October 25, 2018
After spending 15 years as a director of Urban Element, you may be wondering why I’ve decided the time is right now to set up Ellard Outloud, and the answer is simple: I’m frustrated with seeing businesses make the same mistakes again and again when it comes to digital. I believe everyone should get return on investment on their digital marketing – but you’d be surprised by how often that’s not the case.
I clearly see the need for an independent digital marketing consultant to take a step back and review how a business’ digital presence is working in conjunction with their overall business plan, and to help them take the necessary measures to fully integrate the two.
Having that external viewpoint, together with my marketing knowledge and experience running my own businesses, allows me to set achievable goals for your team and provide that direction.
I have a passion for helping businesses get it right, and one of the most common issues I come across is an internal digital marketing team who are doing what they can on a tactical level, and yet are directionless in terms of the big picture.
I’ve witnessed first-hand the complete disconnect within a business between the company’s goals in terms of growth and progression, and their digital strategy. I’ve also seen the magic that can happen when the two work hand in hand, and I want to awaken others to the notion that digital needs to be invested in to achieve long-term business growth and success.
To give an example of this disconnect, one client I’ve worked with in the past enthusiastically told me all about their promotional activities for their range of recently released marble kitchen worktops. They were exhibiting them beautifully in store, showing them off at events, and had trained their sales team to knowledgeably inform customers about them. And yet when I looked at their website the sparkling new worktops were only mentioned once briefly on a hidden page of their site – completely missing the digital opportunities such as promotional banners, an email campaign and a social media push.
It exasperates me to see companies investing so much time and effort bringing exciting new products or services to market yet remaining digitally silent, or else promoting them digitally in a way that’s not engaging or captivating to the consumer.
I no longer want digital to be an afterthought – I want to bring it to the forefront of directors’ meetings to be properly nurtured and considered along with every other aspect of the business.
And rather than being in denial of digital technology and the full scope of its importance, I want to help businesses embrace the digital world and place themselves firmly ahead of the competition.