The most effective marketing, whether online or through another medium, is consumer centric. As digital opportunities evolve, marketing is developing in a way that allows businesses to market in a more specific, targeted and personal way through social media, blogs and mobile devices.
Digital marketing campaigns create value by understanding what consumers are seeking and then showing them a relevant solution using technology that is not available in other media. For a company to then capture that value, it must market effectively by engaging the consumer, rather than simply posting for the sake of posting.
Penn Olson, a site dedicated to applying technology in marketing practices,describes effective marketing techniques that build upon this principle. “Analyze and understand your target audience through the 4Ps – product, promotion, place, price.” Traditional marketing techniques such as these are 100% transferable to the online social media platform, and can enable companies to generate relationships with their target audience in a faster, more powerful way than previously possible. This updated traditional marketing model piggybacks on Three Ships Media CEO Zach Clayton’s theory that word of mouth is scalable in a totally new way.
Steadily increasing communications, however, are only useful to businesses if they are directed and being received by those meant to see them. In this market, women are doing 80% of the buying, so they are quickly becoming the most frequently targeted market. Effectively “getting into the mind of women,” however, is something Mullen’s Frank about Women reports is not happening successfully. Marketers should determine how to reach these women who are becoming increasingly engaged in the buying process by raising standards and criteria of “good value” and simultaneously remaining fiscally responsible.
To connect with these women and other target audiences requires knowledge of the consumer, research about the industry, and a source of customized communication that fills the gap between the two. Digital media marketing maintains the human touch needed to build those relationships, connecting businesses to businesses, and businesses to consumers in a more real way in the online world.
