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The author shares insights on how startups need to approach digital marketing in order to please investors, gain funding and retain customers

The author Finnegan Pierson is drawn to the technological world because of its quick-paced and constantly changing environment. He believes embracing technology is essential to capturing success in any business and strives to inspire and encourage top technological practices in business leaders across the globe.

Digital marketing is not just the next big thing; it is what is evolving the marketing world right now.

According to a report based on ThinkVine’s recent survey, more than half of all marketing executives are spending more of their advertising budgets on digital advertising than traditional media such as TV ads and radio plugs.

However,  using up all your budget on online channels is not the best idea — marketers need to know what works and what doesn’t when they target customers in the digital world. With the added pressure for funding, startups must balance between what will please investors and what makes sense from a digital marketing point of view.

And not fall into the following traps:

Diving headfirst into digital

Many big brands and top marketing firms have opted to jump headfirst into the digital marketing field. However, experts believe it is not the right idea for big business before carrying out a proper analysis of the digital market.

Also Read: 7 ways to supercharge your startup’s email marketing campaign

Rather than devoting a larger portion of the budget to digital advertising channels, having a balanced strategy is advocated. A company should first take the time to understand the market. It is very important to know how specific customers consume different media types and how the company can exploit them to achieve target sales and brand objectives.

Companies make mistakes by assuming a one-size-fits-all approach for their marketing mix. It is recommended for a company to take a long, hard look at the customers before making the marketing budget.

The first step to counter this challenge is to understand how customers consume different media by analysing various factors such as age and income level. For instance, if your target market is a young, tech-savvy crowd, the best digital marketing mix must be broader than just digital media.

Information overload

Big Data is very important for a company to make plans on their marketing objectives and to align the marketing objectives with organisational and strategic objectives. However, many companies collect as much consumer data as possible only to find themselves without a plan of what they should want to do with the data.

Also Read: How to create an iconic brand in the digital era

The main issue companies experience is that these big amounts of data are measured in a vacuum without having a clear picture first. There is no comprehensive understanding of what a company is trying to accomplish, and, therefore, data may not add value to the marketing strategy.

Companies should collect data to solve business problems and not just because it’s available.

Neglecting mobile customers

Mobile marketing is one of the rising media for marketing in most circles. However, it is also an area that many businesses are neglecting in their marketing strategies.

People are spending more time on their smartphones than computers, but companies have not responded to the change in consumer behaviours.

One of the reasons companies hesitate to maximise on this new opportunity is because of the newness of this marketing platform.

To understand what works for your business is very important because you understand where your consumers spend most of their time and how to engage them using digital media. Rather than ignoring mobile platforms altogether, it is important to experiment with the option with ads that might appeal to your target consumers.

Also Read: Mobile is revolutionising the way people think in Asia

Taking retargetting too far

Retargetting is used by marketers to convince potential customers who have visited the company website before to make a purchase in the next visit, or to become a loyal customer. When it is done well, it’s usually very effective.

However, it has been ranked as one of the things consumers find very annoying when it’s not done right. To get it to work for your business, it has to be done in moderation.

Marketers fail to communicate their products’ value properly

Perception of value is one of the vital elements of pricing. When customers cannot see value for their money, they don’t see a reason to buy your products. Customers only remain loyal if they see value despite the price increase.

Value cuts across a variety of elements such as service, knowledge, price, and quality among others.

Also Read: Facebook sees 97,660 status updates every 20 secs and more crazy stats

In digital marketing, explaining the value of a product could be difficult without the necessary knowledge of how to do so. On one hand, experts may not want to hear about the benefits they already know. On the other, the less expertise your customer has, the more you need to sell the benefits.

Companies gain a lot of data from their clients using digital marketing tools when advertising their products. Data gained is then analysed in the data dashboard to help their employees make future decisions on their marketing strategies. The analysis from the dashboard can add value to the interactive statements which are then sent to customers.

The problem of communicating value to customers can hence be solved by providing multiple sources of external content or data from other systems to complement with interactive statements. This is because customers can analyse activity across their accounts.

The benefit to consumers is clear, more data means solving more problems and better knowledge for the consumers. With this, it is easier to communicate value to various customers and ensure further engagement and interaction with them.

The views expressed here are of the author’s, and e27 may not necessarily subscribe to them. e27 invites members from Asia’s tech industry and startup community to share their honest opinions and expert knowledge with our readers. If you are interested in sharing your point of view, please send us an email at writers[at]e27[dot]co

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