Digital marketing represents the coming together of technology and psychology in a unique fascinating way. If, at heart, a marketer's goal is to create campaigns that speak directly to a given audience in a way that is both authentic and effective, technology offers powerful new ways to learn more about what an audience really wants, and what will really matter to them.
Digital marketing matters because it is what your customers want and it is where your customers are. Simply put, the old marketing playbook is broken and consumer behaviours have changed. Rather than tuning into traditional marketing channels - newspapers, print ads, etc. - your customers are tuning out as they are deep in the world of all-things digital. So, if you're not represtented in this space, it's time to figure out why and how to get there (fast!).
Why digital matters:
1. Search is Powerful
The majority of consumers are using online research to inform their purchasing decisions for small businesses. 81% of consumers are going online to research businesses and 4 in 10 consumers rely on social media review sites as their research platforms. If you are not visible in these search engines (using such tactics aas SEO-optimized content), you'll never show up in search results when potential consumers are looking for your type of products or service.
2. Mobile Matters
Sure you have a website and maybe even a blog. But are they mobile optimized? In 2015, over 50% of consumers performed their local searches via mobile devices, a figure that has been increasing ever since. A mobile optimized site is now included in Google's ranking factor, it is expected that in the future this may become the main ranking factor- so if you want to stay ahead and keep your spot on Google's first page, having a mobile friendly page is so important.
What to look out for in 2018:
Augmented Reality Integrated Through Social Media- As our obile devices become more powerful and social media apps better integrate with AR, brands will more than likely us AR to better engage with consumers.
Video Marketing- Googles stats that 20% of its mobile queries are voice searches. and that number is only going to increase as consumers get used to asking Alexa, Siri and other smart devices for insights on what to buy. Marketers need to prepare by creating content that captures these types of searches, and advertising in non-traditional places. Expect to see a lot more video content from Sendmode in 2018.
Understanding consumers journey - Data drivenmarketing is a powerful tool, but how that data translates to customer journey will be paramount in digital marketing success in 2018. Strive first to use data to know where your consumers will be on ever step of their purchasing journey.
B2B Marketing - Is it different?
Yes!!
Reaching out to business customers requires a much different approach than reaching out to the average consumer. It goes without saying, then, that digital marketing in the B2B space is also different than B2c digital markeitng. The tools are the same, but how you use them is much different and for some reason B2B companies have been slower to adopt new medias than B2C companies.
Over the years Sendmode have incorporated many of the above into our digital marketing strategy in a bid to find what works for us. Digital marketing can, at times, be frustrating and we've learned that the same strategy may not always work for ever company, you have to find what works for both you and your consumers.
Read this full post at Digital Marketing, Why it Matters.
Saoirse