In our transforming world, the usual classical codes are turned upside down, and new ones have to be reinvented. As far as marketing is concerned, this principle applies in particular since the development of marketing plans is essential to the sustainability of a company. It must continually adapt to the changes in our connected and increasingly demanding economy.

First, Let Me Describe What Digital Marketing From My Perspective Is All About.

Today the relationship between buyers and sellers has changed. We are far from the time when the sellers solely governed the relationship. Thanks to the explosion of, the internet and the digital world everyone can go and fetch information quickly, compare products, services, and prices. We talk about the digital transformation of companies when they have to deal with this type of problem. And in such a situation marketers have every interest in affirming their online presence to meet the expectations of those connected consumers who no longer simply ask for a product or service but also seek to be educated. Have marketing managers various tools to help them attract prospects in a modern way-(Emarketing)?

1) Digital Marketing: Definition

First, let’s begin by defining what digital marketing is and what makes it different from traditional marketing.

If one refers to the definition given to us by Wikipedia , digital marketing (or digital marketing) “corresponds to all Internet marketing methods and practices: online communication (influence and social networks), optimization of e-commerce, creation of traffic through all digital media (computer, mobile phone, podcast reader, video games and dynamic display – outdoor advertising panel & point of sale television). ”

We can summarize this more quickly by saying that doing so-called “digital” marketing means doing marketing as we have always done concerning objectives and processes but using the digital tools at our disposal today.

The goal, therefore, remains to promote the image of your company to attract visitors and convert these visitors into leads and loyal customers.

To carry out your campaigns of digital marketing, you can rely on several tools:

  • Social networks: using social networks helps to keep in touch with customers and assert the brand image of your company.
  • The web: blogs and corporate websites are the showcases for your business and your image.
  • Digital advertising campaigns: it is possible to pay for advertising on the internet.
  • Email campaigns: keep you in touch with your database, keep track of your latest news, create links, and more.
  • Inbound marketing: marketing strategy based on a methodology and digital tools such as personas, content marketing, etc.
  • SEO and Search Engine Optimization (SEO) optimize the content you publish on the internet and social networks for maximum visibility.
  • Mobile marketing: mobile use (application, push/push & pull campaign …)
  • Data: User data will allow you to learn a lot about them. There are several ways to harvest and use them.

2) How to Get Started In Digital Marketing?

A) Getting Started

You will understand that, to implement a digital marketing strategy, it is not necessary to have large budgets. It is possible to create a sound basis by just using the tools that are at our disposal and giving a little time.

However, it is necessary to pay particular attention to certain criteria, such as the customer experience, before starting to generate content.

Indeed, the client’s journey is the process by which your potential purchasers pass before becoming customers. It is recognized that this course has three stages: awareness, evaluation of offers and decision-making.

Each step of this journey will, therefore, correspond to a particular type of content that must meet the expectations of future customers at this very moment.

To better understand the expectations of your potential clients I advise you to create your personas who will be their false representations.

Thus you will have to propose content for each stage of this customer journey to best meet the expectations of your personas. The more your content corresponds to them, the more likely you are to move them forward.

Here are some ideas for content that you can propose for each phase:

  • During the awareness phase, your potential buyers seek to identify a problem / formalize a need. You can offer educational content such as blog posts, videos or computer graphics.
  • The bid evaluation phase corresponds to the moment when a person has formalized his / her need and looks for the different solutions available to him/her. You can use guides, comparatives, research reports, etc.
  • The last stage of the customer journey corresponds to the phase where the prospect decided on the solution that interests him the most and now seeks the best offer. For this step, you can use case studies, product demonstrations, product comparisons or manufacturers.

B) Going further

If you want to go further or have a larger budget, there are other strategies that you can put in place.

Indeed, it is possible to pay to carry out advertising campaigns online via Google or social networks, develop a mobile application or even use a digital marketing agency to develop an inbound marketing strategy.

Inbound marketing is a marketing approach that aims to attract individuals to your brand and convert them into loyal customers.

NOW MOVE TO MAIN TOPIC OF THIS ARTICLE, FROM TRADITIONAL MARKETING TO WEB-MARKETING

To stimulate the customer experience on a product or brand in general, a good marketing strategy is essential. From segmentation to the 4P matrix, traditional marketing methods have proved their worth. Nevertheless, they are no longer enough for a company that wishes to become anchored in today’s digital-driven society. No panic, there are basic rules to complete its digital transformation without hindrance.

Adapting Marketing to New Digital Rules

Traditionally, marketing is broken down into two stages:

  1. It always starts with segmentation. This practice consists in dividing the market into homogeneous groups, according to the potential client’s geographic, demographic, psychological and behavioral profile.
  2. This is followed by advertising targeting, which is the selection of one or more segments that a brand is committed to following based on their attractiveness and suitability with the brand.

Segmentation and targeting are fundamental aspects of a brand strategy. They allow efficient allocation of resources and a more precise positioning. They also help marketers serve multiple segments, each with differentiated offerings.

