Digital Marketing v/s Traditional Marketing 

Spending on digital marketing is predicted to grow 12% in the next year, while budgets for traditional (non-Internet) advertising will fall 2%. (The CMO Survey)

Many business wants to leverage on the fact that many social media channels allow to have their profiles at no cost. These channels give them the opportunity to do marketing at no cost or at very less cost compared to traditional marketing options like newspaper, journal, banners, hoardings, etc.

Growing smart phone users and increasing internet penetration is a boon to many businesses to reach out to mass even many miles far away which otherwise they wouldn't have achieved with traditional medium. Advantages like these are numerous and hence it makes sense to every business to have presence over multiple channels of social media.

Image Source: Life Q&A

So does it mean businesses should give up going traditional marketing, which they have been following since ages. Many are used to conventional marketing tools and most loyal customers wish to learn more about their favored brands majorly through this route. While many consume social media, there is still a large chunk who haven't started consuming or just started getting used to digital media.  It also depends on category which you belong to, for many industries conventional route gives allows them to achieve their targets. Though Digital Marketing is on rise, it's may be still too early to give up conventional marketing

There should be a balance between two and integration of multiple channels poses challenges in terms of consistency of message conveyed or perceived across these channels in communication. Knowledge in IMC will be of great help while going for marketing across channels. It basically emphasizes on the fact that you need to give importance to brand strategy and its objectives in mind while taking the route of multiple channels.

When you Toss- sometimes calling head or tail is just not an obvious answer.

How to conduct testing for effective Email Marketing?

Email Marketing is the main source of primary communication across businesses. It had gained huge significance over the years. For many it is a way to keep updated with their schedule, meetings, deadline, etc. Also, many cannot just ignore keep looking their inboxes and usually prefer to have it cleared. 

Given the availability and reach it is usually a great marketing tool to many businesses to pitch, send proposals about their product or service offerings. But while doing so, it has its own limits. One cannot just send a promotional mail without due diligence. Reader prefers to receive less mails and definitely doesn’t want to get his mail inbox flooded. It will also create problem of spam or junk due to filters from mail service provider.

So how do you go about this given the constraints? Best way is to send mail to relevant audience with appropriate precautions. But nothing is perfect or there exists a standard way to conduct it. All you have to do is undertake testing.

One major popular testing method is Split test or A/B testing. 

Here you create multiple versions of mail templates, with varied subject line, content, body, timing, etc. and you see which one is working better by tracking the performance. Upon frequent trails, you can get a couple of good template which will actually work and result in more business. 

Here also there is need to consider consumer behaviour, segmenting audience, personalized content design, etc. for bringing in more strategic approach. As you go along you may need to consider the dynamic nature of email standards in accordance with the timeline. 

Of course, you pass the test and get desired results only when you give it a try.

Is Preheader the key to Unlock full potential in Email Marketing?

So how many and how often you receive mails each day? Answer is obviously Numerous, including mail form friends, colleagues, travel offers, restaurant menus, credit card offers, coupons, recommendations online shopping website, unknown junk mail, spam mails and so on, in simple words the list is endless. 

So how do you decide to open a mail or just ignore it. Subject is the first thing you see, is subject only determinant? May be or may not be. But there is something else over there called Preheader which is basically the first few lines of mail you can see just after the subject line.

So how important it is to have a good preheader which serves the purpose of increasing open rate of emails. How do you take advantage of this? Of course, you need to proceed strategically so as to get maximum benefit out of it. 

So how do you proceed? You can implement the following options,

• make the preheader be in sync with your subject line,
• write something which call immediate attention,
• write in way so it makes the reader desire to know more,
• write about the recent trending news related to your product or service offering,
• breaking news, celebrity talk, gossips, etc. 
• great or big discount offers, etc. 

there will be plenty of the options, it depends on many parameters and it is suggested to choose the best relevant one. 

While you do so you can see for yourself how much of the preheader is actually visible across devices and how does the message convey when in sync with subject line. Make it relevant to the audience considering their interests, you can even implement segmentation if you feel your message is targeted to a particular audience.

Don’t forget that the reader decides whether to open or ignore the mail in just few seconds. If you do it right you are the winner. 

