We will explain what digital marketing is, how it differs from web marketing, success stories, and specific methods. Deepen your understanding of digital marketing that utilizes all kinds of media, including website operation, SNS account operation, Internet advertising distribution including listing advertisements, IoT utilization, and AR/VR utilization.
The strength of digital marketing strategy is digital data
Digital marketing is a general term for marketing activities that utilize “all digital technologies” such as websites, SNS, email, apps, big data, and AI.
With advances in the Internet and IT technology, many people now use digital devices such as computers and smartphones on a daily basis. Along with this, there have been changes in consumer behavior, such as shopping on e-commerce sites and apps, and it has become difficult to understand consumer behavior solely through in-store promotional activities and mass media advertising and PR. . This is where the concept of digital marketing emerged.
Difference between digital marketing and web marketing
“Web marketing” is used interchangeably with digital marketing. There is a big difference in the scope of these two. Let’s take a closer look.
Scope of digital marketing
The scope of digital marketing is wide-ranging and includes all kinds of digital information, such as not only user behavior obtained from websites, but also behavior history on browsers and official apps on tablets and smartphones, as well as data via IoT. In addition, when holding face-to-face events, data from real-world activities such as feedback, store visit data, and purchase history is also collected.
Utilizing digital marketing makes it possible to become omnichannel, which involves contacting customers through various channels (sales channels).
Click here to learn more about the meaning and examples of omnichannel.
Web marketing
On the other hand, web marketing is marketing that focuses on websites. We mainly handle marketing for websites, SNS, email, web advertising, affiliate marketing, etc. On the other hand, the use of IoT and AI is not covered.
In other words, web marketing is a part of digital marketing that limits the marketing venue to the web.
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Characteristics of digital marketing
What are the characteristics of
digital marketing
? Specifically, it has the following characteristics.
- Can be automatically adjusted by the system
-
In the future, even more accurate
marketing
will be possible through the use of AI technology.
Can be automatically adjusted by the system
Digital marketing allows you to automatically accumulate customer behavior data.
In marketing strategies when traditional mass media such as television and newspapers were the main means of advertising, it was difficult to obtain data on customers’ latent and actual needs, purchasing behavior, true intentions, and interests. However, in recent years, vast amounts of customer data have become easily accessible.
It is now possible to analyze customer data and present products and services that match the customer.
By using marketing tools, information can be automatically adjusted and delivered to customers without the need for humans to perform these tasks.
In the future, even more accurate marketing will be possible through the use of AI technology.
Digital marketing is also compatible with AI, and by introducing AI technology, even more accurate marketing becomes possible.
Furthermore, by combining digital marketing and AI, it becomes possible to do things that were previously impossible. Specifically, you can expect the following effects:
- One to One marketing (individual customer support) can be carried out efficiently
- Predict customer behavior and take proactive action
- Expected to improve efficiency and profit margins
- It is possible to create media with high CX (customer experience) and CS (customer satisfaction) from collected customer data.
One to One marketing (individual customer support) can be carried out efficiently
Utilizing AI in digital marketing allows for efficient One to One marketing (individual customer support).
By using AI to manage vast amounts of customer data, we will be able to provide each customer with the most appropriate information and take appropriate responses.
Consumer behavior is becoming more complex every year, and by relying on AI, difficult responses can be easily automated and customer data can be centrally managed.
Predict customer behavior and take proactive action
Incorporating AI into digital marketing allows you to predict customer behavior.
For example, by having AI analyze the reasons why customers with a subscription system (subscription = monthly fee system) cancel their membership, it will be possible to take measures in advance.
By analyzing customer behavior within the site, support utilization status, frequency of service usage, etc., we can provide benefits and points to customers who follow similar behavior history, and strengthen support. I will.
If you implement these measures in advance, you will be able to reduce the rate of early withdrawals.
In this way, it would be ideal to have AI analyze customer behavior in advance of the situation, and have humans respond to customers with a spirit of hospitality.
Expected to improve efficiency and profit margins
You can simplify your work as much as you want online.
A huge amount of confirmation work, which up until now had to be done manually by human operators, can now be left to AI and produce results in an instant.
Also, there is no longer a need for a human operator to respond to every customer. , because AI will replace operators for some customers.
For example, you can make work more efficient by having AI respond to customers before they make a purchase, while humans respond to customers and complaints after purchase. Furthermore, you can expect to improve your profit margin by reducing labor costs.
It is possible to create media with high CX (customer experience) and CS (customer satisfaction) from collected customer data.
It is also possible to create an EC site with high CX (customer experience) and CS (customer satisfaction) based on the analysis results of the huge amount of customer behavior data and purchase data obtained through digital marketing.
Within the site, AI can analyze the pages visited by customers, the advertisements they click, and the product pages they view, and by devising the display and arrangement of products, it is possible to increase the product purchase rate.
Furthermore, based on the customer’s behavior history, AI predicts the content that the customer is likely to be interested in, and by automatically displaying a link tag to the content page in a position where the customer can easily click, the product purchase rate can be further increased. can be raised.
