From Business 2 Community: “7 Digital Marketing Trends To Be Aware of in 2016”

Whether it’s work, entertainment, research or even education nowadays, virtually every facet of our lives now involves the usage of the internet in one way or another. But, as much as the internet has changed how we live day-to-day, it has made an even more profound impact on marketing by radically altering the way it has been done for decades. Gone are the days of fighting for premium newspaper ads and eye-catching flyers. Instead, the centre focus of modern-day marketing strategies has shifted to a completely new battle frontier where consumers now lie – the internet.

However, for many businesses, the question becomes what exactly does social media marketing entail of? Does it simply mean creating one’s own Facebook page and bombarding the internet with ads?

Well, according to this online blog, the key strategy is actually to create as many marketing channels as possible.   The author claims that the biggest mistake business owners can make is to “put all their eggs in basket” and not have a “diverse marketing plan”. The advantage of having diversity is that not only will businesses be able to communicate with a much broader target audience, but also it mitigates their vulnerability to any external environment changes.

While I do agree with the author on the need to implement multiple marketing channels such as  social media networks, blogs, email marketing campaigns and so on depending on the target audience, I believe it is equally important to also point out exactly what kind of content needs to be propagated from such channels. It would certainly be pointless to invest in a diversified marketing plan only to churn out rubbish content that no one cares about.

From themodernconnection.com via Nike Instagram

As we discussed in class about the importance of positioning, the same rules apply to social media marketing.  Nowadays, all businesses have a Facebook or Instagram account and consumers are constantly flooded with ads everywhere over the internet. Therefore, given this information overload, it becomes imperative for businesses to differentiate themselves from their competitors. But how can this be accomplished?

Azure Zhu’s recent blog post on social media marketing made a great point about how instead of simply posting advertisements, businesses should “interact with customers by joining in on discussions, posting interesting posters and so on”. One such successful example of this strategy would be Nike. Rather than interrupting their follower’s feeds on Facebook and Instagram, it actively engages with its target audience by sharing motivational messages. This way, Nike is able to establish a sense of community with consumers whilst using this opportunity to promote its products in a meaningful way at the same time.

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