The gap between digital ambition and digital organisation
We're all gearing up with great strategies and tactics — figuring out how to position ourselves in the new economic models digital unleashed, talking about innovation, data, and so on. But it's striking how often companies with very mature, sharp digital business models simply don't look at the teams or governance managing their digital activities today.
How can you capture and engage audiences with no team responsible for digital marketing end-to-end? Media buying capability alone isn't enough — capitalising on paid traffic isn't sustainable over time, since it's a bidding system and costs continuously rise for the same activity. You need people who can generate cheaper traffic, leverage tools beyond mere targeting and retargeting, and know how to engage existing customer bases — all working in sync toward the same objective.
How can you sustain cost per lead if no one is improving overall conversion? How can you maintain a website if no one is responsible for the content? How can content people perform if they don't work in sync with sales or traffic generation? And who's responsible for the user experience across the digital ecosystem, understanding the dynamics that drive more sales or more useful customer interactions?
Why this matters more than the strategy itself
These skills and profiles are the ABC of digital — and too often they're scattered across the organisation, misunderstood by traditional lines of business, trying to bridge the gap of information or solutions needed to sell or service products imagined elsewhere. Too often, responsibilities are fragmented, with people shooting in different directions with no build-up toward digital KPIs. Too often, these digital profiles spend more time explaining what they do and why than actually building a stronger digital activity. Sometimes, these responsibilities aren't even covered at all.
Big data, IoT, and whatever trendy word appears in your feed today mean little if the basics of managing digital activities aren't right — skilled people, in the right structure, with enough empowerment. Look at your digital organisation today and ask if it's shaped and positioned correctly.
Strategy is nothing if you don't have the capability to execute.
Frequently asked questions
Why do companies with mature digital strategies still struggle?
Because strategy alone isn't enough — many companies never look closely at whether their teams and governance are actually set up to execute that strategy.
What happens when digital responsibilities are fragmented across an organisation?
People end up shooting in different directions with no coordinated build-up toward shared digital KPIs, and profiles spend more time explaining their role than doing the work.
What's the "ABC of digital" that organisations tend to overlook?
The core skills and profiles needed to run digital end-to-end — traffic generation, conversion, content, sales alignment, and user experience — working in sync rather than scattered.
