Sales and Fulfillment

How Digital Marketing Can Take the Lead In Transforming Business

Are enterprises prepared for the moment when customer experience (CX) overtakes price and product as the key brand differentiator?

Frost and Sullivan predicted years ago that such a significant shift would happen by 2020. Success in digital marketing, therefore, lies in creating personalised experiences spanning marketing channels, sales process, and customer services.

Here are some of the trends that will define the future of digital media and the impact on customer perceptions and interactions.

Digital marketing trends in 2020 and beyond

Influencer marketing

In just one year, there has been 325% increase in the number of searches on Google for the phrase ‘influencer marketing.’ Influencer marketing is essentially an amplification of word-of-mouth marketing, with major brands signing contracts with influencers to reach out to their customers. According to Business Insider, brands are expected to spend up to $15 billion on influencer marketing by 2022!

Voice search and conversational marketing

Innovation in search query processing, smart assistants, interactive interfaces, and messaging is paving the way for conversational marketing. Technologies like voice search optimisation (VSO) mimic human dialogue, thanks to the neuro-linguistic programming (NLP). This results in personalised conversations and better customer engagement, with computers capable of detecting prominent aspects of human communication.

Augmented and virtual reality

The augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) visual display market was $1.6 billion in 2019, and it’s expected to touch $4.4 billion by 2024. Social media platforms such as Snapchat are inviting AR creators with templates for the multimedia messaging app’s proprietary Lenses, which virtually transforms famous landmarks worldwide. It’s no wonder that tech giants like Apple, Google, and Microsoft are spending massive dollars to implement these technologies.

Data-driven digital marketing

With the advent of advanced BPM analytics tools, consumer data, buying behaviour, and investment patterns are sorted, analysed, and delivered as actionable strategies to attract, engage, and retain customers.

The shift to multiexperience

Digital marketing has evolved from a single touchpoint to multisensory and multi-touchpoint interfaces such as advanced computer sensors and wearables. Technologies such as AR, VR, and multichannel human–machine interfaces, as well as sensing technologies are converging to provide multi- or ambient experiences.

7 digital marketing strategies shaping business processes

Digital media has completely transformed the way businesses function. By adopting a ‘fluid’ approach and incorporating evolving technologies, businesses have transformed processes to focus more on customer centricity and effective service delivery.

To make digital marketing improve revenue and drive profitability, businesses need to do more than just focus on a few growth sectors. There is a lot of scope to holistically apply digital media technology to all aspects of business. Here are a few digital marketing strategies for businesses to look into.

1. Website updates and transformation

The set-it-and-forget-it attitude towards website maintenance will not advance business. Websites today need continuous upgrades, maintenance, customisation, and nurturing, which can entice the right set of customers. Websites must be interactive, responsive, and embedded with metrics and analytics to collect customer data required for customisation of offerings.
Focus areas:

• A customer-centric approach in design, layout, delivery, and content
• Multi-device accessibility and responsiveness
• Clear and varied call to action (CTA) to generate customer responses on pricing, demo, queries, and so on
• Testimonials, whitepapers, and case studies as key takeaways
• Social media pages — linked and active
• Clear navigation with structured information

2. SEO, SEM, and content management

With ever-changing algorithms of search engines such as Google and Bing, managing SEO and SEM can become overwhelming for internal teams. Keyword analysis, content management, and content strategy require continuous monitoring and can become cumbersome when a business’ core products or services need attention. In such cases, using professionally managed digital services rather than relying on in-house teams will go a long way in improving business outcomes.
Focus areas:

• Keyword research and analysis
• Competitive research and analysis
• Audience profiling
• Targeting and segmentation
• Sales and account management support
• Content creation and management
• Compliance editing
• Content localisation and discoverability
• User analytics
• Web content management (technical — metadata, cataloging, HTML tagging, and landing page URLs)

3. Integration of online and offline marketing

Businesses need to be where customers are. PR professionals who employ offline marketing campaigns must integrate their strategies with online marketing efforts to provide a holistic, omnichannel customer experience.
Focus areas:

• SoLoMo (social, local, and mobile) marketing such as mobile check-ins
• Hashtags and custom URLs
• Offline promotions with online CTAs
• Online customer data for offline marketing efforts
• Digital reward apps and multi-medium messaging for customer-facing small businesses
• Digital reward apps and multi-medium messaging for customer-facing small businesses
• Teaser advertising
• Personalised emails and messaging

4. Social media management

Managing online interactions and content across social media channels, such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, and Pinterest, to maintain customer interest and engagement must be part of the core digital marketing strategy.
Focus areas:

• Social media monitoring
• Intervention
• Brand monitoring and analysis
• User segmentation and profiling
• Web presence management
• Traffic monitoring
• Demand analysis
• User engagement

5. Catalog management and e-commerce support

Customers move seamlessly across different channels and look for rich, consistent, and engaging product information. Businesses often rely on e-commerce platforms and Excel sheets, or outsource the job to professionals, or use designated product information management (PIM) systems or other tools.
Focus areas:

• Product marketing management
• Catalog (digital) management
• Webpage management
• SEO/SEM
• Creative testing
• Consumer analytics
• Brand monitoring
• Campaign management

6. Advertisement operations and campaign management

Ad operations and campaign management teams work closely across social media channels to serve, target, optimise, manage, and report the campaign performance and traffic management of advertisements.
Focus areas:

• Order entry and confirmation
• Creative testing
• Ad trafficking
• User segmentation and targeting
• Mid- and end-campaign reporting
• Analytics and optimisation
• Inventory management
• Account management and sales support

7. The convergence of technologies in digital marketing

A sudden technological surge over the past decade has led to disruption in how businesses market offerings and connect with customers. This has led to the personalisation of interaction between the brand and its customers. Integrating the latest technologies into digital marketing is vital to improve customer experience and engagement.
Focus areas:

• Personal digital assistants (Google Assistant and Alexa)
• Chatbots
• Voice search
• Micro-moment marketing
• Sentiment analysis
• Predictive marketing

Total integration of digital media technologies into day-to-day processes is a challenge for most businesses. But these challenges also offer opportunities for businesses to improve their ROIs and bottom lines. Digital media for businesses has transformed the market expansion process, improved product penetration, and acquired and retained customers at a fraction of cost compared with traditional approaches.

However, successful digital marketing requires consistent effort and timely engagement. So opting for professional digital media management services to leverage seasoned expertise and skill sets is recommended.