Posted by Introduction to Marketing
Marketing has been around since the advent of the commercial pursuit of humanity, if not before that. All events ranging from carnivals in bucolic serenities to the techno-savvy isle at international shows that attract the attention of potential clientele which is done for exchange of money through formalized processes are examples of marketing. The definition as per the American Marketing Association is:
Marketing is the activity, set of institutions, and processes for creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners, and society at large. (Approved 2017)
Parents promising a new bicycle for better grades or asking out a girl and salary negotiations are also usher examples of applying marketing strategies. So let us dive in deeper to understand the subtle dynamics and reshape your strategy for the 2020 ready campaign.
The necessity of Business Marketing
(Image source: ge.com)
What if your product is the top-notch offering in the market, but nobody knows about it? You need to indulge in business marketing for engaging your clientele and prospective buyers while maintaining a rapport with them. One of the fundamental benefits of doing so is to develop an intimate touch with all stakeholders, including the existing customers, employees, clients, partners, vendors, and potential customers through constructive communication.
Hence, organizations go for omnichannel campaigns to boost sales. Also, the feedbacks provide insights that shall help in staying relevant to the market while devising scope for cross-selling, new product development, and expansion. Engaging in active advertising is a great challenge before organizations of all sizes owing to the number of platforms available and the distribution of target audiences. Getting exposure becomes imperative to both business sustainability and growth.
Now that we agree upon the fact that it is an integral process, the big question would be: How do I develop a strategy to get things done? Putting things down on paper is an easy job, but applying it in real-life conditions is equally challenging. You will have to mend a tailored content creation plan for each channel that stays congruent and adds value to the targeted mass. Gone are the days when a simple billboard or newspaper classified would bring in customers. You will have to reach out to the masses on different platforms, which aren’t a part of the classical approach. So, all your prospects are in the online world, and here’s how to be on top of the game.
Getting Inclined towards Digitalization
Have a quick look at the list of statistics below:
- The mobile advertisement and spending may hit $247.4 billion globally by 2020. (Statista)
- Globally, the user base for email services in 2022 is expected to reach 4.2 billion people. (Statista)
- Videos will bring in 82% of internet traffic by the year 2022. (Cisco)
- It is expected that sales on e-commerce sites will hit $4.5 trillion by 2021 globally. (Shopify)
- More than three fourth (79%) people research the product before making an in-store purchase. (Salesforce)
Content Marketing
It is a systematic approach to engage the audience by providing relevant information to different groups of audiences with a segregated strategy for each multimedia platform. They use various forms of expressing information such as text, images, GIFs, videos, immersive technologies, infographics, and voice to convert the interaction with content into tangible revenue. Hence, it is a core part of devising and maintaining revenue streams. Blogging is a principal contributor in any digital marketing strategy followed by email campaigns, vlogging, and podcasts. These pieces of content are posted on different websites, blogs, and social media for mass consumption. Core content will be used to develop smaller fragments as per requirement.
AR & VR based Marketing in Malls
We are aware of the posters and LEDs all around the cities and malls. However, the AR/VR technology is the latest addition to the list. They produce an immersive reality either by creating a completely interactive 3D cocoon around the user (VR) or by manipulating the real environment (AR) with props. How about a clothing store where you can experience snowfall for your winter shopping? That’s precisely what the future of in-store marketing looks like.
Personalized Targeting
The use of automation tools and customizing the content as per the individual is known as personalized marketing. This can increase the customer experience and bring in higher revenue. Having personalized content helps in improving the feed of the clients and provide them with ‘relevant information’ over ‘abundant information.’ Pitching the financial instruments in anticipation can be understood by the typical behaviour around particular events such as starting investment after marriage or buying insurance after childbirth. Personalized targeting reduces the need to spend money on commercials heavily as the prospectus is narrowed down. Hence, many companies are integrating their payroll software with investment portals to serve employees’ interests.
World Wide E-Commerce Platforms
The most substantial disruption in the global business world in terms of the B2C sector is the rise of worldwide e-commerce platforms. They provide a broad platform to the businesses (Amazon has a customer base of 300 million globally. Source: Statista) and international marketplaces also provide convenient transaction management as a part of mediation. Most of the companies would prefer to go with such mediums instead of setting up a distribution network of their own in all markets. Hence they can kick start their business without massive initial investments.
