4 areas where digital marketing strategy helps you make the most of what you have.
Have you ever watched any of those TV survival shows?
Whether it’s about cooking a hearty meal with the fruits and animals of the forest. Finding your way through an impenetrable jungle with nothing but a compass. Or winning $1million for starving and back stabbing … the basic intention is the same.
It’s about making the most of your situation with the resources you have to hand.
Surviving in the jungle got me thinking about surviving in the business world, and how to do this sustainably, with few resources.
In my article on content marketing and sustainability, I briefly touched on four cornerstones of a sustainable business journey, and how content marketing supports them.
Disclaimer: These ‘foundations’ are MY interpretation and adaptation of the ‘four circles of sustainability‘ used in some other sectors. As concepts, they come together under an organising principle known as ‘sustainable development’.
What does that mean exactly? According to UNESCO and the 1987 Bruntland Commission:
“Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.”
In other words SURVIVAL – yours and those you leave behind.
So, how do these four cornerstones apply to a workable survival strategy for your small business? And how does digital marketing come into it?
1. Ecology
Protecting your external environment from the impacts of your business, starts with your internal landscape. Be conscious of your eco-footprint, conserve where you can and communicate these actions, to educate your staff and your customers. Make being ‘environmentally aware’ a natural part of how you do business.
For example, traditional marketing methods, such as brochures and flyers, are resource and waste intensive. But digital marketing can be the opposite. E-commerce helps you reach more customers without the need for physical shopfronts. And you can use your business blog and social media to inform and connect online with customers attracted to your world view.
2. Economics
The Triple Bottom Line is an over-used term. But this reference to ‘people, planet, profit’ still paints the most effective picture of trading in a way that benefits your community, the earth and your bank account.
Digital marketing requires instruments and processes. There are many online tools to help focus the way you work and the way you market your business, with pricing structures to suit your pocket. And reducing overheads here, means you have more to give in other areas.
3. Execution
From your terms of service, to your delivery method and how you handle complaints. Whatever your approach, the way you ‘do’ business influences your clients and employees. Focus on making every aspect of your operations productive, competent, potent, and real.
As mentioned above, very often the best solutions to support your business and marketing objectives are tech-based. Make sure it’s technology that works with (and for) your people.
4. Experience
Whether it’s your office culture or your communication style, it’s all about perception. What knowledge and abilities can you draw on to improve the experience? How do you connect with your people in a way that promotes trust, truth and transparency? How can you make it easy for them to embrace your sustainable ethos, without it costing you, and them, the earth?
To make it in our tech-heavy future, you need to adapt to endure.
Are you a survivalist? How are you making the most of what you have?
I’ll cover each of these cornerstones in more detail in future posts, so stay tuned if you want to find out more. :)
[Image Source: RGB Stock – hisks]
