Over the past few years, marketing has evolved from companies competing with each other, in terms of finding out what their competitors are offering and trying to offer better deals, to reaching out directly to consumers and competing for their attention.
This shift is an indication that marketers have recognised that they need to re-strategise and change the way they reach their target audience and the tools they use in doing so, in order to be more effective in the current economic environment.
Technology is an important tool and it now plays a vital role in capturing customers’ attention. Now more than ever, marketers need to go where consumers gather, listen to them as they voice their needs and concerns and respond. Increasingly, marketers and advertisers are being urged to make greater use of digital marketing to engage these consumers and provide them with useful and appealing information.
Here are three important points to consider in digital marketing:
- It’s all about conversations. Presently, consumers are no longer interested in mass marketing campaigns because they don’t see the value of it. Conversations are merely an informal interchange of thoughts and information and marketers need to adapt to this simple concept.
- Creating and managing customer relationships: The ability to create and manage customer relationships across various mediums is very important. Marketers must know and understand their market. Data from consumers can be collected via social media, the web, e-blasts and points of sale, to name a few. The information gathered can be used to learn more about individual consumers, monitor their behavioural patterns and understand their expectations and how they feel about their buying experience.
- Making your company visible. In this modern, technology-driven age, successful marketing is about making sure your company is easy to find, not just about locating customers. Having a strong web and social media presence is crucial to enable your customers to find you. Customers are constantly searching for information and answers online, so your online presence must contain rich content to satisfy their every need. Once you succeed in capturing the customer’s attention, your content (which should be engaging and conversational) can persuade them to make an enquiry or even better, purchase the goods or services you have to offer.
As time goes by, more companies will come to appreciate the value in moving away from traditional promotional messaging and focus more on using the web and technology to deliver exciting and valuable content, thereby opening the door to more innovative advertising and messaging and greater connection with consumers. .
