Have you found your way in digital world?

What actually is driving digital marketing today – imprecision or accurate data? Many organizations have jumped into the trend of digital advertising with some of them guided by data while others are just following the fashion.

Digital marketing, according to experts is the promotion of products, services or brands via one or more forms of electronic media. “Digital marketing extends beyond internet marketing to include channels that do not necessarily require the use of the internet like mobile phones including SMS and MMS”

In digital marketing, experts say Conversation is key but how many of those digital adverts are really engaging the consumers. Many of the commercials are just brand promotions and do not even receive clicks while some of their contents are carry-over from traditional media advert structure.

Ordinarily, the objective of digital or internet marketing would be lost if it is not attracting ‘real time’ conversation between the advertiser/brand and the targeted consumer.

In his comment in Bizcommunity recently, Richard Firth said gone  are the days of the passive audience that is willing to receive marketing messages at the whim of the advertiser. The new, more demanding, generation of consumers, has been exposed to so much advertising that they seem to have developed a natural defence against it, a type of “marketing blindness”.

“That is why it’s necessary for the method of delivery to change. Consumers no longer want to feel like they are being talked at by companies – they want to take part and interact with brands, which creates far more brand loyalty than just foisting your message on them” To get the attention of the new breed of consumers and create loyal, active fans, brands have to answer this question: “What does the consumer get out of it?” To get people to listen to your message, you need to sweeten the pot, Richard said.

A digital expert, Sam Ajiboye who is the Country Manager of Alpha&Jam, a digital advertising company said digital marketing is like a game of chess, one that needs constant attention, research and monitoring, strategic approach and implementation.

He believed that any organization’s desire to leverage new media technologies should be to enhance consumer engagement.

Ajiboye also said in a chat with BusinessDay recently  that every digital campaign carried out should be able to create consumer experience. It should aim at having the consumer talking real time about the campaign. The campaign should be interactive, a measure of the campaign effectiveness.

The campaign should turn consumers to brand ambassadors and marketers through real time sharing, tagging and broadcasting, he said

Similarly, the CEO of Brandzone, Chizor Malize said the rise of digital/mobile/social technology has radically changed the process of branding and marketing.

Branding is beyond creating an identity or positioning for a business or a product. Brands of tomorrow must work with consumers to co-create value in a manner that is truly meaningful to the consumer.

Today’s consumers are smarter. They want to have positive experience with the product and/or the business. So, smart businesses engage the consumers who today want to participate and be a part of building what they wish to consume. Again technology, digital, mobile have made this co-creating and involvement possible. This is what today’s campaign should be about, Consumer engagement, Malize said.

According to her, brands must begin to create opportunities for not just positive customer experience but also strong consumer engagement with a strong and genuine desire to have a positive position in the hearts and minds of their target consumers.

She agreed that communications is in the hands of the consumer today as much as the seller. So digital technology has disrupted the original structure and branding and marketing experts need to elevate their game too.  What is digital marketing therefore without conversation? As the trend evolves, marketers must create strategies for conversation in their messages to optimize their campaigns.

Daniel Obi