By Preeti Pandey
After I retired, it seemed to me that there was a whole new world out there, which was a digital world driven by a marketplace, basically which had a huge potential driven by handheld devices, which would one day become the virtual retail store of India, says Ratan Tata.
Just as the Industrial Revolution brought the industrialisation, the advancement in the Information Technology has brought the Information Age, popularly known as the Digital Age. Just a decade earlier, print, radio and TV advertising used to be few ways to register a companys presence and growth in the marketplace. Now, the service, as well as the manufacturing sector, is in many ways influenced by it.
The Digital Age has completely altered the modus operandi of the world we live in. The way we interact with others, the way we perceive things and the way we are influenced have been revolutionised by the Digital Age. In the same way, it has affected how the companies work and interact with its consumers.
Every company has a website and an app. Each has their own media platform like Facebook and Twitter. With the advent of new media platforms, the presence of companies online is increasing more and more.
Communication strategies
Marketing and branding have taken a whole new level. There has been a paradigmatic shift in the way the companies interact with their consumers. It has become easier for companies to build awareness of their brand and engage consumers. The digital age has speeded up the marketing strategies. The feedback of a companys presence and popularity among consumers is now much easier to track and is fast-paced.
To improve visibility and sale, digital platforms have proven to be a boon. From making their own media pages to pay for communication, companies are trying every trick to connect with their consumers on a personal level. There are three basic communication strategies which companies use to connect with their target audience. “Paid” includes paid search, display and paid social media techniques to increase traffic to their site. “Earned” strategy involves companies investing in the quality of their product and innovating to earn credibility and reach a far larger consumer base. “Owned” includes companys own website, newsletter, social channels and apps to increase the consumers engagement with their brand.
Advantages of the digital space
A companys digital presence helps it to engage with a large base of consumers. With the use of data mining, companies keep a record of consumers choices and preferences on an individual basis. It further used the data to positively influence a consumers experience. The marketing of products becomes more advanced and easier, and it helps to reach the target audience. Not just that, a company can keep an eye on its competitor by tracking it on social platforms. Analysing the success of a company becomes easier as digital analysis is all about numbers. Hence, the measurement can be on a real-time basis.
Direct to consumer brands
Popularly known as D2C brands, they are proving to be the game changers. Older brands are converting themselves into D2C brands. Recently in news, Nike has acquired Zodiac with which it has already been working to make the consumer experience more personal. It is a consumer data and analytics company. Many companies are following the same path. A company launched in 2014 named Casper has turned itself into a major success in the mattress industry. In two years, it did $100 million in sale thorough D2C Branding. Harrys, another company that sells razor, also made it big following the D2C path. It gained a million customers in two years.
Various Indian companies that have played the field well include companies like Flipkart, Zomato, and Nearby. A company that started as a D2C brand has now become an offline retailer as well. The company is Nykaa, run by an investment banker turned businesswoman Falguni Nayar.
Digital business impacting the prospects of companies
On the digital platform, consumers have more choices and visibility of products. Their choices keep changing day in and day out. Consumers look for the best option available. Thus, a companys digital presence needs to be powerful. They need to keep transforming various aspects of their digital space. They need to provide more consistent and personalised consumer experience. They also need to get back to consumers queries as quickly as possible. To improve their visibility on the digital stage, they need to mindfully make their presence on various platforms noticeable. Ambiguity in a companys product creates hindrance; hence companies need to be very clear on the products and services they are providing. A well-established digital platform is of utmost importance in this digital age for a company to grow consistently.
The consumer is the king
John Battelle, a founder and executive chairmen, said in an interview, Brands are now built online by consumers. Brands are what people say about you when you are not in the room, and that room has gotten extremely big and digital. There is no doubt that the above saying has great insights to offer. Todays consumers not just buy the product but also give their feedback online so it could help others to relate and choose the better one. A consumers experience with a particular brand needs to be qualitative; otherwise, it could impact further sales as online users depend on reviews to a great extent. The consumers have become fluid consumers. The term fluid describes consumers who buy more online, and are connected via digital channels and platforms. Fluid consumers share content and experience about different brands. This is the reason why companies are focussing more on individual consumer experiences. Companies are trying their best to influence consumers on a very personal level as the consumer has truly become the king.