by Marelise da Silva | Dec 5, 2018 | Digital Media Marketing
Much of today’s marketing fails because a brand’s messages and content do not reach the right people at the right time. Contextual marketing provides an alternative to the needle in a haystack approach of reaching audiences by offering:
- The right content,
- To the right audience, and
- At the right time.
So, what is contextual marketing? This type of marketing offers targeted advertising to a user based on their online identity and the content they have searched for. It is not a coincidence that you Google searched ‘what is Le Creuset’ and suddenly sidebar adverts are popping up for ceramic cookware.
If you have already incorporated contextual marketing into your digital strategy, here are a few ways to maximise your outcomes:
Personalisation is a simple way to show your target audience that you understand their needs and care about meeting them. The benefit is obvious – if your customers feel ‘known’ they’re more likely to stick around. There are many ways to make your marketing messages more personal. Here are a few common methods:
- Using people’s names in email and direct mail marketing
- Dividing email lists based on interests
- Loyalty and reward programs
- Offering custom/personalised product or service packages
You can take personalisation further, by using data to suggest products and/or services, and the like, that your customer may like. For example, if a customer shops online and buys a shirt from your store, based on their previous purchases and ‘cart history’ you can suggest other items of clothing that will complement their current purchase.
Focusing on mobile is almost a no-brainer, since more and more consumers are accessing the web on their mobile devices and sharing a wealth of consumer data. According to recent research by the e-tailing group, more than 50% of consumers are willing to share their data to have an improved shopping experience.
Location, location, location, is the key to mobile contextual marketing. Recent Research by Pew shows that 74% of smartphone users aged 18 years and older use their phones to get directions and other location-based information. An example would be a coffee shop targeting consumers who drive by their location, or when on holiday, receiving ads for nearby restaurants and tourist attractions. The possibilities are vast.
Knowing what your consumer’s behaviour is throughout the day is key to targeting him or her at the right time with the right message. Some behaviours are easier to predict like breakfast and lunch times, so restaurants offering food specials at these times is a straightforward tactic. Other ways to leverage this strategy is keeping an eye on events. An event can be as small as a rainy day. If your shop sells umbrellas, this is the perfect opportunity to win some customers with targeted advertising.
If you are in need of internet marketing services, don’t hesitate to contact WSI OMS today.
by Francois Muscat | Dec 3, 2018 | Digital Media Marketing
If you think that digital marketing, influencer marketing and event marketing are all separate strategies, you are not alone. But just think of the power you would hold if you were to merge the three of them into one? Inviting an influencer to promote your event online and to attend it in person could lead to a number of benefits for your brand – and will be well worth the cost in the long run.
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Why Influencers Will Add Value to Your Event
It is all about the power of association. If your brand is associated with an influencer who is respected and who is considered interesting by your target market, then said target market will likely start feeling similarly towards your brand.
If turnout is important to you at your events (of course it is!), then influencers can really help to generate the numbers. Influencers give people another reason to make the effort to attend the event, ultimately increasing your reach.
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How to Pick the Right Influencer
Ideally, you should try to select an influencer that is relevant to your brand and what you do. For example, if you manufacture musical instruments, then it makes sense to choose an influencer from the music industry. If you’re a fashion brand, then a fashion blogger or designer would be a great choice.
It will also definitely work to your advantage if the influencer that you choose is a big personality who won’t be afraid to speak publicly at the event or work to generate engagement amongst followers and attendees.
Are you looking for a company to help you make the most of your influencer, event and digital marketing efforts? Then look no further than WSI OMS. We specialise in all of the above including social media marketing, content marketing, SEO / search engine optimisation, website design and link building. Contact us now to learn more.
by Francois Muscat | Nov 20, 2018 | Digital Media Marketing
Connecting with your target audience today is like trying to hit a moving target. According to Oracle, close to 80% of consumers now use at least two communication channels before making a buying decision. In addition, 30% use three or more channels before making a buying decision.
This means that marketing has gotten a lot more complicated:
- You need to SEO your site so that people can find you on Google,
- You need to post to social media so you can engage with your target audience on these platforms,
- You need to create content for your blog,
- You need to send discounts and promotional information via email, and
- You need to distribute timely mobile messages through your app or other mobile marketing strategies.
Surviving and competing in today’s digital landscape can be impossible if you are not using a cross-channel approach. A successful cross-channel marketing campaign lies in having a deep understanding of your target audience:
- Their demographics,
- The challenges they face,
- Where they spend their time online, and
- How they spend their money.
