Building the Mindset of a Digital Marketer

Over the last six years – I’ve seen a great change coming in the digital marketer's mindset which has gradually shifted from a fixed mindset to a growth mindset.

The idea that a digital marketer has to make websites and is supposed to analyse keywords and data alone has changed. There is a lot more marketing than digital in digital marketing today.

The first step towards having a digital marketer’s mindset is to have a marketer’s mindset. The platforms have changed. The form factor and interfaces have changed. The valuation models and ROI metrics have changed but the people and their cultural nuances still remain the same. The banter of my city over yours still remains. The differences in lifestyles of a metro city user and a user from rural India remain. The need to connect emphatically and touch a finer cord still remains.

The reason mainline agencies worked with brands over the course of 10-20 years was because of their understanding of the market, the product, the target audience and the competition. In fact, there were instances where a brand manager would be asked to spend time with the agency because there was so much to learn. So even if you are into digital marketing, you still need to think of all those factors which make your campaign effective.

You will be required to think tactically. You will be asked to execute a new campaign within two weeks, so go ahead & do it. But do think like a mainline and execute online. It’s because of factors like these, that the lines between these two have blurred.

The balancing act of data and creativity must also be there in the mindset of a digital marketer.

There’s a popular quote among digital marketers, “In God we trust. All others must bring data”.

This thought process is good when you are trying to evaluate certain data points and draw insights. Or when you are creating user personas, analysing their digital behaviour and creating a content strategy. But then data can only take you so far. What about evolving user behaviour or creating new UI/UX interfaces which make advertising less obtrusive?

Usually, people would refer to their Google Analytics and predict future models. But note that Google Analytics is only a partial view of the possibilities. It’s only showing you the journey and 
interaction on your site. What about all the other users, who could have possibly come to your website because your content was different or engaged differently if your interaction elements were different?

Even Google says “15 per cent of searches we see every day are new”.

Similarly, art is always considered subjective. A design, a layout, or an interface will be interpreted differently by different people However you can bring some data and science to it. You can always do AB testing and test a certain design and feature which performs better. You can expose certain portions of your website to a certain geography or you can build a certain section in a regional language and check user stickiness.

Hence, it becomes very important to have a healthy mix of data and creativity. Use existing data to build a base but use creativity to expand horizons, discover new testing grounds, innovate and bring in an edge over the competition.

Digital marketers must try out everything.

The beauty of digital marketing is the transparency, immediate ROI and options to scale up or down in real time on the basis of performance. Hence, try all the possible mediums to reach out and connect. Sure, you would allocate budgets based on what’s traditionally worked. However, do allot a certain percentage to try out new platforms and channels.

Looking for additional sales? Explore affiliate programs. Seeking a personal connection with users? Try digital activations. Wish to improve support? Try AI-aided chat. Wish to expand geographies? Try regional content.

Try polls, surveys, offers and discounts. Take learning from not just competition but brands from other industries. Not just from your country but beyond. Start small, test, draw your analysis & then go big. 
A question to ponder: If memes have worked great for crypto as an industry, why haven’t others adopted them?

There are tools/ services for everything.

You won’t need a tech company to build a new feature you wish to add to your website. Anything that you can think of, is already being offered by some niche provider out there. You just need to 
identify a clear gap, and articulate your search better and there is always a chance you will find someone who’s been working on it. The usual challenge lies in integration & making it all work together in cohesion. Any task that’s recurring or gets repeated, should be automated. From running macros in excel to marketing automation, you can do it all online. Just try to be in that constant desire to automate with the desire to scale operations, service bigger customer bases, and improve customer care.

One more important aspect digital marketers must understand is that the customer's mindset on digital platforms has also changed greatly and evolved over a period.

From the marketers’ point of view, it is important to understand that even consumers are thinking about ROI in their day-to-day life, i.e. a return on the amount of time and money they invest in buying something online. This shift in consumer behaviour has created an ROI obsession of sorts.

Presently a digital marketer must put on  Edward de Bono's ‘Six thinking hats’ and ‘Six action shoes' whenever strategising for a client and also implementing the strategy. Creativity both in thinking and action is required in the mindset of a digital marketer.

A digital marketer must have both, lateral and logical thinking. And as the market has become very competitive, they must have patience, persistence and an ever-learning mindset.

Successful digital marketers should also have a well-balanced combination of both digital marketing know-how and soft-skill prowess because it is teamwork which succeeds in digital marketing. The problem at the moment is that in India we still don't have such resources in good numbers in digital marketing.

The author Sanjeev Duggal is a growth hacker and a veteran digital marketer with over 3 decades of experience in the field of marketing. He's the Director and COO of Bruce Clay India, a Digital Marketing Agency based in New Delhi. Bruce Clay India is a member of afaqs! marketplace.