Can Digital Marketing be a Life Saviour?

How often you open daily your Facebook or WhatsApp for that matter, you just have to tap on your mobile screen right? So how do you react if you face an immediate unexpected situation, open your mobile or start looking for help from others? What if there is no one?

Yes, your gut feeling says you are never alone right, what might be the reason? You guessed it right, your mobile makes you feel presence of something powerful. This is exactly what makes the difference in life and death situation. You have ‘n’ number of options call 911, 100, post in WhatsApp, call friend, or will you post it on Facebook or twitter for help (who knows what might be running in your mind).

So how can same thing can be used in major scale wherein hundreds or thousands of lives are in danger. Of course, Government or Media involvement is must here, but what medium should they use? Should they use only the conventional TV or Radio? Definitely yes, given it almost every household has a TV. But given the rising smartphone and internet users, they need to shift to digital platforms as well, perfect example is our Foreign Affairs Minister Ms. Sushma Swaraj using in dealing problems multiple times. Also, we all know what happened during Chennai floods recently. Because they just need to open the lock screen instead of turning their TV on it’s as simple as that right. 

Its reach is instantaneous, huge and viral at the same time. You can use sending alert through the digital platforms easily, quickly and efficiently. If it could save lives more quickly and effectively, than probably you can call a Life Saviour. 

Artificial Intelligence in Digital Marketing

"The development of full artificial intelligence could spell the end of the human race, "said Stephen Hawking in his interview with BBC, while we are still very far away from the development of a full blown artificial intelligence and it turning against us, currently at least, Artificial Intelligence or AI is being used in every field possible in order to make our lives more convenient.

So what is Artificial Intelligence?

Artificial Intelligence or AI is “The science and engineering of making intelligent machines, especially intelligent computer programs. It is related to the similar task of using computers to understand human intelligence, but it does not have to confine itself to methods that are biologically observable.”

AI is currently a buzzword in the field of technology, but it has pervaded almost all spheres of our life and when combined with Big Data and Data Analytics, it can become an extremely powerful tool in improving our lives. Given its utilitarian nature, the power of AI is being leveraged by firms all over the world to differentiate themselves from competitors, lower costs and offer better service to customers.

AI in Digital Marketing

With the growing importance of the online platform, all the firms are shifting away from traditional marketing and moving towards online marketing, otherwise known as digital marketing. In digital marketing all marketing activities are carried out online. The main advantage of online activities is the creation of huge amounts of data and the ease with which this data can be collected.  AI along with analytics tools could make use of this data to significantly improve user experience and thus create value for the firm.

The following are a few examples of AI is helping the Digital Marketer in reaching out to customers in a better and more efficient way

Optimization

AI is being utilized to increase the effectiveness of conversion rate optimization while speeding up the process through what is called as ‘machine learning’ wherein algorithms constantly evolve and improve to find the best possible combination of page components. AI-based processes are faster than AB testing tools as it allows the page developer to test a variety of page elements with a smaller sample than what is required to perform an AB test

Recommendations

Predictive Analytics can be used to recognize customer’s preferences and then provide relevant recommendations as to what they could do next, be it purchase decision or any other such decisions. An example of a website using this tool is ‘Youtube’ which, based on a series of videos you have previously watched recommends other similar videos

Ad targeting

By learning a consumer’s tastes and preferences and using this data in conjunction with the capabilities of AI, companies are hyper targeting customers. Each person will see a different ads based on what the AI considers the person is most likely to click. This specific targeting would lead to reduced costs as the marketers would now focus only on a few websites while increasing the probability of converting the click

Virtual Shopping Assistants

As the importance of excellent user experience and reactive customer services increase, firms are turning towards using AI-inspired virtual assistants to help customers find specific products, answer queries or simply teach users how to navigate the site.

This is not only providing customers with 24/7 self-service and customer care, but reduces the number of phone operatives required to answer query calls and therefore outgoing costs as a result.

Website design

While website design for ages has been carried out by programmers, thanks to advances in technology firms likes Grid, Wix claim to have developed technology that would enable AI to design your website. The process would start by asking the person a series of questions regarding their business, the type of website needed. It would then present the user with a combination of layout, design and content. However this technology is yet to be proven.

