The digital revolution - an overused phrase that gives marketers equal amounts of pleasure and pain. We’re all astutely aware that it is this revolution that has completely transformed the way we communicate and provided marketers with a plethora of new opportunities to interact with consumers. However, despite all this opportunity, there are still many marketers that are not joining up the dots between the data available and how it can be effectively utilised.
As the marketer’s biggest commodity, data and recent technological developments have provided possibilities that could never even have been imagined previously. This revolution has brought an unprecedented amount of opportunities to identify customer behaviour and gain vital insight into how customers relate to a brand. Marketers now even have the absolute luxury of being able to discover through which channel the purchasing decision occurs.
Social media rules
However, in the cluttered and overcrowded digital marketing space, it’s tough for marketers to keep a firm grip on the rapid developments in the industry in the form of the latest trends and tools. Social media is a prime example; a self service technology allowing consumers to select the right information for their needs on the platform of their own choice. Looking at consumer data and behaviour derived from this allows marketers to determine which tactics work best for which customers. The trick here, which unfortunately so many people are still missing, is ensuring you’re not just using these mediums for the sake of it, and crucially that you have something relevant to say. As everyone knows, it’s easy setting up a Facebook page and encouraging consumers to ‘like it’ but what you really need is consumer engagement, brand awareness and ultimately, a boost in sales.
Endless opportunities
The opportunities to communicate using social media are vast, an uncontrollable and ever-expanding beast, presenting new opportunities and challenges by the minute. By aggregating data from these and analysing the most visited channels and engaged touch points, shared common denominators become clear, identities can be converged and the most appropriate channel established. The recent explosion of Location-Based Marketing (LBM) raises another issue; which provider can most effectively grow your business? Should you select mobile coupons or does it make more sense for a scavenger hunt on Gowalla? Despite LBM’s relative infancy, take heed that Facebook and Google are heavily investing in this area – and their huge customer base and convenient integration in their existing infrastructure will help LBM tactics become mainstream.
A shopping revolution
Take Facebook Deals, one of many forms of monetary incentive for what could be described as digital word-of-mouth – a public “check-in”. Already we have seen retailers experiment with deals that entice customers with significant discounts. The surge of digital communications - driven by the consumer’s need to interact, participate and co-pilot - results in a digitally empowered consumer. With word of mouth more valued than ever, risky marketing innovations – if well handled – allow brands to connect with the consumer.
An increasing amount of start-ups are experimenting in social media by building a social layer on top of online commerce, often directly connecting to the social infrastructure that Facebook offers. The gravitas of Facebook and the sheer traffic it generates makes it an invaluable tool for any business. The platform is shaping e-commerce for the next generation as more and more shops are being created directly within Facebook: selling products directly from their Fan page via the creation of a “shop” tab. This shopping experience gives users the ability to view a product catalogue, read reviews, make a purchase and interact with friends all from a fan page. A simple and economic process, where neither hosting fees nor sales commission need to be paid (for the time being), it is one of the fastest growing subsets of social commerce.
The age of mobile
Then there’s the vast influx of data insight available through mobile marketing. This is where it’s getting really interesting. Many brands are justifiably still unsteady on their feet when it comes to using mobile, because although it has been touted the next big thing for a while, only recently have mobile broadband penetration, mobile CPU power - along with affordable rates - finally and officially launched the rocket that’s the mobile web. While actual mobile commerce hasn’t yet taken off and only few people run their grocery shopping errands on their iPhone (though apps do exist), mobile’s main fuel is the social context and location data – marketing gold dust.
This area of convergence, aptly named SoLoMo (Social Local Mobile), covers recent trending practises such as location-based marketing (via Foursquare, Facebook Places and others), and mobile coupons/deals (via Groupon, Facebook Deals). Whilst currently SoLoMo-Marketing has a higher immediate significance for small local businesses than for big international brands, large companies should keep a close eye (and some test budget) on this marketing trend, in order to carefully align goals, strategy and tactics.
Customers are, in essence, becoming their own media agency communicating directly with retailers and brands. Likes, shares, recommendations and check-ins are exchanged in return for discounts and coupons. Equally, the introduction of Facebook credits - an international micropayment system in social games and virtual goods - is an area for massive digital retail growth. If customer trust increases, Facebook credits could become a central virtual currency to purchase real goods.
The agency of the future
Agencies today are presented with a multitude of new possibilities for brand communications, but the agency of the future must reflect the ever evolving consumer. In order to create a true connection between the brand and consumer we need to focus on identifying how people differ and which attributes of a brand proposition appeal to which audiences. This data insight will allow you to select the best self-serve technology, enabling consumers to select the right information for their needs on the media platform of their choice. We need to put data at the core of our planning and keep technology at the heart of our delivery platforms. Only once we have this securely in place can we then build ultimate brand commitment and seamless customer experiences.
Tim Hipperson
CEO, G2 Joshua