Paid Marketing
The PPC (Pay Per Click) campaigns are a vital part of the digital marketing landscape since they directly buy ‘space’ from the respective owner with the required quantity and quality of viewership. Google Adwords is very useful in driving the audience when organic traffic is not considered. The costing is based on the particular keyword that is to be targeted and the ‘bid’ prices. The location-based advertisements are much more effective in this segment. A significant benefit is that the advertiser has to pay for only the clicks made and not for the number of people who view the advertisement. Other forms include PPI (Pay Per Impression) and display ads. They are suitable for targeting specific areas or events.
Quick Fact: Three-fourth of the people don’t bother to go to the second page on Google. (Source: LinkedIn)
Significance of Social Marketing
Social marketing is a relatively new term, and it is intended to make a lasting impact on the masses for ‘social good.’ It was is believed to be first conceived by K. T. Chandy in 1963. It focuses on doing social good, and although revenue may be a probable result, the initiatives are generally not aggressive towards them. Instead, the behavioural aspects which will benefit the sector, in general, are promoted. Promoting safety in a hazardous industrial environment to spread awareness is an example of such efforts that will ultimately bring in revenue for the company. Social media is one of the primary mediums for these activities. Recently, the promotion of the movie ‘Padman’ used this concept with the ‘Padman Challenge’ as a part of fighting the stereotypes associated with menstrual hygiene.
Brand Awareness
In 2020, focusing on brand awareness will become more critical than ever before. We are witnessing an era of hyper-connected devices, and this poses a great opportunity to utilize the power of association with compounding effect. The very essence of representing notions that kindle interest for masses will have the marketers to be more aggressive and maintain congruence across platforms to resonate with the brand image.
Regional Marketing and Influence
Regional marketing is gaining momentum as strategic localization of the sales pitch helps in gaining customer trust and loyalty. It has been experienced in the past that many gestures or behaviour types have completely conflicting ideological narratives in different regions. Clashing them might cause problems ranging from boycotts to severe protests. It is therefore advisable to maintain sound market research before devising campaign plans for any new territory to stay away from unwanted controversies while being respectful to local influences.
Which Outdated Platforms are Still Prevalent
TVs are still relevant to the audience due to its widespread availability and user-base all around the globe. When large scale campaigns are concerned, they provide great potential to attract revenue for products needed by the almost entire population. Generally, these products are purchased from disposable income. The urban public listens to a radio during the long commutation hours. This is accompanied by billboards along the route to produce a hammering effect to trigger sales. This trio is very much useful, especially for the metropolitan areas.
YouTube-based Video Marketing
All of us would prefer to watch a video on YouTube to learn about any subject or revise content from our area of interest as compared to long descriptions. Missing it in your digital marketing strategy would hurt as hitting this platform through video reviewers shall directly fetch their fan following, which trusts the YouTube channel with a time tested viewership. Many companies have realized the power of displaying sponsored ads inside popular videos that are the source of passive income for creators. Video marketing and paid reviews will help in demolishing the barriers set by other social media platforms in terms of the versatility of expressing ideas.
Conclusion
The author would like to stress out the fact that digital marketing is an existential part of reaching out to the masses without which, the very survival of companies would be at risk. It is, therefore, preferable to use an automation tool for your enterprise so that you can allocate budget with consistency across all social media platforms. It is essential because the core content cannot be used directly for each platform due to the specific constraints, while re-curating content from scratch every time you post it will generate high overheads.
They will provide a holistic approach by consciously spending resources to maintain an optimal balance between budget and scalability. Each sector has its own set of requirements which should be entrusted to proper tools and workforce for best results in 2020 and beyond. Publishing content on websites and having a rapport with customers on social media will prove to be an exotic edge provided by any marketing strategy.
Shy Lee is an Associate Digital Marketing Manager at factoHR, an India based hr, and payroll software solution providers. She is a creative marketing strategist with over 8 years of experience developing digital marketing strategies and guiding business development.
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