6 weeks ago I returned to Australia after a 2 years of working in the UK digital industry.
Despite keeping a very close eye on the market here I felt like a freshie jumping back into the Australian digital pond. And so now as I establish myself in my new role and am getting re-acquainted with the market I feel I am well equipped to give a outsiders views on our industry – before I become completely sub-merged in it.
Since returning I have invested a lot of time in establishing a digital roster and also found time to attend the Digital Marketing & Media Summit 2009 in Melbourne. All of this listening and active dialogue with “experts” in the space has allowed me to draw some conclusions on the state of our market – which demonstrate some very harsh realities. It’s a long long road ahead!
Let’s start with agencies – over the past few weeks I have met with a whole host of agencies ranging from so called search experts to digital generalists and whilst there are some shining stars, the rest resemble cowboys in the wild west. I am amazed by the many high profile search agencies that sell their automated link building services through their “network” of sites, and digital agencies who clearly display a lack of basic knowledge of how to structure an email template. So it is no wonder there is not a flurry of digital case studies demonstrating successful monetization of the channel here in Australia.
However the cream on my digital cake was today when I attended the Digital Marketing & Media Summit 2009 which showcased what should have been the creme de la creme of the industry. Putting aside the few star performers, the majority left me wondering where some of the truly good examples are hiding. To hear Nissan’s agency discuss their latest campaign was a real eye opener. Their agency expressed as part of the z370 launch there was a Facebook page which low and behold resulted in replies from consumers to their surprise. So what happened? This caused a problem because no one could monitor it therefore their move into social media was considered by the agency as an unsuccessful attempt showing the sheer lack of knowledge of the space.
Or perhaps what was more frightening was the iSpyLevi case study where the agency was asked if the campaign showed any contribution to sales which the agency replied that they didn’t know. I understand that social media doesn’t always have a direct flow on effect but with such a high profile campaign surely there was some uplift and what’s more surely the agency would want to know this important information. And to top it off during the campaign period they took their site down, in a time where users should most likely be attracted to their site to possibly buy.
So in an industry where client side professionals are dependent on agencies to advice, it’s no wonder senior executives are still worried if an investment in a certain area of digital will pay dividends.
So faced with this market, what is a client marketer to do? From one client side marketer to another here are my top tips to navigate the agency landscape and find suppliers who get digital;
1) Client side marketers need to invest more time to learn about digital from the local and global industry. Gather your knowledge from trusted sources and retrain yourself so you can make educated decisions. Sites such as digitalministry.com.au, internetretailing.com.au and even the blog onlinemarketingbanter.com are great places to start locally. Globally leverage sites such as eConsultancy.com, sphinn.com (which is a social bookmarking site for marketers) or davechaffey.com for digital in general or for search use searchengineland.com, seomoz.org or even seobook.com
2) Question your agency and re-question their abilities. If they have done one campaign it doesn’t make them an expert – and if they are a traditional agency question if they really have the ability and knowledge in the digital space. Your brand is not a playground for experimentation.
3) Meet with lots of suppliers before making a decision. There are good agencies out there but you need to spend the time to find them.
4) Go by recommendations; Of the few digital professionals you trust or look up to on the client side – seek their recommendations PS if you are still unsure on this one and need some help drop me a line am happy to provide recommendations.
5) What about the metrics – Find out what the agency has delivered – not just view their creative. Many agencies are so proud of their micro-sites and mobile apps that they haven’t had time to stop and measure what they have delivered. Yes this in a space which has far more measurability than any other.
6) Ask for transparency – This is particularly crucial for search – if an agency cannot provide visibility of your AdWords account or will not tell you what they are doing to get you to rank in Google then run for the hills. If your site gets blacklisted for bad SEO behaviour your URL will be stripped from the index with a slim chance to return or rank again.
What do you think about the Australian digital industry? I would love to hear your thoughts.
Written By: Teresa Sperti
We are a social video metrics provider and my dealings with agencies in the last year in Australia have consisted mostly of agencies being too afraid to use our service because it would expose statistics that they are not prepared to see.
I agree that the state of our digital marketing industry when it comes to social networking and in particular metrics and transparency is shocking – bar a few exceptions. It actually also has to do with educating the advertisers – if they don’t know that better metrics are available, they will not ask for such a service and be prepared to pay for it.