Traditional Marketing vs Web-Marketing

However, segmentation and targeting also illustrate the vertical relationship between a brand and its customers, which can be compared to hunters and prey. Segmentation and targeting are unilateral decisions made by marketers without the consent of their clients. It is the advertisers who determine the variables defining the segments. Consumer participation is limited to the results of market research, which usually precedes segmentation and targeting exercises. Being “targets,” clients are often disturbed by irrelevant messages. Moreover, many consider that the unidirectional messages of the marks are spam.

More Than Ever, Customers Are Kings

In today’s digital transformation economy, clients are socially connected to one another in community networks. Today, these communities are the new segments. And the latter is easily exploitable because they are naturally formed by customers with limits that they define themselves. Thus, they are immune to spam and irrelevant advertising.

In fact, to engage effectively with a client community, brands must seek authorization implicitly or even explicitly. Marketing authorizations (one of the principles of agile marketing), introduced by Seth Godin, revolves around this idea. Ask for customer consent before delivering marketing messages by acting as a friend with sincere desire to help.

“To look like a hunter and to provoke the intrusion is unacceptable!”

Then, as with the Facebook mechanism, customers will have the decision to “confirm” or “ignore” friend requests. This demonstrates the horizontal relationship between brands and clients. Companies can also choose to continue to use segmentation, targeting and positioning, provided they are transparent to customers.

Positioning, a Marketing Weapon For Brands

A brand is a set of images – usually a name, logo, and slogan – that distinguishes the offer of a product or service from a company to that of its competitors. Today, a brand is also representing the overall customer experience that a company provides to its clients. As a result, it can serve as a platform for a company’s content marketing strategy since all the activities that the business engages will be associated with the brand.

The brand concept is closely linked to its positioning. It must have a clear and coherent positioning as well as an authentic set of differentiation to support positioning. Brand positioning is essentially a convincing promise that marketing specialists pass on to win the minds and hearts of customers. To demonstrate real brand integrity and earn the trust of clients, professionals must fulfill this promise with a robust and concrete differentiation.

There are many tools you can use (Free and paid) which enables you to identify, target and customize your marketing plans as per your needs. By using tools, your brand can identify a potential customer base and helps your brand to engage or even spying on your competitors. Brand Positioning among the competitors and finding possible improvements is important, all you need to use the right tool for the specific purpose. See below useful marketing tools with marketing overview in 2017.

Source: SEO & SEM Market Research, Crozdesk

In the digital economy, consumers are now used to assess and review the promise of a brand positioning of companies. Due to the rise of social networks, this transparency prevents brands from making false promises that are not verifiable. Today, constant communication of brand identity and positioning is no longer enough. With ubiquitous technologies, shorter product life cycles and rapidly changing trends, a brand must be dynamic enough to adapt its behavior to any situation. Provided that the values of the mark remain consistent. When the strategy of the brand remains faithful to its roots, the image returned to the outside can be flexible. For example, by having different logos, the marks Google or MTV remain high while being flexible.

Marketing Mix Traditional VS Marketing Mix Connected

The marketing mix is a classic tool to help plan what to deliver to customers and how. Essentially, the 4P rule must be applied:

  • Product: it is developed by companies, from design to production according to the needs and desires of customers defined by market research.
  • Price: the company establishes a combination of pricing methods based on costs, competition, and customers. Customer willingness to pay, estimated in consumer-based pricing, is the largest contribution that the clients have regarding price.
  • Place: Identify where to distribute the product, to make it readily available to customers.
  • Promotion: Companies must also communicate product information to the target audience through various methods such as advertising, public relations, and sales promotions.
  • In our connected world, this concept has evolved to accommodate greater customer participation. The 4P are gradually redefined as the 4C:
  • Co-creation: this new process involves greater involvement of consumers, who are encouraged to make proposals already in the imagination phase of a new product. Customizing the product for the customer is also an idea to develop a good marketing 2.0 strategy.
  • Coin (currency): dynamic pricing is in the spotlight. By analyzing digital data, organizations can maximize profitability by billing customers differently based on previous purchasing patterns, store proximity, and other aspects of the client’s profile. In the digital economy, the price is similar to the currency, which fluctuates according to market demand.
  • Cross-channel: The most powerful cross-channel marketing strategy is the distribution of individuals to individuals. Actors like Uber or Airbnb disrupt the taxi and hospitality sectors respectively. They offer customers easy access to products and services that belong to other clients. Consumers want access to goods and services almost instantly and nearby.
  • Conversion: Traditionally, the promotion has always been unilateral, with companies sending messages to customers as prospects. Today, more and more consumers are active on social media and can respond to these messages. The ramp-up of customer rating systems such as TripAdvisor or Yelp provides platforms allowing customers to have conversations and offer brand assessments with which they interacted.

To Keep In Mind:

In connected marketing, we must leave an important place to the participation of customers, always in a transparent marketing. It is necessary to think about a transition from a service to a collaborative service. Driving an online marketing plan implies that instead of serving customers, a company demonstrates its true concern for the customer by listening, responding and following coherently the conditions dictated by the business and the customer.

Collaboration is the key to successful customer service.

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