Digital transformation has been a big talking point in many industries in recent years. Majority of the time, spoken about at a whole-business level, understandably as it affects the entire business. Looking at it from a department level within an organization may make it easier to interpret and understand the benefits, challenges and changes it may bring. So for this blog post, the focus is on the marketing department and how digital transformation has had a huge impact on every aspect.
Traditional Marketing
Before digital transformation was a big focus, the main way in which marketing was conducted was traditional marketing eg. Newspaper ads, billboards/poster ads, tv commercials etc. The marketing departments job was to get the brand in front of the consumer wherever possible and hope that there was an uptake in interest and sales because of it.
The downside or negative with traditional marketing is that it was very difficult to actually measure and quantifiably say that the marketing efforts where the reason for a particular sale. This is where digital transformation comes in.
Digital Transformations impact on marketing
As time developed and technology changed, people started to take advantage of the services technology offered. Consumers started to value relationships and communities with brands rather than a one fit all approach of traditional marketing. Consumers became more impatient, wanting personalization and immediate responses to queries.
This is where marketing saw an urgent need to change. As consumers needs changed, marketing strategies began to change, with a huge focus turning to digital strategies over traditional. Marketing began to analyse the consumer journey, utilizing technology that allows them to find the consumer at any particular stage of the buyers journey. There are many different ways in which digital transformation is changing marketing including:
Data & Analysis
Marketers can now fill blind spots that they couldn’t with traditional marketing, due to the lack of quality and reliable data. It was never possible to tell exactly how many people made a purchase after watching a tv commercial or viewing a poster or billboard, now those metrics are a lot easier to measure with the help of social media platforms. Not only can marketers see how many people their post/video has reached but also how many people clicked through to the website or clicked the ‘call to action’ and also where they are located and what time of the day content performs the best. All allowing marketers to make informed decisions and strategies.
Automation & Personalisation
Consumers patients has decreased in recent years, with people wanting answers in real-time, responses to questions as quick as possible and the personalization just when they need it. No marketer or person in general can be available to answer queries and send personalized emails 24/7 and that’s where automation comes in. Automation allows marketers to respond to general queries in real-time, personalizing with a discount just at the right time so a shopping cart doesn’t get abandoned. Automation allows for the gap to be filled that a human can’t fill by themselves.
Interactivity & Real-Time Marketing
The creation of social media allowed marketers the opportunity to take advantage of interacting with consumers and learning from them, a large part of this was the creation of interactivity, allowing marketers to gain insights in what consumers want to see and how they want to see it. With the likes of Facebook and LinkedIn giving a variety of options to how someone can respond to a post eg. Thumbs up, heart, celebrate, shocked, angry etc. allows for marketers to analyse a greater insight into how their customers feel and perceive their content. Interactivity also allows marketers to talk and engage with their audience in real-time, with a virtual live event, being able to answer the audiences questions and queries live. This has hugely changed the way marketers can interact and communicate with an audience.
Final Thoughts
Digital transformation can have a huge affect on all areas of a business, it’s important to understand what it involves for each department. Marketing teams can help a company with its digital transformation and can help a company succeed. It’s a huge opportunity for transformation and positive change, particularly in the marketing department with huge impacts and results for companies that take on the challenge.
