Around 16 years ago, I gave an interview for an Assistant Marketing Manager’s job. The interviewer’s first question was, ‘Tell me, what is marketing?’. I said, ‘Well, I think everything is marketing.’ I saw a puzzled face, so I added; ‘…I believe, everything a business does, that involves the customer is actually marketing. It’s not just about branding and advertising.’ Well, he didn’t agree. Maybe he was looking for a textbook answer. Anyway, I think whenever you engage with a customer (directly or indirectly), it’s a part of marketing. It’s about educating your audience and building relationships. Digital marketing is basically marketing using digital technologies.
Next thing, what do I mean by ‘landscape’? It is important to understand what the playing field looks like, what it has to offer, what to look for and what to look-out for. You can also leverage the traditional marketing landscape that sits underneath the digital overlay. In 2016, over 85% of Australians were using Internet actively, that is about 20 out of 24 million population. We spent an average of 72 hours online in the month of November. This basically means that Australians were surfing the web for around 1.44 billion hours in a single month. Yup, that’s 1,440,000,000 hours of pure online surfing over 30 days. Canberra’s share of that would be around 22 million hours. How many of them were your potential customers?
How can your capitalize on these trends?
1. Search Engines: Google and other search engine advertisements and top rankings may seem like a pricey real estate, but it is still one of the most popular one. Use both paid and organic results to get in front of your customers.
2. Facebook: Facebook is the most popular social media website in Australia. It should be a part of your digital marketing mix. Refer to my previous article about difference between Google and Facebook advertising.
3. Website: Your website is one of the most powerful tools you have, to convey your message across to the potential customer. Be it content marketing or landing pages for your ads on Google or Facebook, a good web page can help you amplify your message and convert traffic into leads.
4. Mobile: Here is a device that is closest to your customer, pretty much all the time, even when they are on other devices. Look for creative ways to reach out to your customers via mobile.
5. Emails: Emails are still important. You just need to look for ways to make it more personal and less generic. Newsletters are boring but well personalised emails, not as much. Automate it, and you can turn them into a great relationship builder.
There is so much you can do to grow your business. I would love to hear from you, bounce some ideas around and discuss growth strategies. Give me a call or drop me an email. I wish you a very happy and digitally successful 2017.
Sam Gupta is the managing director of Synapse Worldwide.
Sam would love to hear your thoughts on this advice column.
Tel: 1300 785 230
Email: [email protected]
Web: www.synapseworldwide.com