A visual representation of this information will help you identify trigger points where you can engage with the right customer at the right time. If a person has downloaded your mobile app, then triggering a push notification if they haven’t opened the app yet is a good example of a cross-marketing trigger point that can be automated as part of your digital strategy.
After you have created a visual representation of your target audience, you need to map out every possible scenario of consumer engagement with your brand, and then prioritise communication opportunities. Look at pivotal stages in the relationship like becoming a subscriber, reaching a loyalty tier, or becoming inactive for a period of time to trigger a communication. From here, you will need to select the appropriate channels for each communication.
Throughout this process, feedback from analytics as well as your target audience will guide you on how to continue optimizing your cross-channel marketing strategy. For help with your digital marketing campaigns, contact WSI OMS today.
by Francois Muscat | Oct 24, 2018 | Digital Media Marketing
As a digital marketing company, we are often asked which skills must become a successful digital marketer. Here are some of the skills that you need to cultivate and master to become a digital marketer that everyone wants to hire:
- Marketing Fundamentals
Understanding the fundamentals of marketing is crucial to becoming a successful digital marketer, but unfortunately, this is something that many digital marketers ignore. Understanding marketing fundamentals mean having a solid grasp of the entire consumer decision journey. This means you need to understand how consumers think and buy products. The stages that a consumer goes through when buying a product, for example, are awareness, consideration, and purchase. As a marketer, it is important to know what and how a consumer is thinking of at each of these stages.
- How to Ace Advertising Channels
Paid and organic advertising channels are what you will need to focus on as a digital marketer. There are multiple paid aid advertising channels across the spectrum, including Facebook, Google, remarketing, email, display ads, etc. It is important to understand each of these platforms and how they could potentially slot into your client’s digital strategy. You need to understand the benefits of each platform and how to run and manage campaigns on each platform. You also need to understand how a consumer searches for information on Google and how you can use Google AdWords to tap into this market. Organic channels refer to Search Engine Optimization, social media marketing, content marketing and so forth.
Read our next blog post for part two of this post!
Need some help to execute your digital marketing strategies? Then contact WSI OMS today.
by Marianna Muscat | Oct 23, 2018 | Digital Media Marketing
Data analytics skills are increasingly sought-after in the digital marketing community. If you’re new to data analytics, then it is worthwhile researching which skills you can benefit from cultivating. Here is a brief overview:
- Business / Domain Understanding
Data analysts are problem-solvers. They have to solve a problem in a specific context, so they would need to understand the variables within different businesses. Understanding the customers’ journey and how the business works are very important when looking to boost your data analytics abilities.
To be able to make objective decisions, you will rely on mathematics and statistics. Being able to create your own predictive algorithms and classifications based on numbers are a key part of being a successful data analyst.
After you’ve identified the problem and used mathematics and statistics to define the problem, you will need technical skills to evaluate the problem at scale. If, for example, you want to be able to determine which customers out of a million customers are going to churn, you will need a technological intervention to get to these answers. Python and MS SQL are some of the technical tools that are used for data analytics purposes.
Like many other professions, you will need great communication skills to communicate the impact of your analysis to a wider group.
Need some help to execute your digital marketing strategies? Then contact WSI OMS today.
by Francois Muscat | Oct 22, 2018 | Digital Media Marketing
What skills will you need to become a data analyst? This will depend on your current skill-set and goals. Here is how to pursue your new-found career:
If you have no work experience, you don’t need to despair. With data analytics still being a new field of digital marketing, many digital marketing companies are hiring graduates straight out of college and training them in-house. Many times, businesses need a fresh pair of eyes to look at their business problems without any preconceived biases. The biggest advantage is that you can be moulded and trained to fit their business needs.
Without past experience, it is good to focus on developing your statistics and mathematical abilities and learning the relevant coding languages and tools (such as machine learning algorithms, hypothesis testing, Python and MS SQL) to make sure you can hit the ground running in your new role.
If you have some work experience in a non-technical role, then you can still transition to data analytics. If you are looking to move into a data analytics role within the company that you are currently working for, then you will already have a solid understanding of the business, its customers and perhaps even its business problems. You can start as a data visualiser and focus on picking up the technical and statistical skills as you go along. You can also participate in online competitions and hackathons to improve your coding abilities.
Need some help executing your digital marketing strategies? Then contact WSI OMS today.
