The digital marketing game is always changing, but some trends are unmistakable. This month, we offer a quick round up of the major shifts we’ve noticed, all of which add up to ever-increasing levels of sophistication and unprecedented results.
1. From Customer Loyalty to Customer Advocacy
Everybody wants a loyal following, but the bigger win is getting your loyal followers to say great things about you and your products. Potential customers are far more likely to act on consumer endorsements like Facebook Likes and Angie’s List reviews than on ads. With this in mind, many businesses are actively creating platforms for customer advocacy. Of course, these platforms can also be used for negative feedback, so an open and experienced eye is crucial.
2. From Touches to Experiences
By integrating traditional and digital marketing efforts and using all the digital platforms—video, social, mobile, blogs—companies are learning to create rich brand experiences. This is a major leap beyond the old passive goal of “customer touches”. Compelling experiences developed through multiple, complementary communications have the power to drive people together and build a community. Small Business Saturday by American Express is a great example.
3. From Dabbling to Integrating
Most companies have tested various forms of digital and social marketing and are now moving aggressively to formalize their programs within their overall marketing framework. CFOs are sending a clear message that the time for pilot projects is done. Specific strategies, goals, and objectives are now required to justify digital and social marketing budgets.
4. From Websites to Multi-Channel
In the early days of digital marketing, driving prospects to a website was the predominant goal. Now marketers are driving people to product sites, social networks, YouTube videos, specific retailers, blogs, and many other channels. ROI assessment has gone beyond traditional metrics like website hits to include measurements of community creation, conversation initiation, increased product sales, downloads, and more.
5. From Ads to Increasing Levels of Content
Content is still king, and businesses are learning the value of sharing more of their expertise with customers. Pop-up ads on key/relevant searches still have value, but we see companies distributing more content than ever before with an “onion strategy” that allows the customer to peel back and get increasing levels of detail based on their interest.
6. From Static to Interactive
One-way communication is no longer enough. Companies are turning to interactive digital strategies that spark conversations with customers through blogs, communities, social networks, and more. Active customer engagement provides better results, as well as information that can be used to improve products, enable sales, or improve marketing mix.
While social and digital are still very new, they are advancing at an incredible rate. They are also becoming much more integrated with traditional marketing programs, forcing marketers to make trade-offs. Budgets simply aren't growing fast enough to do everything we used to do while expanding in this new arena. For a strategic perspective on how best to make those trade-offs, contact us.