Digital Marketing ROI with Corey Morris

This episode of "Let's Talk Marketing" explores the importance of strategy in digital marketing and its connection to ROI. Host Katya Allison interviews Corey Morris, President and CEO of Voltage, who brings nearly two decades of experience in driving growth for national and local brands. Corey shares insights into creating marketing strategies that align with business goals, the critical role of customer journey mapping, and the evolving digital marketing landscape. The conversation also touches on balancing creative work with measurable business outcomes, the importance of decision-making, and Corey’s approach to leading an agency. Learn how to build campaigns that connect with audiences and track meaningful results while navigating the fast-paced world of digital marketing.

Key Takeaways and Insights

Takeaway 1: Unlocking Marketing Potential with AI

Corey Morris discusses the transformative impact of integrating artificial intelligence (AI) into marketing strategies. AI technologies streamline the analysis of large datasets, enhance customer segmentation, and automate routine tasks, allowing marketers to focus on crafting more personalized and impactful campaigns.

Corey elaborates on the use of AI tools that analyze consumer behavior to tailor marketing efforts, predict future trends, and dynamically adjust strategies based on real-time data. These tools help in achieving a deeper understanding of the customer journey and enhancing the effectiveness of marketing campaigns.

"AI is reshaping how we approach marketing, from data analysis to real-time decision-making, enabling us to deliver more personalized and timely content to our customers."

The strategic integration of AI into marketing not only automates operations but also provides insights that drive smarter decisions, optimizing both budget and resource allocation. As the digital evolves, AI becomes an essential tool for maintaining competitive advantage and fostering innovation within marketing teams.

Takeaway 2: Staying Ahead in Digital Marketing

Corey Morris emphasizes the importance of staying agile and informed in the rapidly evolving field of digital marketing. He advocates for continual learning and adaptability, utilizing tools like industry newsletters and professional networks to stay current with emerging trends and technologies.

Corey mentions subscribing to key digital marketing publications and engaging with thought leaders on platforms like LinkedIn to keep abreast of new developments and innovative practices in the industry.

"To remain competitive, it's crucial that we keep our finger on the pulse of the industry, embracing new tools and strategies as they arise."

Adaptability in digital marketing isn't just about adopting new technologies—it's about fostering a culture of innovation that encourages experimentation and continuous improvement. This proactive approach ensures that marketing strategies remain effective and aligned with both market conditions and consumer expectations.

Takeaway 3: Driving and Measuring ROI in Digital Strategies

Corey Morris shares his thoughts on the importance of meticulously measuring the return on investment (ROI) in digital marketing to ensure that every dollar spent contributes to the overarching business goals. He discusses the necessity of employing precise tools and metrics to evaluate the effectiveness of digital strategies comprehensively. Corey emphasizes that understanding ROI goes beyond surface-level metrics; it involves deep dives into data to ascertain what strategies drive actual sales and conversions, thereby optimizing marketing spend and increasing overall business profitability.

Corey talks about the integration of analytics tools that provide real-time data on consumer interactions and campaign performance. He shares examples of how marketers can leverage platforms like Google Analytics and CRM software to track customer journeys from initial contact through to final sale, thereby gaining a clearer picture of marketing effectiveness.

"Getting a solid ROI from digital marketing isn't just about launching campaigns; it's about continuously analyzing the data to see what's working and what isn't, and then adjusting your strategies accordingly to maximize impact."

The real power in digital marketing lies in the ability to make data-driven decisions. By setting clear, quantifiable goals for each campaign and closely monitoring performance metrics, marketers can ensure that their strategies align well with business objectives. He stresses the importance of not just setting up metrics but actively using them to guide marketing decisions, ensuring that investments are always driving measurable business outcomes.

Key Quotes

• "I gravitated early in my career toward digital because I felt like the attribution modeling and the ability to know, I can know in real time where somebody came from, how they engaged with everything on the website and how they purchased."

• "I talked to prospects or clients who have worked with an agency before who just did the bare minimum or did a checklist or set of activities with no deep connection to strategy. It's just like we're doing posts a month. We're doing five social media posts a week. We're monitoring these things, or we're going to write copy, or we're going to do whatever, build some links and hope that it's magically going to connect really far over here to this ideal goal outcome."

• "If we can't articulate that, then, then we're at risk of being on a different page as a marketing team, or even as an organization."

• "This is where you may have to get messy, fix some connections between marketing and sales data, and to also get a bigger picture of ROI overall."

• "Because even with the industry leading dashboards and third party reporting tools that sometimes make it easy to connect all the data sources, they're ignorant of how much that I cost, or my team costs, or an outside vendor or agency might cost, or how much our software costs, even the same software you might be paying for to be able to report a holistic ROI that a CMO or a C suite might care about, or a business owner might care about too."

•  "So I was able to make sure that we have all of that in place before we go start spending money, because the last thing we want to do is say we have this perfect plan, but we can't quantify it as a challenge either."

• "And at the same time, if I think about just search marketing specifically, less people are clicking through search results than ever before. That trend actually started before AI emerged, before even COVID, where Google was keeping more users and answering their questions directly in a search results page, versus sending traffic through and as we see with a lot of the different things, of speculating on whether Google is going to get broken up and antitrust things, and all the things that are happening with the emergence of AI and its own search engine, we're just getting more sources."