Why less is usually more in Digital

Why less is usually more in Digital I often tell clients/marketers/start-ups: “Rather do a few channels well than all of them poorly”. While this statement applies to all areas of life, it is particularly relevant to internet marketing. Of course, if you have an unlimited budget and time, then definitely go ahead and design a new site, set up a pay-per-click (PPC) campaign, search engine optimization (SEO) campaign, content campaign, and blast everything on social media. However, most companies have a finite amount of money and time. Therefore, it is better to grow your marketing plan by starting small and adding on elements. Start with a website and then add-on core social media accounts your users actively use. Then, build your content up and begin to rank higher on search engine results pages. Once you have nailed search, expand to PPC and Affiliate Marketing. Finally, once you have mastered all of this, expand to newsletters, podcasts and videos. If you have a small marketing team, spreading resources thinly across several channels will unlikely yield the results you are looking for and will leave your team feeling frustrated and demotivated. From the user experience point of view, the less-is-more approach is also becoming more and more appealing as users are inundated with messages, ads, videos and emails. Marketers have been going full steam ahead, pressured by C-suite, high customer expectations, and the daunting selection of new innovations and tech tools, to adopt and master more channels in order to reach more customers and to create a more sophisticated multi-channel explosion. Yet research shows that we are seeing a shift towards the compact and minimal in everything from lifestyle to home building. It’s the backlash from too much screen time, always being plugged in, and the personal device addiction. As a result, more people are unplugging, embracing minimalism, and decluttering their life. LESS OVERWHELMING IS IN. So, if your customers are simplifying and downsizing their lives, your marketing messaging will more likely come off as appealing if it is presented in a cleaner, simpler box. For example, instead of creating 20 marketing videos a month to keep your social media channels active and your brand relevant, what if you created 2 really amazing videos that are more likely to go viral. Better quality video, better quality content. Finally, with August being Women’s Month, I would like to take the opportunity to thank the women who have been a part of AdMarula’s journey the past decade and who have made their mark on our business in more ways than I can say. These include our clients, publishers, industry friends, suppliers and of course our staff, from the very first day we pushed the ‘go live’ button up till now. I have been privileged to work with some incredibly talented and smart women and have learned many valuable lessons from our interactions. May you all be celebrated as you deserve to be. Onwards and upwards! Daniel Gross – CEO All CEO's Thoughts Interviews and Insights Industry News Interviews and Insights Why Black Friday 2022 will differ from before 26 Oct 2022 Why Black Friday 2022 will differ from before Despite current downturns in the economy, evidence shows that the e-commerce industry is picking up and going back to pre-pandemic… Read More CEO's Thoughts Never stop marketing 26 Oct 2022 Never stop marketing There’s a LOT going on in the world right now. This is not a political piece, yet it is diffiult to ignore the world-shaping events… Read More Interviews and Insights Interview with Sandra Jardim, Blogger/Founder of MammaBearLove 26 Oct 2022 Interview with Sandra Jardim, Blogger/Founder of MammaBearLove Our October profile is Sandra Jardim, mom to twins Gisela and Alaia and blogger/owner of MammaBearLove. She uses her blog as… Read More Prev123Next

How digital marketing has changed business forever

The influence that digital marketing has on people’s behaviour and habits is incredible. We only need to look around. There are place where people don’t have running water, but own smart phones – such is the need for people to be connected to those around them. Now more than ever, businesses need to understand how to utilise this new digital universe and the role that marketing plays in it. We look at some of the biggest ways that digital marketing has changed business forever. Transparency – customers are no longer happy to just take what companies say for face value. They want to know about the companies they interact with. This is particularly relevant when it comes to food products with consumers wanting to know exactly what’s in the things they eat. Companies now have a whole new list of priorities which can range from their packaging to how they treat they employees and the information they give their customers. Adaptability – Digital changes at an incredibly fast pace. This requires employees across departments to be agile, work together and most importantly keep up to date with development so they have the skills to adapt and use these changes to the company’s advantage. Provided ongoing education is a great way to achieve this. Ultimately, if a business wants to succeed with its digital strategy it needs to empower it’s work force to be at the cutting edge of digital technology and skills. Innovation – The rise of the digital era has forced us all in some way or another to move out of our comfort zones, learn new applications and communicate with people in a way we never thought possible.  The pressure on businesses to be innovate is huge, and those who fail will be left behind. A new kind of celebrity – Social media and video outlets like YouTube have enabled ’regular’ people to become incredibly influential. Companies no longer need to hire celebrities to endorse their products in order to get millions of people interested in their product or service. Data = personalization – Companies now consists of enormous amounts of data about their customers, their behaviour and what drives them. This allows businesses to personalize their message to consumers on a whole new level. New research shows that 85% of users are more likely to buy a product if the message is personalized and supported by social. Content overload – Marketers have their work cut out for them with 3.3 million people making a Facebook post every 60 seconds, and 29 million messages being  distributed via Whatsapp. Brands need to be more creative than ever to get their message through to the right customers. So what is our strategy for grabbing potential customers’ attention? The Editor

