According to Capgemini Consulting, over 90% of companies admit that even as they understand the importance of digital marketing and the importance of technology to monetize with digital marketing campaigns, they did not have the requisite skills or talent pool to perform it.
Now, that is saying something.
How can you close this gap and leverage technology to convert potential into profit?
This is exactly what we will be discussing today: How to leverage technology and make it work for your marketing campaign in 3 easy ways.
#1 Find your audience
Is there something more basic to a marketing campaign than to know its target audience? The last we checked, NO.
Internet of things, among other effects, has resulted in a tsunami of data. Employ data analysis and representation tools like Tableau, Qlikview, Weka etc. These will show you the highest potential client base for your business, their age group, their location, their lifestyle, and habits, along with your competitors. If that’s too savvy, go check out Google Analytics, a digital marketer’s best friend.
With regard to your competitors, data analytics tools are elementary in figuring out the USPs of other products in the market, and how and why they are gaining or losing ground among the client base.
When you know the exact people who are likely to avail your services or require your product along with what exactly they want you to provide them, there is no math required to know how it boosts your productivity and profits.
Such segmenting will also help you in figuring out your customer retention rates more accurately and which factors made them stay. Highlight the edge the analysis shows that you have, and you just gave a nitro boost to your ad campaign efficiency.
#2 Make data work for you
After you are done segmenting your client base and tap into it, the next step would be to retain these customers and streamlining your own product range.
As a company, you can’t be great at everything, but there are niches that you can carve out for yourself. For example, Colgate is used as a synonym of toothpaste in India. Imagine the brand presence, and this was done in the pre-internet era.
Today, you have more tools at your disposal, just as the competition is becoming even more intense.
Use the data you have to answer a couple of questions for you,
- How big is the scope of the services or products you provide? Consider this in terms of cold hard numbers and facts like the actual monetary value of your industry, the number of services or products delivered, the cost of maintenance, retention rates, geographical concentration of client base etc.
- What is the growth pace and rate for your industry? Is it fast-paced or is it slow but sure on its feet?
- What kind of competition are you up against? Where are they located? What are their USPs? Do you have something that makes you stand out?
These are just a few markers, depending upon your field of operation, there would be more specific points that you would need to scrutinize and stay updated with.
With these insights, you should be better prepared to improve your product, the prime factor for retention of clients.
Further, try to decipher the ‘why’ behind your client’s behavior. You might believe there is a certain factor that is driving your growth. However, there are far too many blind spots and the customer of today is dynamic.
Keep a very dedicated eye on trends and decipher the ‘why’ of each trend that involves your product. While you could mine the IoT data for trends, to know the ‘why’ of it, you’ll need to dig deeper with representation tools. We’d recommend Weka and Tableau.
#3 The Omni-channel approach
If we were to believe (and we do) the Aberdeen group, the customer retention rate across companies with strong omnichannel presence is 89% on an average, as compared to the 33% experienced by companies with weak omnichannel presence. In light of this fact, it is surprising that approximately 55% of companies have no omnichannel presence strategy in place (according to the CMO club).
For the naive, being omnichannel is the being available across multiple platforms and devices. The consumer today, expects your services, especially grievance redressal system, to be available at all the interfaces imaginable. They expect you to provide them with a seamless, cushiony experience.
It is hence imperative that you stay on the right side of adaptation and amp up your marketing strategies and availability across platforms.
Practically, use every social media platform that your client demographic uses and maintain a steady and strong presence across these. For example, if you are a fashion brand, you better have a strong Instagram, Pinterest and Snapchat game because that is where your clients are.
Hire the right influencers and ask them for honest reviews and promotions. These will not only serve as a reference point for your clients, you too would have valuable feedback on the ground usability of your product.
Use the correct technology to construct your very interface, and your content, so that it is adaptive as the client switches between devices.
If possible, maintain a blog of your own company/firm, discuss your products and the new features you are bringing to the mix. This will not only help spread awareness among your client base, but also will build a reputation for your expertise in your own field.
You’ll have to ensure that you are using proper SEO techniques and keywords in your blog and your adverts, they are crucial for your content and ads visibility. Also, add a good amount of videos and infographics to your advertisements.
In two simple words: BE OMNIPRESENT! (at least on the internet!)
The fabled marketing pioneer John Wanamaker once said, “Half the money I spend on marketing is wasted; the trouble is I don’t know which half”.
Too bad he isn’t here today with the tech available, but hey, you are! Harness your abilities to the maximum and let technology do the work for you. Integrating technology into your marketing campaign can be hard, but only in the beginning. As you move ahead, you’ll be glad you made the move.
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About the Author
Harsh Vardhan Dutta is a seasoned entrepreneur, digital marketing expert, and a marketing consultant. He is Business Director with Markigence, a leading digital marketing and specialised marketing consulting company. When not devising marketing strategy, he can be seen donning the hat of a bibliophile.