Does this sound familiar? If so, you’ve probably entered into a project with a poorly laid out project scope. You’re not alone – 85% of projects go overtime and over budget!

Wikipedia defines Project Scope as “the work that needs to be accomplished to deliver a product, service, or result with the specified features and functions.” Too often, we enter into a situation where the project is loosely defined and we experience the dreaded scope creep – new features are added as the project progresses and the longer the length of the project, the greater the chance there is of this happening. Scope creep increases the cost of the project, the complexity and time to completion and ultimately the profitability of the organisation.

So, what can be done to prevent it? When defining the scope, what does the project manager need to understand at the outset? How do we keep a project on track and on budget?

Requirement analysis – customers don’t always know exactly what they want and often provide vague ideas of the solution they require. As their knowledge of the project increases through the process they then have new ideas which change the original plan. It is therefore vital to have an initial understanding and education of the process and what needs to be achieved.

Involve users from the outset – don’t make assumptions about what people need. A Project Board needs to include representatives from the executive, supplier and user.

Understand the complexity of the project – has it been done before? What were the lessons learned? How can we improve next time?

Process of change control – any project will likely have changes. How we manage, document and approve them is important to keeping the project on track and on budget.

Communicate – often a project can run off track because of unclear internal and external communication, or using the wrong tools to manage the project. Clear communication at all levels is key to success.

So what should the scope include? It should contain, but not be limited to, the following:

Justification – a brief statement outlining the business need the project will address. This is the business case for the customer.

Product scope description – the unique characteristics of the products, services, and solution your project will produce. For example, in a website build, the description of the sitemap and unique functionality.

Completion criteria – how will we know the project is complete? These are the conditions that must be met in order for a project to be considered finished.

Deliverables – the objectives, or what the final result will be.

Project exclusions – statements about what the project will not accomplish or produce.

Constraints – restrictions that limit what you can achieve, how and when you can achieve it, and how much achieving it can cost.

Assumptions – statements about how you will address uncertain information as you conceive, plan, and perform your project.

Get the scope right. Work closely with the client and make an effort to truly understand and implement the right solution for them. This will give the project the best chance of being delivered on time and on budget, creating a solution that meets the expectations of all parties.

That article lead to a series of debates and ‘the Google argument’ arose frequently. The term digital is often linked, in the minds of many marketers, customers and Web users, with Google – as in, “digital is the future, traditional is the past.” So, with that in mind, “how important is it to be on the first page of Google?”

It’s impossible to argue against the power of Google. The numbers themselves are just amazing. In the US alone there were over 2 million searches for “white and gold dress” in just one day! (Haven’t heard about the dress that nearly broke the Internet? Check it out here). Google now processes over 40,000 search queries every second on average (visualize them here), which translates to over 3.5 billion searches per day and 1.2 trillion searches per year worldwide. Seriously, wow!

Google is certainly massive and, like traditional media, it is here to stay. People talk about a decline, and perhaps there will be, but until there is a different way to quickly and efficiently search the Web, Google is likely to stay number one. I’m aware of ‘in app searches’ and how this challenges Google in the long term, and how they’ve recently lost contracts with Mozilla and Apple to be the default search engine, but I think it will be long time before any other mechanism closes in on the power of Google in digital.

When considering Google rankings, it helps to take a look at Page 1 search results. Choosing the city and business type at random, I’ve done a search for “Plumbers Charlotte.” The results page is home to a range of paid adverts, located at the top and down the right hand column, one organic result and the ‘local 7 pack’ of map related listings. Each listing situated above the fold is monetized, with the exception of the single organic result. Below the fold, there are 9 organic results, including Yelp, Yellow Pages and Angie’s List. 6 of the organic results are Charlotte-based plumbing businesses. Page 2 has 8 plumbing businesses listed in the organic results.

Google suggests that there is, on average, just over 1,000 searches for Charlotte Plumbing. This number is relatively high, making it worth ranking for. However, it is important to remember that dedicating a large percentage of your marketing budget to Google AdWords and search engine optimization tactics is a very risky strategy. These days, it is both difficult and expensive to land on the first page of Google’s search results, as well as difficult to achieve. Research has shown that click through rates drop off rapidly after the first page of search results (they fall from an average of 36.4% for the first spot to 2.2% for the 10th result). On Page 2, click through rates are even lower.

Meanwhile, there are many other ways to generate traffic online, from social media to blog posts, referrals, local search engines, Internet Yellow Pages and review sites like Angie’s List and Yelp. Another great method is to have your traditional media, such as newspaper and radio ads, reference your website.