References: 

Worlds Collide: Artificial Intelligence Meets Web Design 

Are You Using Artificial Intelligence in Your Digital Marketing?

Artificial Intelligence in Digital Marketing: How can it make your life easier?

Digital Platforms as Engagement tools- Diwali Ad Campaigns

Diwali or Deepavali is one of the most prominent festivals of India. It is celebrated with great fervor and joy as it marks the victory of good over evil. Associated with so many beliefs, themes and messages, everyone patiently waits for its arrival. One can notice the air of joy and happiness all around. Markets are packed with happy looking faces gleaming at the joyful festivities. Diwali festivities are never ending and so is the Diwali shopping list. Diwali shopping marks the main sale season for businesses and each one tries to come up with innovative ideas and campaigns for its beloved customers.

Let’s now take a look at some of the Ad Campaigns launched this Diwali:

1)     Surf Excel #AbLagRahiDiwali

Surf Excel strikes an emotional chord with its Diwali Ad campaign by urging its audience to take a moment from regular celebrations to spread happiness outside the family. The central theme remains “daag acche hai”, with major focus on bringing joy in the lives of people who continue to work through the festive season.

2)     Tanishq- Aao Manaye #TanishqWaliDiwali

Tanishq-India’s largest jewelry brand launched its Shubham Gold Jewelry collection this diwali. Gold holds great sentimental value in the minds of people. Diwali marks the beginning of a new year and starting the year by following the age-old tradition of buying gold is considered auspicious and a sign of prosperity. This tradition is reflected in its ad campaign wherein Tanishq is encouraging the audience to buy gold for its loved ones this Diwali.

3)     Netflix India Diwali TVC 2016

Netflix launched its “anti-diwali-ad” ad campaign this Diwali. It takes on traditional clichéd Diwali ads, promoting its ad-free feature.

4)     Amazon

Amazon launched its new Diwali ad campaign wherein it promotes the diversity of products on its website and urges people to “not adjust”. The ad invokes the sentiment of gifting your loved ones this Diwali who work all through the year for you and expect nothing in return.

5)     OnePlus3 Dash Charge your Diwali

OnePlus launched its first short film on Diwali. The film weaves a story encapsulating the true spirit of the festival. With this, they have tried to integrate both cinema and advertising. The characters in the film are very relatable and the audience is able to connect to the emotions depicted.

6)     Snapdeal- Iss Diwali, Unbox Zindagi

Snapdeal positions itself as a platform that believes in the potential and dreams of its customers and partners them in their journey to a better life. The concept of communication is “Unbox Zindagi” i.e when a ‘boxed’ existence is opened up. It urges its audience to give their loved ones the gift of unboxing their dreams this Diwali.

Devil lies in details? 

Big Data and Digital Marketing

Since the unification of networks around the world with the TCI/IP protocol and the emergence of internet followed by the creation of the World Wide Web developed by European scientists at CERN (European organization for nuclear research), our world has changed, and keeps changing faster and faster. Internet has enabled a shift in the way we do business. A company can now become multinational much easier and faster than 30 or even 20 years ago. So, in order to survive in an increasingly competitive market, companies had to adapt. 

But what has changed? First of all, the information flow has rocketed, and as they say, information is power. With the increase of computation power and the development of algorithms, companies evolving in the cyber space started gathering and analysing as much data as possible in order to determine an efficient strategy for their businesses. Knowing your customer is obviously the best way of satisfying him/her by bringing him/her the maximum value and thus generating higher profits. And that is why big data and digital marketing are so strongly linked to one another. By knowing your customer and what he/she values, you have a better idea of what to do in order to fulfil his/her needs. Indeed, the gathered and analysed data help companies to understand who their customers are, and how to offer them what they need.

Here are some examples of digital marketing strategies using big data analysis:

Amazon’s A/B test: The online platform Amazon uses A/B tests to determine what is the more effective web design. Basically, when you go on the Amazon website, you see either the A type homepage, or the B type one. Those different homepage designs have a unique purpose, draw customer’s attention to make them click on a specific window by using different web design techniques to lead you on buying the promoted product. An algorithm then analyses the results by counting the amount of clicks for both homepages and selects the one that has the higher conversion rate. That way, Amazon selects the best homepage design and increases its profit.

