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Making a connection

The digital world allows for marketers to create and actively participate in consumer conversation, thus facilitating a two-way communication process with consumers and brands alike, writes Nic van den Bergh, head of Digital Media Services.

As consumers are increasingly using digital media as a means to seek information, communicate with each other and interact with their brands of choice, digital marketers are required to enable consumers to engage more freely with brands and share their experiences with their respective social and professional networks.

However, the key challenge for digital marketers is how they integrate their digital media strategies with the various Above The Line (ATL) marketing channels such as television, radio, out of home (OOH) and print and then to utilise all the digital channels effectively to support campaign communication objectives.

The way to do this is to leverage digital direct channels (Web and mobile) to be more personally relevant with consumers and leverage existing social media platforms to further enable consumers to share their brand experiences.

Key steps in this process include the need to profile consumers and prospects alike (to establish relevance), and leverage this knowledge to influence both the creative message and selection of channel placements – such as banner ads, competitions, sponsorships, newsletters, promotional mailers – and to which target audiences they speak.
It is critical that the marketing / brand communication is aligned correctly with the creative and that there is collaboration with the creative agency to ensure the relevant response channels have the appropriate creative messaging to assist in the consumer journey.

The marketing strategy needs to move away from campaign-based thinking and rather towards continuous communication with consumers. Campaigns need to focus on real performance metrics that drive the business process. Creative messaging and the chosen communication channels need to change from supporting a controlled conversation to rather encouraging an organic type of conversation among consumers and the brand.

Furthermore, digital marketing strategies should incorporate a combination of digital mediums from Web to mobile advertising options to attract traffic, build customer relationships, create databases to provide information and to integrate the digital approach into a full 360-degree integrated marketing strategy offering to support and drive ATL advertising.

The focus is on encouraging new customers to participate in the communication process, for example: TV ads to include a mobile call to action, or print advertising to include a means of retail activation. Consumers can then be profiled, and personalised communication can take place where dialogue is initiated.

In making the connection with the consumer, the aim of the digital marketing strategy is to provide campaign insights, real-time campaign performance reporting, unique creative solutions that inspire, attract and engage the consumers. This should create time to search, to explore, to learn, to share, to question, to play and to buy.

Let’s rock the digital world…

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