Yes, Google is big. It’s (perhaps) growing. It’s important. That said, it is certainly not the be all and end all for most businesses and it pays to think outside the “Google Search” box.

Image Credit: SEO by India7 Network, via Flickr, CC License

There are reasons for the decline of traditional media and one is lack of innovation. Digital is growing and taking an increasing share of both marketing spend and user consumption, but that doesn’t mean that traditional and digital medias can’t play together to create a better overall product. Adweek argues that the goal is to “align yin and yang — or ‘top-down’ (broadcast) and ‘bottom-up’ (interactive) platforms.”

“When digital and traditional creative are conceived separately, brands lose focus, which confuses people. In addition, each achieves complementary objectives. Top-down shapes preference. Bottom-up deepens engagement—or time spent with an idea—that leads to loyalty.”

Not all consumers have a smart-phone, a tablet, or even a desktop computer. Nor do those who do consume all of their media in one format. A mixed approach allows businesses to reach the right customers via the right channels, and influence them in different ways at different times in the buying cycle.

Digital does have advantages. Measurability and optimization really can’t be beaten by traditional. You can’t see who is directly engaging with your print and how, but this information is available for online. However, on the traditional side, the permanence and ability to be “disruptive” (meaning, catch your attention) has a lot of potential. A computer needs firing up, and pointing to the correct URL. The phone book is there, on the desk, 24/7. It’s hard to ignore. The billboard shouts at you every time you drive past it.

When you think about it, it’s exceptionally difficult to make an emotional connection with someone via a 300×250 banner. While digital marketing is expanding and increasing in interactivity, it is still lagging behind the traditional in this sense. With a larger canvas, like a newspaper, magazine or TV commercial or Yellow Pages ad, advertisers have more opportunity to engage.

The key is to tie the two together. We can stimulate and interrupt with traditional media, but direct to digital media with unique landing pages, offers and calls to action, allowing us to leverage its optimization and measurability. A landing page can be adapted based on whether the visitor is a current customer, past customer or new prospect and traditional can also be used to enhance an advertiser’s mobile placements. Examples include QR codes, audio recognition adverts, vanity URLs, social media interactions, hashtags and more – you get the picture.

So is traditional media dying? Not at all! Yes it’s changing and it’s overall market share is decreasing as new forms of marketing rise up. We have to look at the whole marketing mix in order to create an effective marketing solution, which will look different by industry, location and for each business. Traditional is still a massive part of that, but it should be developed in conjunction with other media to maximize the impact of each. Together traditional and digital are truly much greater than they are alone.

Image Credits: Newspapers B&W (3) by Jon S via Flickr, CC License, no changes made

The digital marketing sphere includes banner ads, websites, online articles, social media, blogs, email, advertorials and more, and the list continues to grow. Web users are becoming increasingly web savvy, leading to an increased need for thoughtful, engaging tactics.

According to the 2012 Edelman Trust Barometer 63% of consumers need to hear company claims 3 to 5 times before they’ll actually believe them!

In today’s advanced day and age, it’s easy for users to avoid your message. Mobile browsing has overtaken magazines in waiting rooms and favourite television shows are frequently downloaded, allowing users to skip through commercials or avoid them altogether. Many businesses are experiencing a decline in online advertising Return On Investment as the popularity of  banner ads on the Web decreases and people click less on them unless they have a clear call to action.

Instead, the informed buyer is now doing their own research. Rapidly consuming digital content, they are carrying out research online, finding content from local resource sites and search engines like Google and Bing. As such, it’s important to ensure that your details are in front of them when they are looking for you, across multiple channels.

More and more, as marketers and business owners, we need the target audience’s permission to engage with them – and content marketing (link to in-depth explanation) is a great way to do this. Creating high quality, relevant and valuable content aimed at your customers, and publishing it far and wide, ensures that your message is waiting to be seen. Additionally, capturing the interest of your audience allows you to personalize and tailor future messages. Many publishing and analytics tools (link to one?) allow you to further refine where and when you publish content, increasing your marketing efficiency.

Content marketing allows you to:

• Be seen – your customers will read your material because it is relevant and they are ready for it
• Build trust – you will be seen as an expert in your field
• Be smart – out-manoeuvre without outspending your competition

Want to learn more? Call a Yabsta Digital representative today. We can put you on the map!

Images courtesy of http://www.freedigitalphotos.net/

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