Starbuck’s text message marketing: In the US a couple of years ago, Starbuck was sending coupons via text message during rush hours. Drivers that were stuck in traffic jams were localised and invited to drink a Frappuccino in the nearest Starbuck, just the time to relax and get rid of the traffic’s stress. A coupon exclusively usable in the nearest Starbuck was sent and it was a big success for Starbuck’s sales.

Marriott Hotels price setting method: Marriott is an American multinational hospitality company that also uses big data analysis to maximize value for their customers. Marriott uses big data across the hotel chain’s operations. Structured and semi-structured datasets such as weather reports, local events schedules are used to forecast demand and determine value for each individual room. Those prices also adapt depending on the customer and its personal data, if it is available on Marriott’s large customer database, to set prices with optimum efficiency. 

All those practices use big data analysis to increase the value for the customer and the company as well. But how much information can a company gather without risking to compromise your privacy rights? Most of the time, we willingly share information on Facebook for example, even though Facebook’s privacy policy is still quite ambiguous and there is a controversy about whether or not Facebook sells those data to other companies. Google is another giant company that collects a lot of data from its users. As you know, every research you type on Google is recorded and used to profile you. Imagine what kind of person is your cyber self. It probably isn’t the same person as your real self, but Google still define you by what you search or what you watch on the internet.  Sometimes, we don’t even know in who’s hands our personal information are. Some companies are specialised in gathering private information about people in order to sell them to other companies that will use our data to establish a marketing strategy. We call those companies data brokers. They aren’t that well known but they are very big. For example, a British data broker company called Experian generates a yearly turnover of 4.8 billion dollars. The controversy is pretty big on that subject and the market is not regulated, at least not enough.

To conclude, internet has brought us a lot of good things: easier access to information, easier access to product or services, etc., but maybe we need to be more careful and protect our privacy a little bit more firmly. Our privacy is not something to be taken lightly. 

Evian’s Roller Babies Ad – The Best Video Ad ever!

Advertisements, now-a-days, are not only for promotion but as a means to connect with consumers. Increasing number of brands are using emotions to communicate their brand personality to the consumers. Also, most of the brands are shifting to online channels (like YouTube) to promote this message rather than conventional TVCs. This is mainly because of higher ROI and greater reach offered by online channels. In this article, we will learn how Evian used these two strategies to sell mineral water!

About the brand and the campaign:

Evian is a French brand of mineral water. ‘Live Young’ was Evian’s first ever global campaign. It was one the first brands to launch YouTube-exclusive ad campaign. With their Roller babies’ advertisement, they set the way for a new strategy of seeding content, testing creative, and building on a global brand.  It was so successful that in 2009 the Guinness Book of World Records officially declared Roller Babies as the most viewed online ad. With over 100 million total views, Roller Babies demonstrates the ability of online video to reach far beyond that of traditional media alone. By focusing on digital channels this campaign made a huge impact at a cost far less than that of its traditional counterparts.

About the Ad:

The Roller Babies ad features babies that are about one year old. Throughout the ad they dance to the tune of Sugarhill Gang’s Rapper’s Delight on roller skaters. The advertisement aims to represent their water as the one that can keep adults young at heart. They accomplish that by associating their ads with baby dances, which can symbolize energy and youthfulness at the same time. By focusing on that message, Evian brings its audience’s attention to a societal norm: everyone wants to become young again as they gradually grow old. Their slogan “Evian, Live young” that’s repeated at the end of the advertisement shows their positioning. Through the campaign, advertisers want their audience to learn the art of living young by consuming Evian water.

You can watch the advertisement here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XQcVllWpwGs

Decoding the Ad:

The main purpose of the ‘Live Young’ campaign was to build on the concept of youth. They used this emotional benefit to connect with the consumers and strengthen the brand relationship.

We generally associate babies with adjectives like cute, young and active. Evian created a connection between Evian and babies. The “Live Young” slogan was used to direct its audience to read the desired meaning of the babies, which is to be young. This quality of the babies was transferred to the product through the ad. This way Evian created a cultural meaning for its brand; the youthfulness of babies became a brand identity for Evian.

