Digital marketing

Wednesday, 21 March 2018

By: Mpho Motsepe

10:46 PM

Digital Marketing is about looking at new and different ways for brands to engage with a new stream of people online. By breaking down the communication barriers and creating meaningful connections and relationships with people; as well as understanding the way in which people behave. To have a better understanding of what I am talking about I'll give an example.

Jessica Tennant at the 2018 Digital Summit: Championing diversity in digital quoted Catherine Grenfell a former 5FM presenter who opened the summit as she spoke about how radio was combining digital tolls and this was changing the way people say and engaged with radio. And this is what she has to say: It gives the listener the power. The power to listen or to watch in their own time wherever they are; to be able to pause a show and then come back to it. It then fits into their lifestyle and this is the future; giving people the power of content. (Tennant, 2018)

So, looking at the above example when looking to expand your marketing influence online it is important to remember to stay relevant and resonate with the people you engage with online. Just like how peoples interests change in real life, their interests can also change online and so its important to not spam people over and over with the same type of content or they will become bored and go elsewhere to get the information they want.

The best way to get people through digital marketing is to share with those online your brands narrative. Tell them what you are about, why you started and why you do what you do. By explaining this you would have done two things.

1. Given people a reason to take interest in you and;

2. Given people a reason to stay engaged with you.

You narrative then serves as an outline of what matters to you as a brand, highlighting your values; and becomes the centre of your message as a brand.

Lastly when talking about digital marketing you need to look at what platform you will use to communicate with people online. This is where blogs, social network accounts and websites come into play. Mike Saunders (2018) lists three things that are key when looking at the value of a platform and they are:

1. Introduction to the World

2. Credibility

3. Launch Platform

Introduction to the World: Like I mentioned before building your own platform can be starting a blog, Facebook business page, and Instagram account, joining some type of online community or starting your own website. But it all depends on your brand and the type of people you are trying to reach.

Having a platform will become the way in which you will introduce yourself and your brand to the world. It is here that people can gather information about your brand and what you do as well services you offer. On your own platform you are able to control your tone of voice and be clear and detailed without fear of content being removed of accounts being blocked because certain rules or regulations where not followed like on social networks for example.

Credibility: By building your own platform you are letting people know that you are serious and this will build credibility for your brand. Having your own website for example will put in good standing because people view websites as more credible sources of information, which will add credibility to your message in the future.

Launch Platform: Lastly your platform will draw a community of followers which will grow if you commit to continuously creating and generating content for this new community. Once your community is well established you can start to launch new ideas and products and services because the people within this community see you as a credible source.

References:

Sanduers. 2018, Online personal branding: establishing a narrative. Viewed on: 29 January 2018. Available on: http://m.bizcommunity.com/Article/196/82/172807.html

Sanduers. 2018, Personal branding: The value of a platform. Viewed on: 12 February 2018. Available on: http://m.bizcommunity.com/Article/196/82/172838.html

Tennant. 2018, DigitalSummit2018: Championing diversity in digital. Viewed on: 04 March 2018. Available on: http://m.bizcommunity.com/Article/196/459/174370.html

Pienaar. 2018, World's first social influencer survey results reveal the power of authentic online influence. Viewed on: 23 March 2018. Available on: http://m.bizcommunity.com/Article/196/19/175150.html