Las Vegas, Nevada — Being a winner in the future of digital marketing means doing the hard things well, at least according to Jim McKinley in his SEMA360 Session: Digital Marketing in 2021: What the Winners are Doing.
Digital marketing is something that every company, no matter the size, needs to invest in. The constantly evolving digital landscape means that your digital marketing strategy should also be changing along with it; basically, if you haven’t updated your website in the last five years it’s time to do that.
According to Jim McKinley in his SEMA360 session on what the “winners” are doing in terms of digital marketing, there are three main trends that -if executed properly- could have you right up there with these digital marketing winners.
The first trend he noted was that winners don’t “pour their digital dollars into a leaky bucket.” Some examples of a leaky bucket include:
- Having an outdated and unattractive website
- Links that take users to the wrong page on your website – Consumers don’t want to have to spend extra time searching for the proper product on your website, they want to be taken there the first time. If your ad takes them to the wrong page it is likely they’ll “leak out of the bucket” and go back to google and click on another company’s link.
- Bait & switch ads – When you make certain promises in your ads, but the website doesn’t deliver.
The next trend that McKinley discussed mentioned the use of the marketing funnel. In its most basic form the marketing funnel puts consumers into three categories:
- Awareness
- Interest/Research/Evaluation
- Purchase
And then sectioned again into two subcategories which are high-funnel marketing (awareness & Interest/Research) and low-funnel marketing (Purchase).
Low-funnel marketing is where a brand’s loyal consumers lie, those that will search for a specific brand or product because it’s one they know and trust. High-funnel marketing is where our “winners” invest the most, because this is where potential new customers are. Sixty per cent of buyers found a new brand they were unaware of while conducting research online. While it’s still good to maximize low-funnel traffic where you can, it’s also important to introduce your brand to new customers otherwise your business will have no chance at growth.
The third and final trend that McKinley emphasized was that brands must adapt to their market. One of the advantages of digital marketing is that the landscape is always changing, which means your brand should be too.
There is no one right or best marketing technique either, it all depends on your business model, the products/services you sell, who your customers are and how they interact with you. Knowing what your consumers care about, and finding a way to connect with them through appropriate channels will help to propel your brand forward. Not only that, but staying relevant and timely is the best way to adapt and stay connected with your market as well.
The ultimate takeaway from McKinley’s SEMA360 Session is that in order to be a “winner” you have to put in the work and do the “hard things” to get ahead. Digital marketing is always changing, and the best way to be a winner is to work hard and know your market.
One Response
Adapting rules, especially if the pandemic is still there by next year but hopefully not