ShareMeet Greg, our latest addition to the new business team. Thanks to his extensive background in the marketing industry, Greg brings tonnes of wisdom to his new role. In this blog, he shares some insight into the world of digital marketing, and why he believes the digital-first philosophy is the way forward.
Welcome, Greg! How has it been joining Coast and how does it differ from your last agency?
Joining Coast Digital has been a fantastic experience and from the outset, everyone has been really welcoming. I’ve been really impressed with the internal collaboration, professionalism, and dedication of everyone.
One of the biggest things that has struck me is the internal culture, it really does make a big difference! The work ethic, the collaboration and even the social side, all create a great atmosphere. It’s refreshing to be part of such a friendly team and one that has such great client feedback.
My last agency was a lot smaller, so Coast Digital has been quite a big change. But it’s amazing to have so much talent and expertise in one place to be able to call on. I’ve really enjoyed my journey so far, and I’m very much looking forward to the future.
What does your role entail at Coast Digital?
I’m part of the new business team, and my role involves meeting new clients and helping to find solutions to their problems. Our goal is to find solutions, improve performance, and help support business growth. It’s about building business relationships and creating sustainable outcomes that provide real value for clients.
The role involves listening to what a client has to say, understanding their challenges and working with the right internal specialists to find the best solutions. I then create proposals that add maximum value, deliver results, and drive the greatest Return on Investment (ROI) for clients.
What attracted you to a career in Digital?
I think there are a few reasons why I was attracted to a career in digital. It’s partly because it feels like a constantly evolving sector that’s dynamic, full of innovation, and focused on the future. It’s constantly changing, developing and always looking ahead.
It won’t get replaced over time or become less important, it will just adapt and become even more relevant. When done at its best, it’s user-centric and puts the user at its core. It’s not about forcing users to do what we want, but about designing and creating experiences that meet their needs and expectations, making them want to engage with us.
I enjoy the challenge of always trying to do better. I also love being part of something that makes a real difference to organisations by delivering tangible and measurable results, and being able to work with lots of different organisations to help them achieve their goals. It’s also great to be in a sector that’s always evolving and trying to innovate, I believe that today’s pioneers, create tomorrows normal.
Your previous experience includes traditional & digital marketing. What do you think are the key differences?
My background is in marketing, and I have years of experience on the agency side. I believe in a full omnichannel approach to marketing and that all organisations should take a holistic view. All forms of marketing have their benefits and advantages, but the important thing is to consider what’s right for the organisation and their challenges. These decisions will rely on research and data.
One of the main benefits of traditional media is its scale and the ability to reach large audiences at a relatively low cost per impact. It’s possible to reach large numbers of people, with a high frequency, in a short space of time. We can reach millions of people in a single instance – think of the Super Bowl!
However, it lacks targeting, trackability and attribution and is generally a huge investment with potential wastage. Digital on the other hand offers lots of control with precise targeting, detailed tracking, attribution models and lots of data – making it easier to scale and measure progress and returns. But I don’t think one should be played off against the other, every marketing channel is a tool – we just have to use the right ones at the right times.
In any case, I believe that we should always take a digital-first philosophy. Any marketing strategy should always start with digital; a strong digital foundation and specifically a website and brand position, then build out from there. To use the leaky bucket analogy, there’s no point in collecting water, if the bucket has holes in it!
What do you see as the benefit of using an agency vs an in-house team?
I think there’s a range of benefits to using an agency, including the access to a full team of specialist experts, that work in their fields day after day. They also get to see wider industry trends and insights, offering fresh external input, ideas, and an added level of accountability.
The agency’s role is to deliver results for a client, and they will need to keep doing that, month on month, whereas internal teams may have other duties or priorities and could lose sight of the goals. It’s also difficult to facilitate and sustain a full in-house marketing team, it can lead to compromising, under-resourcing and overstretching.
Scale is often also a problem, an agency removes those issues and can add scale and resources as required, offering the greatest level of expertise, flexibility, and efficiency. An agency can also work alongside internal teams to add additional support and become an extended part of your marketing team.
In summary, an agency can provide specialist experts, scalability, flexibility, and efficiency, delivering increased value and greater results for clients.
What’s exciting in Digital right now?
Marketing has come a long way over the years and is always going through changes, I think one of the most notable was the proliferation of mobile. Another key change has been the idea of “deference to reference” and the importance of inbound marketing.
There was a time when a prospect would look to an expert to find out what they need. Now, most people will do their own research and make their own decisions on what they should do. It’s often now said that an average prospect will do up to 70% of their research before even getting in touch with an organisation. So, this is why inbound marketing is so important – we need to present the best version of ourselves to our prospects and encourage them to reach out to us.
I think user experience (UX) is another important part of marketing. We need to understand our customers and create experiences that work for them, I think about it like ergonomics in the digital space.
I also think evolving technology is creating new and exciting opportunities to engage with users. Things like:
- Internet of Things (IoT) devices
- Voice control
- Artificial Intelligence (AI) machine learning
- More sophisticated devices and wearables
- Augmented reality
- Virtual reality
- Meta verse
There are also some challenges to consider, particularly with analytics and tracking. With the end of third-party cookies, increasingly more platforms natively blocking tracking, and the introduction of GA4, there’s a lot for organisations to adapt to.
We’re at the forefront of the battle between data and privacy. But with all indications showing that GA4 is an even better and more powerful tool than before, I think there are loads of exciting things ahead for marketing!
Want to find out more about the services Coast Digital offer? Get in touch with our friendly team to start your digital journey.
