Heidrick & Struggles, an Atlanta-based recruiting firm, recently conducted a survey to evaluate the success of digital strategies in marketing activities, such as social media, search engine optimization (SEO) and business intelligence. They surveyed 111 senior marketing executives at firms with $1 billion or more in annual revenues and found that while many marketing executives acknowledge the wealth of information about their customers online, many expressed that they’re “not getting what they want out of it.”

Lynn Seid, a partner at Heidrick & Struggles, reports marketing executives are frustrated over the fact that “so much information exists online about consumers – like their search and social media behavior – and yet marketers felt they were accessing it poorly.” Given the current economy, many organizations are focusing on cross-selling and up-selling to existing customers and gaining market share from competitors in order to stay afloat.

A few highlights from the survey include:

Respondents were dissatisfied with their current ability to access information about ROI and metrics on their digital marketing strategies.

Although one of the positive features of digital media is the ability to let marketers respond quickly to new opportunities, only 16 percent of the marketing executives polled rated themselves “very satisfied” with their ability to do this.

The most important features of the digital marketing mix were ROI analysis, Web behavioral analyses and CRM. However, only 18 percent of those surveyed said they were “very satisfied” with their ROI analysis, 13 percent said the same about their CRM program and 19 percent were happy with their search engine optimization (SEO).

A majority of marketing departments would like their IT departments to take the lead on handling analytics including Web traffic and usage reports.

As they look for new ways to market their companies via social networks, SEO and mobile advertising, a majority of marketing executives agree there’s a lot of room for improvement. And while there are a number of digital agencies and suppliers that specialize in social media and search, there aren’t many agencies that manage, integrate and establish best practices in these areas.

In order to implement a successful digital media campaign, you must have a clear understanding of how technology and marketing can effectively work together. A few tips to evaluate your digital media strategies include:

Look at your current digital activity

Have a clear understanding of what your business, communications, and marketing objectives are

Identify how traditional media efforts align with or support your digital media strategies

Understand what your resources and capabilities are

Look at what your key competitors’ digital media efforts are

Outline areas where you can digitally differentiate your business from your competitors

Build a digital media strategy based on your objectives strengths, and capabilities

Frequently review and update your digital media efforts

Understanding and getting the most out of digital strategies such as SEO and social media are also becoming an increasingly important part of PR. We have found that the best way to make sure our clients get the most out of their digital strategies is by clearly understanding their objectives and making sure our outreach aligns with these goals.

How do you rate your digital marketing strategies? Do you agree with the marketing executives polled or have you had a more pleasant experience? We’d love to hear your thoughts!