Why Every Brand Needs a Digital Quarterback

It wasn’t long ago that a brand’s digital media strategy might involve running a few banner ads pointing back to its website. But the rules of engagement have completely changed over the past few years, requiring much more than these basic “destination” plays. Today, brands have to constantly seed content to connect with consumers wherever they may be as they search the digital and social landscape for information and entertainment.

For marketers, managing this takes a village, so to speak — an ever-growing team of different people, disciplines, divisions and agency partners. And the challenges created for marketers in trying to make sure all these efforts are properly orchestrated, optimized and aligned to their overall business objectives present a golden opportunity for the right agency (or agencies).

Enter what we refer to as the “digital quarterback.” While the digital QB might sound like a super-human strategic savant of the digital world, it’s actually a group of people who come together to fill a single, critically important role: making sure a brand gets credit for everything it does online.

This requires a truly integrated mindset and multi-disciplinary focus. The digital QB team has a head for strategy and numbers, as well as a passion for creative quality, integrity and performance. They help set strategic business objectives for the brand, then ensure all tactics deliver on them. They keep an eye on the brand narrative — making sure it is both true to the brand and carried through consistently in all communications. And they ensure all efforts deliver maximum results in organic search.

In order to do all this, the digital QB is armed with a comprehensive cross-channel analytics dashboard, custom-built for each individual brand. A team of strategic experts then derive insights and implications from that dashboard. These data-driven recommendations are shared with other agency partners to ensure efforts align with a brand’s essence, voice and business objectives. It’s about finding out what works and repeating those things while eliminating waste.

For example, for one client we saw coupons were an effective driver of growth for our social community. Not surprising. But our analytics also showed that those fans were staying engaged, recruiting friends and trying recipes we suggested in numbers significant enough to justify the coupon investment. We kept an eye on the cost-per-acquisition and, as time went on, curtailed spending as the ROI began to diminish. It was all about efficient spending.

And that’s noteworthy because it’s an example of how having a digital QB doesn’t just make a client’s digital efforts perform better. It also makes life easier. Different agency partners may bring to the table different digital strengths and capabilities, but the digital QB sits over the top of the whole operation and makes strategic calls based on data and what’s best for the brand — not what’s best for one player.

It’s like having a signal caller who doesn’t mind spreading the ball around to lots of receivers as long as the brand gets in the end zone. For example, when you’re making decisions about where you can win with SEO versus where you might need to invest in search engine marketing or display ads, the digital QB has the freedom and data to give the client a recommendation that says, “Save your money.”

Return on investment isn’t just about marketing effectiveness, after all. It’s also about efficient spending. Every brand wants to make it to the playoffs, but few have the luxury of Super Bowl-sized budgets.