Converging technologies has led to new and diversified digital experiences. Now more than ever, consumers are enjoying brand experiences across devices and platforms, making it more complicated for marketers to stay connected and sequence message delivery. As a marketer, if you want a consumer to experience your brand, you need multiple touch points to position your brand where and when customers spend their time both offline and online.
Nearly 89 percent of consumers go to Google before making any purchasing decision. Digital and mobile is critical to the buying cycle. Targeting consumers with relevant ads or content while they are interested promotes quality brand engagement and effectively drives conversions.
A brand’s ability to be on digital or the mobile web allows you to capture a potential customer as soon as they express intent, in the form of a search, visit to a website, or click on content. It can even do it through a transaction indicating a decision to buy, offering an opportunity to stay engaged post-sale.
If you are considering where to spend your dollars in 2015, here are my top five reasons on why marketers should allocate more dollars to digital marketing and the mobile web in 2015.
1. Digital is a higher investment up front, but it maximizes efficiency and generates great results. You can do more with less. Digital affords automation of processes that would otherwise require larger head count. Do more with less.
2. Digital is measurable and therefore a marketer’s “boon.” Using data and analytics, marketers can get smarter and leverage a level of precision in their strategies that wasn’t possible before. In fact, online data can help inform offline programs, minimizing the guess work.
3. Digital is everywhere. The convergence of technology has led to digital and social media being a part of everything that we do and the way we experience the world. If you want a consumer to experience your brand, you have to be where they are.
4. Digital tools like social media allow for two-way interaction with a brand unlike before. This opens opportunities for brands to build deeper connections with customers, leading to greater insights that can impact a company’s overall health and vitality among brand advocates.
5. Contrary to belief, digital doesn’t always have to be a high-ticket item. Leveraged creatively, digital has allowed brands to communicate with their audiences at scale for a small investment. Granted, it’s not free, but you can start small and grow from there.
Budgets follow a well thought through plan. A solid strategy starts with audience data. You need to understand your target audience, what motivates them, where they live and how they behave before creating your digital program. There will always be a need to test and learn, but you want to make informed decisions using research first.
Keep in mind that digital is not a solo operation. Establishing partnerships with other marketing areas early is a good idea to develop a thoughtful integrated strategy. In order for a company to truly build brand equity, it must compliment online programs with offline programs. Integration is a must.