By creating a site structure that makes it easy for customers to browse, the time spent on the site will increase, and at the same time, the e-commerce site will have high CX (customer experience) and CS (customer satisfaction).
Purpose of digital marketing
Why do digital marketing? This is because it is possible to implement effective and efficient marketing measures that were not possible with mass marketing, which has traditionally been the mainstream. Specifically, the objectives are as follows.
- You can implement marketing measures optimized for prospective customers.
- Collect customer digital data and use it for marketing strategies
You can implement marketing measures optimized for prospective customers.
One of the purposes of digital marketing is to implement marketing measures optimized for prospective customers.
It is especially compatible with “One to One Marketing,” which deals with each customer individually.
One to One marketing is a marketing method that does not segment customers as in traditional marketing, but rather provides information that is suitable for each person and leads to a purchase.
In particular, in inbound marketing, there are many situations where success depends on the targeting settings using personas, and improving the accuracy of one-to-one marketing is an important task that can lead to success or failure.
Collect customer digital data and use it for marketing strategies
The “PDCA cycle” can be said to be an important work process that is indispensable not only for marketing but also for running a company.
It is difficult for any company to stabilize its operations without improving its operations through the PDCA cycle.
Of course, marketing is no exception, and it is necessary to regularly measure effectiveness in order to improve sales.
However, as mentioned in “Characteristics of Digital Marketing”, it is relatively easy to obtain “customer digital data,” which is important in digital marketing.
Traditional advertising methods using
mass media
have difficulties in measuring effectiveness. In this regard, with digital marketing, you can measure the effectiveness in real time based on the collected digital data of customers.
In other words, one of the characteristics of digital marketing is that it is much easier to use the PDCA cycle than
mass marketing
.
In this way, one of the purposes of digital marketing is to be able to utilize the collected digital data of customers in marketing strategies.
Digital marketing methods
Website operation
advertising marketing
IoT utilization
email marketing
app marketing
marketing automation
SNS marketing
video marketing
Here are eight specific methods used in digital marketing. There are some things that only cover digital marketing, so if you are planning to expand your scope from web marketing to digital marketing, be sure to check it out.
Website operation
It has become commonplace for consumers to “gather information on websites” and “purchase directly from websites.” Therefore, website operation is essential for increasing awareness and promoting sales of your products and services. There are two typical measures for site operation:
Measures to attract customers
In order to attract customers to your site from among the huge number of websites, “SEO measures” are necessary. Websites that appear higher in search results have a higher chance of being viewed. Improve the quality of your content and make sure it appears at the top of search results. It is also effective to increase your chances of being seen by users by placing “Internet advertisements.”
Conversion acquisition measures
It is necessary to take measures to create a flow line so that you can reach your goals such as selling your products and getting people to use your services. This result (goal) is called a conversion, and for example, on an online shopping site, purchasing a product can be considered one conversion. Consider measures such as improving your site, optimizing your content, and optimizing your forms to make it easier for users to convert.
Click here to learn how to improve conversion rates by designing and reviewing CTA.
advertising marketing
The second is advertising marketing. It refers to marketing that uses all kinds of advertisements that can be found on the Internet, such as on websites and apps, to lead people to the site and purchase products. There are several types of advertisements that can be used here, so be sure to use the advertisement that suits your purpose.
Listing advertisement
Listing advertisements are advertisements related to the keywords searched by users that are displayed in text format on the search results screen. It appears at the top of the search results screen, making it more likely to be noticed by users. Google and Yahoo! It is mainly used by search engines such as.
Click here for more information about listing ads
display advertising
Display ads are images, videos, and text that appear in ad space on a website. Also called banner ads. For example, when viewing content such as news articles, you often see image ads displayed at the top, left and right, or in the middle of the screen; these are all display ads.
SNS advertising
SNS advertisements are displayed on SNS such as Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. It is displayed on the user’s screen, called the timeline, just like any other post, so it has the advantage of being easily noticed.
IoT utilization
IoT is an abbreviation for Internet of Things, which means that all the things around us are connected to the Internet and can use each other. It is now possible to connect home appliances such as game consoles, air conditioners, and lighting, making consumers’ lives more convenient. Additionally, companies can collect and analyze behavioral data that is difficult to grasp at home, which can be utilized in marketing measures.
email marketing
This is a method of promoting products such as PR and discount information through e-mail magazines and advertising emails, and directing customers to websites. Email marketing allows you to reach out to your existing customers repeatedly and directly. Recently, more attractive emails are being created using not only text emails but also HTML emails that incorporate images and videos. Instead of waiting for people to view your website, you can take a proactive approach.
app marketing
This is a method of gathering information about users and tracking them through smartphone apps that they use on a daily basis. By using the app’s “push” notifications, you can send information directly to users in real time, allowing you to maintain continuous contact. Since you can approach active users who are actually using the app, it tends to be more efficient than general web advertising.
marketing automation
Marketing automation (MA) refers to the automation of information collection and analysis in marketing. For example, you can automate a wide range of tasks such as email distribution, web access history analysis, lead management, and customer scoring, and use the analysis results to tailor approaches to each customer.
