Today’s market is more dynamic than ever. It is essential to know where the consumers are, and their needs, opinions, and objections about the products that we are trying to offer. As focus groups and surveys(especially with small sample sizes) are less reliable, marketers are turning their attention on everything happening on the internet.
We can learn about market readiness by looking at trends on social media, and if we can’t find a market for our product, we can create by educating people about how our product can solve their problems. For example, Bird, a dockless scooter company, found that it is difficult for people to move around in cities and identifying the market opportunity dumped scooters around the city that city-dwellers can use via mobile app. It is a highly successful, slightly controversial company these days.
Digital marketing can also help established brands, in my early days of credit card sales for a renowned company and we relied mostly on cold calling to a long list of prospects but converted between 5 and 10%. It was very tiring and frustrating to pitch to a person who is not even in the awareness or interest stage. But when it was a lead, given to us by a team that received internet and telephonic queries about the product, we considered it as good as converted. We would have a conversation with the prospect, understand their needs, and offer them the best credit card suited. As a marketer, I want to have a list of prospects who are already in the interest stage so that I can focus my time, energy, and, most importantly, my money on these people.
Incorporating digital marketing helps a company not only to drive sales but also to understand the after-sales experience of the customers through their comments on social media, reviews of products, etc.
Tools like SEMrush, Google Analytics and websites like Hubspot, Hotjar provide crucial information about the prospects. Based on this information, we can tailor our offerings, which can be readily acceptable by the target audience. In the end, results matter the most, and here results are the profit.