Digital Marketing Discovery

Conversational onboarding is a two-part word that refers to how experienced, professionals in the digital marketing space decide who they work with, while determining the scope of a project and the terms for going forward.

Conversational onboarding is different from the actual onboarding process itself (where we ask for client content, usernames and passwords to any social media accounts already created, any logos, and other marketing collateral or content they may already have) in that it’s the beginning of onboarding.

It’s the process of finding out what the potential client wants, comparing that to their stated objectives, and having a brief series of in-depth, extremely sincere discussions about achieving business goals they feel are vital to their growth.

It’s similar in theory to discovery in the practice of law, in that it’s a process used to gather important information needed in order to prepare for a larger proceeding. In legal matters, that larger proceeding is going to court. Since my goal is to help a business become more profitable and have greater visibility in their community, my “discovery” process is focused on learning:

• About our potential client as a person first, then as a business owner
• Our potential client’s perceived wants, and where those fit in with their greater long-term needs
• In the process of obtaining this information, we also need to find out if our potential client’s goals and objectives match up with their desired budget range, schedule, local market, capabilities, and preferences
• All of the parties involved, their role(s) in development along with other departments
• What transpired before we were contacted in terms of digital marketing so we know what foundation (if any) was previously constructed or established

When business owners have websites that fail to generate leads for them, it’s most often because that website was created as a “one off,” meaning that it was created either as a perceived single one-time action like buying a stack of business cards before going to a big networking event, or that it was created by someone other than an experienced, professional Digital Marketing Specialist.

Client Needs

One of the primary ways that we can guarantee concrete results is by first disseminating what our client wants.

It seems pretty simple at face value, but since the work a Digital Marketing Specialist performs is highly technical in nature and utilizes a wide-ranging spectrum of tools (SEO, social media marketing, design, content marketing, branding, just to name a few), there’s quite a great deal of information we need to discern, document, and then organize before work can be started on a project in an ethical, professional manner that is meant to achieve desired outcomes (such as increasing profits or expansion into new markets within a pre-determined period of time).

Conversational onboarding goes beyond just name, phone number, email address, company, business type, address, and so forth. It even goes beyond budget, company website (if any), and delves further to target audience (and what that research that decision is based on), local competitors, any brand identity already established, niche positioning, ideal customer (also known as the buyer persona), company structure, existing marketing goals compared to long-term objectives several years forward, current set of tools used (such as a CRM, calendar tools, book-keeping, etcetera), to parties involved winnowed down to primary point of contact or project lead within their organization. Then we need to assign our own team lead, priorities, plan for achieving objectives that assimilate in all the information gathered, and then streamline and clarify any information that seems contradictory or vague.

From there we need to establish what I call KPIs, or Key Performance Indicators, which are used to determine how the client (and as a result, we) will determine the success of the project. Without some way to measure success and determine if we’ve reached it or not, we don’t achieve results. It’s like going on a road trip with no GPS and no destination: you end up going nowhere.

Whereas many freelancers new to working with clients will ask their clients what they want and then go about fulfilling an order; those with deeper experience working with business owners will ask for the “why.” The “why” in digital marketing is asking why a potential client wants to contract for our services in the first place, followed by what business goals they are hoping to achieve.

How Does a Professional Digital Marketing Specialist Do It?

Every business has objectives they want to achieve: it could be to increase revenue while reducing redundant operations, it could be expansion into new markets while consolidating overhead, it could be increasing donations to a nonprofit while also adding to their newsletter subscriber base or tracking site visits per day. Whatever goals the potential client needs to fulfill, we should be able to deliver…granted we are first able to gather that information.

The way to gather this integral information is through 2-3 initial brief conversations to first gauge whether or not we’re going to be a good fit for one another. Obviously, from the perspective of the digital marketing specialist, it doesn’t benefit you to work with a client who doesn’t have goals to accomplish or is happy with an empty template website and conversely no business owner in need of increased profits wants a generic empty template that sits online collecting virtual dust. They need phone calls, bottom line. We should want and be able to make that happen.

By understanding that “why,” we get a firmer understanding on what the client is trying to get done in the life of their business. While one client may want to “get more leads,” a very broad expression to be sure, another may need to increase customer orders in a specific way or through a specific method by a set deadline or they could fail to meet a quota. One business owner may wish to sell a property whereas another may want to increase memberships or donations or orders placed by a set amount. Whatever that client need is, or set of needs, we need to know.

Outcomes Matter

We need to know the specifics of their expected outcomes so we can achieve them. The work we do will by its very nature vary in scope from business to business, and from approach to approach.

For example, the work that I would do for a non-profit organization seeking to increase donations but already has a functioning website would be very different form the work I would perform for a restaurant owner.

How I would help a construction company owner earn more contracts is very different from how I would help a health clinic fill more patient beds, and that’s very different from how I would help a realtor sell more high-value properties.

Since business goals can vary greatly from business to business, and since there are many other factors that can influence how we accomplish client goals (such as demographics, budget, and business structure), it’s imperative to request (at least) two to three initial conversations before signing that that dotted line.

To learn more about proper client onboarding or digital marketing success in general, please get in touch.