It’s all about online presence. Any business owner or service provider should know that consumers drive relevance these days. It doesn’t matter whether you’re an established medical device designer or a start-up trying to brand your new doggie apparel. Your online presence continues to be the most important aspect of your marketing and promotional and branding efforts heading into 2019.
Various online formats are essential for driving consumers to your website, but so too is appropriately targeting your audience. According to Adobe, approximately 50% of Generation Z (identifies people born between 1995 to early 2000) turn to social media for their information on products and services. Another 42% of Millennials (those generally born between 1980 and 1997) do the same.
It stands to reason that those among your potential audience who grew up with social media are more apt to utilize it for information. We’re living in a time where a television isn’t really a television anymore – it’s a streaming device. Smartphones used to visit websites has increased roughly 21% since 2016.[1] Mobile ads are growing more relevant – and sometimes more annoying. Video ads are now catered to different geographical zones and optimal viewing times based on demographics and psychographics of target age groups.
On top of that, social media continues to be relevant and drives an average of three timesmore traffic for someone using mobile devices to research information,products, and services.
Are you on track?
A study by Deloitte completed in 2016 found that on average, young-ish smartphone users looked at their phones approximately 82 times a day! That comes with both pros and cons. Push notifications were all the rage in 2018, but the overwhelming number you receive can drive you nuts. (The same study learned that in 2013, Apple alone pushed 7.4 trillion notifications). Information overload? Perhaps.
Bothersome push notifications, spam, and outrageous promises by marketers are time-wasters. For 2019, marketing, promotion, and branding efforts should focus on one thing: relevancy to the audience target. Based on results from Adobe’s Digital Advertising Summit, nearly 74% of advertisers considered their CTAs to be on target. Audience response? About 8%believed the CTAs were appropriate.
Bottom line: Marketing efforts of any kind must be more relevant. It’s not just about ads. It’s about a well-rounded content strategy: website, blog, social media, and then ad copy. Know your audience.Care about your audience. Customize your content based on your audience. After all, marketing efforts shouldn’t ever be a one-size-fits-all approach.
[1] https://www.slideshare.net/adobe/adi-state-of-digital-advertising-2018