An effective digital strategy involves a number of important areas, each of which must integrate seamlessly with the others if it is to achieve the desired results. For example: if you wish to target a specific subset of your customers with a new promotion, you will need that allows you to easily identify your target audience as well as a well-written marketing message that can be delivered to them via email or another communication channel. Some companies choose to use multiple vendors to help them implement an effective digital strategy, which in this particular example might involve having a CRM system built by a software design and development specialist and a marketing campaign devised by a digital advertising agency. While this may seem like the most logical solution, it does make the whole process more complicated than it needs to be.

What a Single Vendor Can Bring to the Table

Involving multiple vendors in your corporate digital strategy may offer the theoretical possibility of being able to cherry pick the best in the business to implement each particular part of your strategy. However, in practice, you will spend far more time evaluating vendors and will be unlikely to end up with the best people for the job in each discipline. Another downside of this approach is that you will have to communicate with a number of separate entities and they may not work together effectively. Working with a single vendor brings the following benefits:

• One Point of Contact – You can save an enormous amount of time by having a single point of contact for all your digital needs. Instead of calling a software specialist, marketing guru and web designer when you want to market a new product, you can make one single call. The responsibility for coordinating the efforts of various team members will lie with your single point of contact rather than with somebody inside your organisation.
• Complete Responsibility – Possibly the biggest problem to arise from dealing with multiple vendors is the propensity for each vendor to pass the buck when anything goes wrong. Work with a single vendor and there is no question of them not taking responsibility for any delays or mistakes.
• Improved Performance and Results – When all functions are handled by a single vendor, those responsible for putting your digital strategy into operation will be highly motivated and accustomed to working with each other on a daily basis. This motivation and shared familiarity with working processes will ensure that each project you undertake runs smoothly from start to finish. It should also ensure outstanding results in terms of sales leads generated, brand awareness, and other key areas that you target.

The customer relationship management benefits of working with a single vendor should not be underestimated. When IT functionality, marketing processes, and the automation of various business operations are all handled by the same vendor, the result is a cohesive digital strategy, implemented by a team that spends time executing ideas rather than coordinating their efforts with other vendors.