual advertising, email marketing and other trackable, accountable media among them. Right brained thinkers try new things and find unique ways to engage. They embrace podcasting, online video, multimedia in its many forms and other emerging technologies and will often trade accountability for an engaging and interactive user experience.  The SEO Blame Game Over the past year Search Engine Optimization (SEO) presentations were given to diverse audiences ranging from developers and designers to brand managers. Regardless of how receptive and interested the audience is, there is a point in the discussion when things take an odd turn. Discussing how Search Engines process a site and how “invisible” many sites are, provokes feverish whispering, note taking and several awkward stares. After a few moments of this, someone, usually a brand person, musters up the courage to say, “How come my agency built my site this way?” |
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