The growth of the Internet and the proliferation of digital technologies have had some profound and unexpected impacts on life in the 21st century, not only as a technology, but as a media format. Although everyone predicted that digital technology would make things easier, the social impact that digital media would have, combined with online access, was something few people correctly predicted.
Going digital has had significant impacts when it comes to marketing. Now, digital media properties, such as more precise metrics, combined with interactivity, have created completely new possibilities for marketing.
So as a marketing tool, there is no doubt that digital technology will play a powerful role. What about the digital transition itself though? What does this do to influence the way marketing works?
Let's dig deep to take a closer look at the implications:
The Unavoidable Change
Today, it’s pretty easy to understand the scene although the term “digital transformation” may sound like a nebulous concept. We have been experiencing them for years and are now seeing an accelerated pace of changes that have come before.
When people talk about digital transformation in professional industries, they talk about how digital technology is recognized and then implemented and incorporated into our everyday work tasks, whether at the daily level of individual workers or the wider context of entire business operations.
Digital transformation may be something as effective at an individual level, such as electronic health records in the medical or wellness industries. The transition to digital records makes this information more accessible, faster to process, and increases the likelihood of more informed decisions being made by health professionals.
On the other hand, the digital revolution has already shown on an industry scale what it can do for big companies like Amazon and Uber. These corporations took conventional business principles, such as retail sales and transit, and then applied revolutionary digital innovations that as they surged forward, left the competition behind.
However, digital transformation is generally looked at as a whole as to how it affects companies. In the marketing field, specifically, for those with vision, it can bring about some exciting and profitable improvements.
The Evolution of Digital Funnel
The funnel is a conventional term that advertisers use to map out the actions that potential buyers take. It is one of the first areas where digital transformation impacts marketing, requiring a multi-stage journey that eventually results in committing to an actual purchase.
The marketing funnel was simple and in several ways, unquestionable before the advent of digital technology. The five steps involve:
- Awareness – the stage where consumers first realize that you offer a product or service they may be looking for.
- Interest – when a shopper does further research to see whether your business meets their needs.
- Consideration – they are now taking a serious interest.
- Intent – when they start building towards a decision in a business's favor because they feel they need to get the product or service.
- Decision – a consumer is converted into a customer after making a purchase.
A company could only produce marketing materials in a pre-digital marketing world, and then hope for the best. If there was an informed sales manager there to communicate directly with a prospective client, an intervention was only necessary.
These measures now give a company a much greater amount of leverage in the process due to digital transformation, giving marketers two invaluable new instruments: multi-stage interactivity and analytics.
Personalization/Customization is Possible
The way advertising can now be customized for individual consumers is one of the most constructive ways that digital transformation has changed the way digital marketing operates.
Because of the combination of metrics and interactivity, it is now possible to monitor consumers' actions and behavior at an individual level, then take that information and provide a personalized marketing answer.
It is just the tip of the iceberg to keep track of a customer's purchase and then recommend similar products or in some cases,' refills' for consumable items. Today, with the analytics from social media sites such as Facebook, before they convert, it is possible to monitor the desires of individual consumers, make suggestions, and even send customized emails based on that user behaviour.
Interactivity is Powerful
Digital transformation has had an immense, unforeseen interactivity effect. Unlike conventional media such as film, television, and music, digital media are interactive, offering people more control about what they consume, how they consume it, and with whom they share it.
Websites, for example, will now give users choices on what information they want to access and the order in which they want to consume it. Social networking helps people to connect with company accounts, ask questions and receive in return responses. Consumers may also have reviews on content they read or display or leave comments with heart, thumbs-up, and favorite buttons.
The interaction that can take place on social media, and also directly on commercials, changes everything. Consumers can be on social media with live advertisements, such as live streams, and watch an influencer discuss a product. Now instead of just watching a social influencer during the live stream, viewers can connect by offering feedback, giving suggestions, and even receiving responses back.
To sum up, a wide array of company operational and marketing practices will be greatly affected by digital transformation. The goal is to consider what is involved, learn from digital experts across industries, and ensure that your business has the in-house technology, processes and talent to develop and grow.