We can see how advertisers may purposefully make the ad so irrational and strange to a point that the image may seem humorous. With the combination of gimmicks and bizarreness in the ad, both serve to level out the other. In other words, the cute babies may make it easier for the audience to accept the irrationality in the ads and drive awareness of Evian across the world in a fun and innovative way. Activity was focused primarily on digital channels as Evian’s ad heritage was not familiar to most people outside of France, and therefore could not be built upon.

Achievements:

Roller babies ad has been awarded the Guinness Book of World Records award for the most viewed online video advertisement. It has also won top honors from Time magazine as the #1 TV ad of the 2009 and a recognition on TBS’ Funniest Commercials of the Year. It has 84,613,402 views on YouTube till date.

Key Takeaways:

1.       By creating buzz online and utilizing social networks and having great content, Evian was able to leverage their online ad to its absolute fullest for spreading its marketing messages globally.

2.       By focusing on these web-centric tactics Evian also saw a huge return on investment.

3.       It also created a brand identity on which future campaigns could be built upon. The goal for new iterations of the ‘Live Young’ campaign is to move toward delivering the message that by drinking Evian one feels youthful

How do you increase engagement and drive traffic?

Now that you have presence over internet with great website and social media connections like Facebook, twitter, Instagram etc., you must be wondering what should you be doing to achieve increase in engagement and drive traffic simultaneously. 

Our team at Digital Disrupter recommends any organisation with the below mentioned ways of  building content and why it works. 

1. EDUCATIONAL: You should design content in such a way that people feel it is worth to know and it should aid in their learning. People will be willing to share if they feel amazed about it. This will also drive more site revisits.

2. ENTERTAINING: You should make it as entertaining as possible with multiple graphics, videos, images and so on. It will bring them happiness and gather more positive energy

3. INSPIRATIONAL: You can do it by giving inspirational content be it sportsman success, quotes, short stories, etc., Doing so will help them keep motivated and great way to build loyalty.

4. SUBSCRIPTIONS: You can motivate them providing with short or quick ways to subscribe to newsletters, notifications, etc., Doing so will customers updated with the recent happenings. 

But while you implement, it is also highly recommended that too much of the content other than that is related to organisation may be confusing or sometimes irritating to the customer. Make sure the frequency of updates is not bothersome. Choose an appropriate right time to post your content. 

Is it Intentional or Just a Mistake?

Social Media had become a default option to reach huge masses. Given its potential reach, it is a huge cost saving measure in disguise for majority of Businesses to conduct Marketing, Advertising and also maintaining lasting relations. No one wants to miss out on this opportunity to tap markets which will make their business grow and prosper. Given increasing penetration of smart phone and internet  usage across globe, concomitant rise of social channels like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, blogs, LinkedIn, etc., had become a major solution to interact and engage in networking, knowledge sharing and what not. Many companies started interacting with their customers and are also adopting innovative ways of engaging their fans by posting images, videos, events, contests, etc., and encouraging fans to like, tweets, comments and shares.

Digital Disrupter saw an interesting analogy between social icons while browsing through websites of some notable companies and institutions across industries like ITC, HUL, PEPSICO, IIMB, IIMI, LIC, ICICI etc., Have a look yourself below on placement of their social connections within their websites.

We found that there was difference in placement of social icons, one preferring to place it above while others below. Surprisingly some even preferred to place them on sideways too.

So DOES IT REALLY MATTER? Whether to place as they wish or there is a logic behind it to place them strategically. Let’s have a quick look on what it means about icon placements- 

If the icon is above, you can see it as soon as you open the website, you will most probably want to explore, thereby willing to become a fan by following and engage in future promotions. Well this is possible even if icons are placed below, we can assume to some extent that the user may not see the icons in the first place and may not be willing to scroll down all the way, hence a missed opportunity.

Added to icon placement there are some more interesting insights gathered by Disrupter which include the size and colour of these icons. Again does it matter at all, well to some extent it does matter, let’s safely assume that it’s hard to decipher whether it is Facebook or not if we look at its colour which is other than blue. 

Or it may so happen that search for solution(s) will not take place unless you find out the problem.