My problem with digital at the moment is the fact that too many traditional agencies are claiming they do it and do it well. Most have no idea as to how a digital strategy is applied.
We are a small digital strategy agency formed by professionals who have been in the industry for many years and have come from large organizations such as realestate.com.au, seek and looksmart. We have seen an increase in client spending over the last few months and a demand for their brand to get the right visibility online. This has shown us the industry is waking up to the importance of credibility across the web. As a result the expectation of good quality work is increasing as well. However knowledge and understanding is still far and few between, so I agree……. there is still a long road ahead!
Firstly, thanks for the link to my site Teresa. I’m flattered that you’ve included me within your trusted information resources. I tend to agree with your summation – we are a long way behind the 8-ball here in Oz. Although as an agency employee I can probably bring a different perspective.
In my day-to-day role, I’m constantly exposed to the conservative mindset most Australian businesses take towards digital media. Forget mobile and social media, I’m talking the basics. How many of Australia’s top retailers actually provide ecommerce platforms to buy products online? Heck… I heard a story recently about how one of Australia’s largest insurers was building a business case for email marketing… in 2009! Are you kidding me?!?!
In reality, I’m sure it’s a combination of both. Clients who are more comfortable sticking with what they know (even if it doesn’t work), and agencies that often lack the specific skills and experience to lead them down the digital highway.
Teresa and James, couldn’t agree more with you guys. There are some serious issues with the industry here. Not least the clear lack of knowledge of the ‘online expert’ from the traditional media agency.
It seems that the standard digital strategy offered by large (and historically traditional) agencies involves a campaign site, facebook page and twitter stream – an in ability to monitor this and a massive lack of relevant metric feedback. Even more so, no learnings are taken from one project to the next.
It seems to me, that you were spot on with your comment in a previous post about the lack of qualified digital experts.
As a professional, I pride myself on my ability to place strategy at the forefront of my digital decisions – these strategies are grounded in real theories. While these theories are derived from the past (and traditional channels) they still hold water. For example – and this is my advice to digital agencies – show me the value, and I will reward you with a contract. And no, I am not just talking about the bottom line, show me how you will generate brand loyalty as well, dare i mention advocacy?
Can you believe the number of proposals for digital that fail to show how they will return value?
Sorry for the rant – you have raised a wonderful point that it seems I and others are currently sharing your frustration with….
I will value your posts even more highly and read with greater interest!
Hi All,
Thank you very much for all making the effort to comment on this article.
I think it is great to have some agency commentary on the state of the industry as I of course see it from a client perspective.
James I definitely agree with you on the side of comfort. Client side there needs to be far more leadership to drive organisations towards digital, examples such as insurers building a business case for email reinforces the market realities. However I also think the lack of quality industry education is also contributing to the problem.
Keep pushing the digital envelope guys and hope to see you on my blog again soon!
Cheers
Teresa
Teresa, excellent post and not before time. I’ve been here (Australia) for coming up to 5 years now, following digital roles in the UK. When I first arrived I thought there was a long way to go (and as you say) I think there still is apart from a few stars.
I’m frustrated by agencies who treat their clients like dummies. They use unnecessary jargon, come up with excuses for not being able to do something that they don’t understand and talk down to anyone not in the digital arena. Again, let me stress this isn’t all of them. It’s not until I let them know that I’ve actually been there and done it that I sometimes get to have a useful conversation. Your Levi’s anecdote is a great example. I really liked the idea behind this campaign, but looking at the numbers I’m not surprised they couldn’t prove ROI. They didn’t set out to achieve it and therefore weren’t set up to measure it, carried away with the great creative idea.
Clients need to challenge and agencies need to challenge themselves. There’s a lot of opportunity to stand out from the crowd…
Hi Andy,
Your comments ring so true. Only the other week I had a search agency – one of the big ones in Sydney, calling me and trying to make me feel like I dont understand search so I would use his agency. He was so pushy that I hung up on him twice!
I agree with you that there are definitely some good ones out there you just need to search. I do however feel sorry for clients out there who are new to the industry and dont know how to sort the good from the bad.
Thanks very much for popping past and hope to see you on my blog again soon.
Cheers
Teresa
Wow man … very good post u got here.. anyway nice blog. lots of usefull information !:) thanks again :)