According to eMarketer (Feb 2019), digital ad spend in the USA will overtake traditional ad spend for the first time, in 2019. As the race for digital dominance forges on, some might feel that digital marketing should be in a class of its own. It’s true that the tools used are very different and a science on its own, but in a certain way, digital marketing isn’t exactly too different from traditional marketing. Here’s why:
1.The Full Works
While courses teach students on the tools, at the heart is the plan. No one can execute properly without first, establishing the brand identity, the marketing objectives, target segments, pricing, channels, communications, etc. And, it is always about the data. The difference is, the cost of acquiring & storing data, nuances and accuracy would differ across different methods. However, we need to also be cognizant of the traps when it comes to over analyzing data that it impeded decision making. Sometimes there is no data because no one has done it before, not even lookalikes, and the only way to find out, is to try it out.
3. Customers Don’t Like Ads (Digital or not)
Everyone has at least a favorite ad (if you don’t, it isn’t too late to look for one now). Mine happens to be the McDonald’s Ah Mah (Granny). It portrayed an old granny telling the camera that bringing her grandson out is very troublesome because he only likes Mac-Nor-Ner. The ad stuck with me since it was first aired, and it brings back so much nostalgia whenever I bring it up with colleagues and friend. It reminds me of my late grandmother bringing me to McDonald’s when I was a kid. Just like what Mark Ritson declared, people hate ads. Ads gets ignored all the time, digital or not. The solution, make better ads that resonate.
4.Being Relevant
All marketers, brand managers, product managers (and everyone else in between) should chase after one thing – being relevant to their customers and non-customers. Just like how I would google instead of yahoo, drink coke instead of pepsi, etc. It is an evolving game, and it doesn’t matter whether its traditional or digital.
So, have you tried your hand with digital marketing, what are the most salient differences, other than the tools and methodologies?
About Kaye
Grew up in Singapore, stood on the cusp of the internet revolution, and surfed it (literally). My “cloud” was made up of FTP servers and free VM software, my “WiFi” was LAN cables that ran across the walls in trunking that my dad hand-laid. I learned to code in Turbo Pascal, and subsequently, Delphi (if you know them, you’re probably as old as I am, or older). 🙂
I’m fascinated by all things digital and still bear nostalgia towards childhood gadgets. My first Pentium-I PC that ran on Windows’98 which I hand-coded my entire A-Levels computing project with, the comforting sound of the 56K modem, the fun I had with the Nintendo Popeye Handheld, the fights with my siblings over who got to use the landline, and my original Nokia 3310 that’s still sitting somewhere in my mom’s house. Not to mention the grande dames of the living room – the television sets that I grew up watching.
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LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kayehau/
Twitter: @kayehau
Email: kaye.hau@generaltechtalk.com
Feature Photo by Daniele Riggi on Unsplash