To reach to the digital consumer, you have to become one.
As consumers become more familiar with digital technology, businesses are evolving their marketing strategies to meet expectations. Websites and applications are now considered an essential part of a brand’s presence. The digital age is making it possible for brands to connect with their clients all over the world and reach out effectively to their specific target audiences. However, with so much reach, it is easy to get befuddled and make mistakes while communicating to your audiences digitally. Here’s our list of top six rules that your marketing team should know about:
1 – Digital does not mean machine-like:
While digital gives you the opportunity to reach out to millions with a single click, it also poses a problem: if not monitored properly, it will not be as effective as face-to-face communication. Since your customers are interacting with you through electronic media, they need to be able to see the human side of the interaction to trust you and do business with you.
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Take away the robotic feel of digital by setting the right tone and voice for your messages. Keep your words as personal as possible and respond to the feedback your customers are giving you. This will let them know that there is a real person behind the other end.
In the latest installment of TWC’s Enjoy Better campaign, Emily Thorne, the devious heroine of ABC’s “Revenge”, breaks into the home of one of her enemies – over, and over again – to illustrate how the cable service was the first to introduce the “Start Over” on demand function.
2 – Innovation beats competition:
Always. The digital technologies we use today hadn’t been thought possible a few years ago. The consumer of the digital age expects brands to be creative with their messages. Think of new ways of grabbing people’s attention. More often than not, you will find that your consumers have a daily routine. Change one part of that routine and you’ve got yourselves an attention-grabbing advertisement. Catch your consumers on the go while they’re least expecting it.
Digital technology can help you achieve this in several ways. For example, Coke recently promoted its Diet Coke with Slender Vender – an ultra-slim Diet Coke vending machine placed at critical locations. The placement and the design were enough to have people buying instantly.
3 – Creating an experience is crucial:
Digital technology works best when it captivates your consumers’ senses: sight, sound, touch, taste and smell. When people find your advertising message coming to them through more than one senses, it mesmerises them. It creates an “experience” in their minds that they won’t forget soon.
Combine the real world with the virtual world to create an ethereal effect for your consumers to interact with. Then sit back and watch the word spread like wildfire! To raise awareness of Ford’s new Park Assist feature, it was a simple matter of making Parisians vividly aware of how they park. Over a tight parking spot, Ford installed a giant pinball machine that reacted every time a car got hit.
4 – Evolve with the world:
Keep your marketing strategies updated with what your customers are using everyday. If your customers have moved from traditional TV to websites like Hulu to watch their favourite TV shows, your marketing agenda should evolve accordingly. Stay tuned to awards such as Webbys which honour the best of web and digital each year.
Combine the real world with the virtual world to create an ethereal effect for your consumers to interact with. Then sit back and watch the word spread like wildfire! To raise awareness of Ford’s new Park Assist feature, it was a simple matter of making Parisians vividly aware of how they park. Over a tight parking spot, Ford installed a giant pinball machine that reacted every time a car got hit.
5 – Test it out on real people:
Once you’ve created a campaign, test the idea out on your office colleagues or friends before you let the entire world play with it. This will give you insight on how people are reacting to your campaign and where they are having problems before you release the campaign for your consumers. This feedback will help you fine-tune the idea and when you later release it, will give your consumers the impression that your brand really knows what its customers want.
There is a reason why Gmail was kept in Beta mode for five years! The Gmail team at Google kept an eye on how people were using Gmail, what they were complaining about and what features they were relying on most heavily. This led them to innovations such as Priority Inbox, a new Compose window and various attachment features.
6 – Enjoy digital, live digital:
When was the last time you smiled at the thought of a new project? Well, to be a successful digital marketer, your answer should be very recent. To understand the consumer of the digital age, you have to become one. Thrive in digital, breathe it in and most of all, enjoy it. Relish the technology and take every marketing project as the next challenge.
