HOW DIGITAL MARKETING IS REVOLUTIONIZING BUSINESSES

?Digital marketing is changing the landscape for many businesses. Traditionally, the focus of marketing was based on four elements; Product, Price, Place and promotion. The four elements have been used to influence its consumer purchases and increase sales. However with the evolving times, consumers are changing their purchasing strategies and leaning into user- centric content created by avid digital marketers and content creators. This means that content about your business or organizations need to factor in the consumers’ needs and avoid only telling the ‘me’ story.

Recent research shows that 60% of content created by brands is poor, irrelevant or fails to deliver. Such poor content is derived from businesses bombarding their consumers with half-truths, not so well thought out information and focusing on their sales and not their brand.

To ignore digital marketing is placing a capstone to your business. To put this into perspective, in a single day there are 3.5 billion searches on Google and 5 billion videos streamed on YouTube. We have close to 380 million people using adblockers to pass their message only proving that ignoring the magnitude will only push your business to non-existence. The world is quickly shifting to the digital space. This only means that in a few years, no one will bother placing their content on TV ads or print media. The internet has made it much easier for consumers to choose what to see or read. This however does not mean taking your TV budget and placing it all in social media. Digital marketing is about finding out where your consumers are, what they are doing and having a metric for you success.

Observing Content

 Consumers have gone further to look at what value the company adds thus not focusing on the battle supremacy wars that companies engage in. We also need to learn that consumers are looking for information that is current and informative within a span of five minutes. With the information age, consumers are caught up in catching up with the current; considering that the current is fast paced. This also means that creating engagement is something we have to deal with and learn to handle it.

The easiest way for businesses to catch up with the fast world is to make a segmentation of its consumers and to understand their need and their likes. Factoring in the above allows a business to know what they want to achieve in the long run. Segmentation also helps you to know which social media platform to use. Facebook still has a bigger advantage in promoting your business and using paid media to sell your story. Instagram, which has faster taken the space is a great platform to capture your millennial and Gen Z consumers. Going viral with Instagram is very easy since your target audience fights with being viral. The platform also allows room for storytelling and making your consumers engage with your product.

Businesses should therefore invest their time in creating content that inspires its consumers, content that helps them find solutions and that which makes your netizens subscribe to your site. For every business their end goal is to have repeat customers.

Rewire your business

The four Ps (Product, place, price, promotion) of marketing is still fundamental in building your business. However it is time to factor in the 5Ps of digital marketing; Precision, Purpose, Pace, Partnerships and most importantly Pace.

It is clear to note that “You’re not saving the planet because you sell potato chips, but you may be selling potato chips because you save the planet.” The best way to sell in the digital space is to remain human and informative. Remember, your consumers will always want it emotive, expressive or in a fulfilling way. You do not need to be robotic; you only need to communicate to the audience in a simple way. Staying close to your audience may look like a drenching story, but the output effect will be tremendous since the outcome is long term. Just remember, consumers no longer focus on your sales story, they are focused on your brand.

About Valerie

Valerie Odhiambo is a strong advocate for learning. When you are young, you work to learn and become a better person. Someday, I will be wiser...but for now, I accept to be foolish.