Digital marketing platforms give companies the opportunity to increase their productivity and reach by incorporating everything from CRM systems, web content management, email marketing, social interactions, website traffic, online advertising and more under one "roof."

The major advantage of a digital marketing platform is the ability to see all of your marketing programs side-by-side. It's easier to compare ROI and determine what drives your clicks, engagements, leads and sales. You can tell what is working for your company at-a-glance, and you can make better business decisions based on what you see.

If you are unsure whether a digital marketing platform would help you grow your business, ask yourself these questions:

1. Can I tell if my marketing efforts are paying off (and which programs are the most profitable)?
2. How much effort do I have to put into tracking my targeted programs?
3. Do I want to automate any of my marketing campaigns?
4. Do I want to simplify my reporting process?
5. How many different places do I have to go to analyze customer behavior (Google Analytics, email software, CRM, etc.)?
6. Am I notified when a customer or prospect returns to my website, opens an email or places an order?

If you want to move to a digital marketing platform, there are several out-of-the-box solutions available. We have experience with most of them at OffWhite, but we seldom recommend them for our clients. Why not? Our reasons are two-fold.

1. When you purchase software that was built with a specific application in mind and then commercialized for the masses, customization is typically cumbersome. If your needs are specialized, building a custom system may actually be more cost effective for you. Think square peg, round hole.
2. Large companies don't always understand – or relate to – the needs of small- to medium- sized businesses. Big box solutions come with a hefty price tag. To realize the full value of the software, which is often more complex than what an SMB truly needs, your company may need to hire a programmer and a strategist to run the system. You end up paying for features you can't even use becuase the software is one size fits all.

So what do we look for?

1. Systems that are open source – you have access to the code, and it can be altered to meet your specific needs.
2. Individual solutions that provide exactly what you need and have APIs available so they can be integrated with other tools (Google Analytics is a good example).
3. Opportunities to build something unique that will solve a problem for a company.

Creating a unique solution is exactly what we did 13 years ago when we built the first version of our Ed.it software. It's evolved a lot since then, morphing into a full Digital Marketing Platform. The original concept remains the same: building and customizing a software solution to meet each client's specific needs. From website content and email marketing to social media and analytics, the Ed.it2 Digital Marketing Platform can be customized and scaled to meet any need.

Your customers demand personalized solutions, so why shouldn't you? Contact Bill White or Abby Spung today to learn more.