In today’s B2B landscape, savvy buyers research, consider, and often decide long before interacting with a salesperson. Winning their hearts and wallets requires powerful digital experiences that resonate at every touchpoint. But how do you ensure that your marketing team delivers? Forget rigid structures and generic strategies. The key lies in enabling your team with 12 critical digital marketing skills and capabilities. The Four Levels Of Digital Marketing Purpose The pyramid is comprised of four levels, with three core capabilities or competencies to enable the organization. The foundation: understanding your audience through personas, journey maps, and audience frameworks. Next, orchestrate exceptional experiences by tailoring interactions based on context and intent. Then, craft compelling messaging and content that attracts, engages, and converts. Finally, analyze insights and optimize delivery to continuously improve. Level 1: Who Are You Targeting? It all starts with your audience. Deeply understand their needs, preferences, and decision-making processes. Personas capture the essence of ideal buyers, while journey maps visualize their digital interactions. Tools such as audience frameworks help prioritize segments and align initiatives across teams. When Juniper Networks unified its product and marketing teams around the customer, CMO Jean English and her team made a significant impact, “resulting in revenues exceeding 50% of the company’s total revenue.” Level 2: When Do You Make A Difference? Every digital interaction shapes perceptions. Elevate brand awareness through consistent digital experiences, whether it’s a self-guided website exploration or a personalized content recommendation. Use data and AI to deliver the right message at the right time, maximizing engagement and influencing buying decisions. Adam Kaiser, VP of growth marketing at 6sense, said, “Digital is where growth marketing happens and is part of every stage of the buying journey.” Level 3: What Content Moves The Needle? Attract and convert with meaningful content and messaging. Start with audience context and build a hierarchy of messages targeting each stage of the buying journey. Modularize content for rapid scaling and personalization across various channels. Remember, technology such as marketing automation is your friend, creating an integrated ecosystem for seamless customer experiences. When Dan MacAvoy, vice president of digital marketing, product, and revenue operations at HCLTech, relaunched the brand, he commented that “our digital channel activations drove a 70% increase in brand lift during engagement.” Level 4: Why Are You Doing This? Data is your guide. Clearly define customer needs to craft effective messaging and personalize content. Analyze insights to understand what resonates and optimize delivery for continuous improvement. Remember, both organizational and customer value are crucial. Your goal is to build a high-performing team that drives marketing effectiveness and business growth. Sera Lewis, worldwide digital leader at IBM, takes it one step further by “enabling customers to find what they are looking for fast and using data to passionately enable engagement.” Building Your Digital Marketing Dream Team Now, how do you empower your team to climb this digital pyramid? Leverage the Forrester B2B Digital Marketing Canvas Template. The framework helps align digital efforts with your overall business strategy. Invest in skills and capabilities. Prioritize building a digital-savvy team with expertise in areas like data analysis, personalization, and content creation. Establish structured processes. Implement cross-functional workflows that ensure consistent and prioritized digital interactions with your target audience. This blog was written by Principal Analyst Rani Salehi and it originally appeared here .
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