Not so long ago, in the 1950s, consumers were at the mercy of advertisers who sent them marketing messages through different media. The 1950s could be called the advertiser’s dream decade, especially in the United States, where advertising enjoyed a revolution. World War II was over, the post-war economy had recovered, and prosperity was taken for granted. In this environment, Americans were ready to buy houses, cars, clothes, and any product that would reinforce their lifestyles. Of course, advertisers were willing to sell all these products. To do it, this time, they had a more powerful tool than printed ads: television. It was not the only media; they also had press, radio, billboards, print… in which advertising was mainly a one-way conversation from the advertiser to a captive audience.
With the explosion of digital media, people began to interact in new ways with each other, and also with the companies making their transactions. The importance of print media has been declining since then, giving way to digital media that have opened their doors to consumers. Today, there are no passive consumers or brand monologues. Today, consumers are also authorized consultants and critics. The online panorama is participatory, a framework where consumers exchange ideas. Marketing specialists no longer drive the discussion. Every day, consumers around the world are creators of product reviews, specialized opinions, debates, and even trends.
For marketing specialists trying to compete in these new digital media, it is incredibly difficult to show their content above the noise generated by the millions of conversations we find on the internet. Because, while it’s true that the amount of time consumers spend on the internet and mobile devices has increased dramatically, it is also true that the amount of content available has increased exponentially. More digital content is created in a day than most people could consume in a year. With so many options, our audience has a very short attention span.
Digital marketing today
Marketing specialists face new challenges in the digital market. But we also have the opportunity to create communications, personalized content, and relevant content marketing to develop deep relationships with customers based on continuous interactions.
Who is using online marketing?
From content optimization to offer customization and media relationship management, companies in all industries are using digital marketing to improve their customer experience and advance the purchasing cycle.
How digital marketing works
Digital marketing and its associated channels are important, but not to the exclusion of everything else. It is not enough to just know your customers; you must know them better than anyone to be able to communicate with them where, when, and how they are more receptive to your message.
To do that, you need a clear vision of customer preferences and expectations in all media: web, social networks, mobile devices, email, etc. Marketing specialists can use the information provided by the different tools available to create and anticipate experiences of coherent and coordinated customers that will make them move forward in the purchasing cycle. The deeper the knowledge of your customers about their behaviour and above all else, their preferences, the more likely they are to buy your product or service.
What is needed to do digital marketing correctly?
Here are three keys to digital marketing success:
• Manage your relationships with customers in a variety of media, remember that conversations are now cross-platform.
• Respond to and initiate dynamic interactions with customers: Answer their questions, talk to them.
Extract Big Data value to make better decisions faster. To be able to respond in a conversation, you must first listen carefully.