Knowing what is necessary for a web marketing campaign and actually accomplishing it are two entirely different challenges for businesses.

If a web marketer from 10 years ago was dropped into 2014, she would probably be overwhelmed with all the choices. Whereas she once only had to think about somehow appearing on Google SERPs, there is now Facebook, Twitter, Hummingbird and a host of other considerations that have complicated the content marketing landscape.

Yet the marketers who lived through these changes haven’t necessarily fared any better. In fact, according to a study by IBM’s Institute for Business Value, at least half of marketing officers have created piecemeal web marketing strategies and as a result are seeing limited or no results. If you’re concerned you fall into this category, there’s still plenty of time to address the areas where your campaigns are lacking. Consider the following marketing tactics and how they can quickly be added to a web marketing plan.

Social customer collaboration

Just over half, or 52 percent, of IBM survey respondents indicated they weren’t properly using social media. Essentially, social customer collaboration means asking clients or social followers to give you a hand. In addition to feedback about your business, customers can be tapped to see which content is shared most or sparks the most intense discussions.

Integrated touchpoints

Nearly half (46 percent) said they were limited in terms of integrating customer touchpoints across channels. There’s a very fine line businesses need to walk when using multiple social resources. On one hand, content shouldn’t be shared simultaneously across networks, whether the posting is automated or not. At the same time, overseeing Twitter, Facebook, Google+ and LinkedIn is almost a full-time job. If nothing else, you must make sure posting habits and frequency are appropriate on whichever networks you choose.

Capture customer insights

Companies can produce excellent content and be active on social media, but if they don’t periodically take stock of their progress, it might all be for nothing. That’s how a whopping 59 percent of respondents to the IBM survey felt. It seems gaining a better understanding of how customers are interacting with content is one of the most troubling activities for web marketing professionals – but it shouldn’t be. Social media dashboards, Google Analytics and other low-cost (and at-scale) software can help provide demographic insights that allow businesses’ to improve their content.

Addressing all of these challenges isn’t a guarantee customers will start lining up at a companies’ digital doorsteps’ – but then again, nothing really is. The best any business can do is to hedge its bets with high-quality content and ample social media engagement.

Alex Butzbach is a Marketing Writer at Brafton. He studied Communications at Boston College, and after a brief stint teaching English in Japan, he entered the world of content marketing. When he isn't writing and researching, he can be found on a bike somewhere in Metro Boston.