Constantly changing, constantly evolving

By the words of world famous inventor and business man, James Dyson, “business means constantly changing and constantly evolving.” It certainly feels like the world is changing at a much faster pace than before. I was recently in Sweden and in just 12 months since my last visit I could see how things have evolved there. New technologies and solutions that weren’t available less than a year ago, have become a part of day-to-day life. For AdMarula, change and evolution is inevitable – in fact, we’ve been doing it for the past 8 years. Being part of one of the fastest evolving industries in the world, we as digital marketers need to keep up and evolve with the industry. Those who graduated with a degree in marketing can’t compete in today’s market unless they know how to learn and adapt as they go. The industry is simply moving too fast. What was popular in internet marketing 10 or even five years ago is now an ancient practice. We all need to educate ourselves on a daily basis. Luckily there are lots you and I can do stay on top of things happening in our industry. Reading, reading, and more reading! I often tell my team this. There is SO much information available to those who are willing to find it. Sign up to blog posts, newsletters, alerts and read articles. Set aside time in your day to do this, because if you don’t you will miss out on more than you realise. Be out there, physically meet and speak to the people in the digital industry. Much of what we do is automated and can be done via email, Skype etc. but in essence Digital Marketing is still a people’s industry so relationships and communication skills are important. Knowledge sharing. Attend seminars and industry events. We can all learn from each other and it’s often the best way to learn about new trends or important changes happening in your immediate business community. For more technical knowledge you may have to attend a course. These days it is really useful for marketing graduates to have some development skills under their belt. The bridge between marketing and tech is becoming smaller and smaller, which means marketers need to know how to ‘speak basic tech’, and developers need to learn basic business skills so they can think one step ahead of the consumer – understand how they can offer a technical solution to a user-driven problem. We are certainly living in interesting times, and I personally cannot wait to see how our industry will evolve even further in the near future. Onwards and upwards! Daniel Gross – CEO

Less is more – more or less

I often tell clients/marketers/start-ups: “Rather do a few channels well than all of them poorly”. While this statement applies to all areas of life, it is particularly relevant to internet marketing. Of course, if you have an unlimited budget and time, then definitely go ahead and design a new site, set up a pay-per-click (PPC) campaign, search engine optimization (SEO) campaign, content campaign, and blast everything on social media. However, most companies have a finite amount of money and time. Therefore, it is better to grow your marketing plan by starting small and adding on elements. Start with a website and then add-on core social media accounts your users actively use. Then, build your content up and begin to rank higher on search engine results pages. Once you have nailed search, expand to PPC and Affiliate Marketing. Finally, once you have mastered all of this, expand to newsletters, podcasts and videos. If you have a small marketing team, spreading resources thinly across several channels will unlikely yield the results you are looking for and will leave your team feeling frustrated and demotivated. From the user experience point of view, the less-is-more approach is also becoming more and more appealing as users are inundated with messages, ads, videos and emails. Marketers have been going full steam ahead, pressured by C-suite, high customer expectations, and the daunting selection of new innovations and tech tools, to adopt and master more channels in order to reach more customers and to create a more sophisticated multi-channel explosion. But when do we realize we’ve hit the point of over-saturation? How much is too much? Research shows that we are seeing a shift towards the compact and minimal in everything from lifestyle to home building. It’s the backlash from too much screen time, always being plugged in, and the personal device addiction. As a result, more people are unplugging, embracing minimalism, and decluttering their life. LESS OVERWHELMING IS IN. So, if your customers are simplifying and downsizing their lives, your marketing messaging will more likely come off as appealing if it is presented in a cleaner, simpler box. Good marketing means listening to society’s trends in order to keep brand messaging one step ahead of cultural shifts. Taking a more scaled back approach, rather than trying to do more with a multi-multi-channel CX, may be more appealing to your audience. For example, instead of creating 20 marketing videos a month to keep your social media channels active and your brand relevant, what if you created 2 really amazing videos that are more likely to go viral. Better quality video, better quality content. Of course there will be times that call for a more aggressive approach, whether you are launching a new product or pushing an offer, but for the most part keep it simple. Like Ron Swanson of the TV show, Parks & Recreation, said: “Never half-ass two things. Whole-ass one thing.” Daniel Gross – CEO