3 Trends in the Field of Digital Marketing

In our previous post we discussed and learned different aspects of online marketing and found some of the best practices that are applicable to Sam’s marketing plan. We would like to have a “reality check” so see if the plan is going in the right direction. We have observed and recognized a few trends that will dominate the field of digital marketing in the near future and we want to make sure that Sam is ready to meet the new challenges.

1.      Going Mobile

Mobile media time is now greater than desktop and other media. Specifically, mobile digital media time in the US is now significantly higher at 51% compared to desktop media time (42%). Therefore, when building a website and other content, we should always make another additional mobile version or make mobile friendly content so that customers can get access to our information on their phone without any disruption.

 

2.      Activity on Social Media

Global active internet users now total 3.175 billion. That’s nearly half of the world’s population (7.357 billion). As for Social Media, there are over 2.206 billion active users, a global penetration of 30%. There are 1.925 billion users that utilize their mobile devices to access Social Media platforms. Facebook adds ½ million new users every day; 6 new profiles every second.

That’s why we are focused on getting Sam on as many social media platforms as possible. Sam must be present in all channels and stay active in the ones that are most relevant to her industry such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

3.      Marketing Analytics Will Bloom

 

Marketers already use dozens of analytics tools in order to see how customers and potential customers interact with their company’s products or services. The importance of this section of marketing will rise in 2015, when spending for that purpose is expected to rise by 60%. Furthermore, we’ll see marketing automation technologies applied more and more often – their use is predicted to grow by 50%.

The application of Cyfe, Google Analytics, and other dashboards will help Sam stay in the game. Anticipating her customers’ reaction to each and every move she makes will surely give Sam the best feedback to improve her performance. There are more trends to follow in today’s internet marketing landscape, but overall we believe the plan we are drafting for Sam is going into a good direction and it will prepare her for success.

More best practices for establishing a digital presence

Last week we presented some digital presence "best practices".  We had made a top 10 list of the areas where we wanted to learn more about best practices in order to help Sam become a Digital Marketing Director and last week we unveiled the research we did regarding the first 5 items.  This week we continue discussing the next 5 areas:

6.             Analytics and Key Performance indicators (KPI's)

KPI's give you knowledge and understanding of the business process and thus enable you to know if there is anything wrong in order to fix it right away, as well as to know what helps improve the business. KPI's have to be closely related to what customers are looking for and should measure specific performance areas. They should be built based on customers’ feedback. In Sam’s case, the KPIs should not be formed by sitting in front of a computer and copying and pasting from an online source. Sam must understand the market and what the potential customers and employers are looking for so that her KPI's follow the right direction.

KPI's must be measurable and actionable so that Sam knows if the situation is good or bad and what to do in each scenario.

 

7.             Customer Relationship Management (CRM)

Even though it might be hard for a small business to start with CRM, from our own business perspective, good customer relationships can lead you a long way. Sam can start small by building a database of all her customers. From personal experience with a cosmetics business, having a customer database has helped my company by allowing me to get to know customers better since each time a customer comes in or chats with me online I can pull up the previous purchase so that my skincare advice will be more in depth without wasting time repeating all the get-to-know you questions.

All customer facing employees in a company should be able to access the relevant information to a making a sale in a database so that all customer contact points will have the same knowledge behind them and the same potential benefit.

Finally, use a database to actively reach out to customers using a loyalty program, to send a birthday gift, etc.

 

 

8.             Consumer generated content

You’re more likely to get the high level of engagement you’re looking for if you tap into your fan’s passions when asking for information. Moreover, most of the time giving a little incentive goes a long way. For example, for my business I started a small lucky draw giveaway for my customers who are willing to write short reviews of my products on my page. This created a good review database on the website for new customers later on, who want to learn more about the product.

Sam can also amp up her consumer generated content with a campaign where a small prize could be offered for anyone who enters or for anyone who adds some extra highlight information on her website, blog, or social networks.

 

 

9.     Security - avoiding spam, digital attacks, and other unwanted side effects of human and machine interaction

To increase digital security for Sam’s website, stored data, file systems, and across-the-wire transfers all of those need to be encrypted. Encryption is essential to protecting sensitive data and to help prevent data loss due to theft or equipment loss.

Use a time-tested spam filter such as SpamAssassin to remove unwanted email from entering your users' inboxes and junk folders. Teach your users how to identify junk mail even if it's from a trusted source

Use firewalls, gateway antivirus, intrusion detection devices, honey pots, and monitoring to screen for DoS attacks, virus signatures, unauthorized intrusion, port scans, and other "over the network" attacks and attempts at security breaches.
 

 

  

10.             Original content origins and management

In the long run Sam may consider making a long-term investment in a digital engagement and web content management system. Similar to decisions to use paid search or not, we believe using a content management system requires calculation of future cost and return. For now, we think keeping this cost to minimal is suitable for Sam.