Click here to learn about useful tools for digital marketing
SNS marketing
This is a measure to create company accounts on SNS such as Twitter and Instagram to disseminate information (including widely on SNS) and communicate with users. Currently, the penetration rate of SNS in Japan is over 80%, and by utilizing SNS, you can increase your contact points with new and existing users. This can be said to be a proactive measure to build an interactive relationship with users.
video marketing
Marketing that uses videos to introduce your company’s products and services. Even if it is difficult to convey content using text or photos (images) alone, videos can be easily understood in a short amount of time, and have the advantage of stimulating purchase intent. For example, you can have a YouTube channel and distribute videos, or replace text and photos with videos on your website.
Click here for the characteristics of video ads
Digital marketing methods to keep an eye on in the future
There are many methods of digital marketing, but let’s check out two methods that will receive more attention in the future.
A.I.
The first is digital marketing using AI (artificial intelligence). It is already being used in chatbots that use AI to respond to inquiries from companies. Digital marketing using AI will attract attention due to the shortage of human resources, to improve work efficiency, and with the advent of even more sophisticated AI in the future.
Click here for examples of advertising using AI
AR/VR
The second is digital marketing using AR and VR. AR is an abbreviation for Augmented Reality. We combine CG technology with actual scenery to create a virtual space in the real world. VR is an abbreviation for Virtual Reality, which refers to creating a “virtual space (virtual reality)” that does not actually exist and having a realistic experience by wearing special goggles.
“Metaverse”, which uses VR (virtual space) to communicate with others and conduct economic activities, is becoming more well-known, and digital marketing in AR/VR and the Metaverse is likely to become more active in the future.
Skills needed for digital marketing
“Digital marketing” allows for effective and efficient marketing by utilizing customers’ digital data, but it requires individual skills to produce results. Specifically, the following are mentioned.
- Information research ability
- Data analysis ability
- communication skills
- Knowledge about AI and IoT
Information research ability
Not all information published on the Internet is correct. Information literacy is required to be able to select the correct information from among them.
Additionally, in the digital marketing industry, information changes rapidly, and information from just a few years ago may already be outdated.
Information research skills are required to be able to judge effective and appropriate information from such a huge amount of information.
Data analysis ability
The success or failure of digital marketing depends on how detailed customer behavior can be analyzed from the collected customer digital data. Whether or not you can analyze the data in detail depends on your individual data analysis skills.
There are many cases where major companies have succeeded in setting personas, and solid data analysis skills based on data governance are necessary as an individual skill.
communication skills
Collaboration with other departments is essential in digital marketing.
The challenge is to be able to communicate clearly and concisely so that the content and analysis results of accumulated customer data can be shared with other departments.
In addition, based on the accumulated data, there will be a need to make presentations based on clear evidence regarding analysis results and future measures.
Furthermore, the position of digital marketer often involves interacting with clients in the form of sales and consulting.
The position requires a lot of bridging work between the company and the other party, so strong communication skills are required.
Knowledge about AI and IoT
The compatibility between digital marketing and AI is explained in the “Characteristics of Digital Marketing” mentioned above.
Combining AI with digital marketing creates a synergistic effect, allowing for more accurate and automated digital marketing.
Additionally, the Internet of Things (IoT), which is attracting attention as a new marketing method, is highly compatible with digital marketing.
For example, by incorporating IoT into sensors and tags, it becomes possible to automatically collect customer trends as digital data.
The number of such cases is expected to increase in the future, and knowledge of AI and IoT will inevitably be required.
Benefits of digital marketing
Collect user data and use it for improvements and strategy planning
Connect with users through multiple channels
One to one marketing strategy possible
Valuable data is stored
You can visualize any number
Cost cutting possible
Let’s take a look at the benefits you can get by implementing digital marketing. Since it uses not only the web but also all kinds of digital technology, it has more benefits than web marketing.
Collect user data and use it for improvements and strategy planning
Collecting user information can be used to plan and improve marketing strategies. Marketing is not just a matter of blindly hitting numbers. It is necessary to understand user attributes and needs and take appropriate measures depending on the medium. A major advantage of digital marketing is that it uses multiple media, making it easy to plan and improve appropriate strategies for each.
Connect with users through multiple channels
By using multiple channels to suit each user, you can reach more potential customers. For example, SNS has multiple channels such as Twitter and Instagram, and each user has different attributes. If you take the appropriate approach depending on the medium, you can achieve marketing effectiveness in each channel.
One to one marketing strategy possible
Digital marketing allows you to acquire and analyze all kinds of consumer data. Based on this data, we can grasp the actual and latent needs in detail and consider measures tailored to each individual, such as retargeting advertising, recommendations, email distribution, and in-store responses.
Valuable data is stored
By utilizing digital technologies such as the Web and IoT, it is possible to collect various data such as user attributes (gender, age, income, family composition, area of residence, etc.), each user’s behavioral patterns and needs, and future developments. can. Gathering and analyzing information takes a huge amount of time, so consider introducing tools that can do it automatically. The collected data can be used for marketing measures and new product development.
You can visualize any number
By visualizing the collected data, you can easily analyze things like how many people are visiting your website and what time of day it is most crowded. A big advantage is that everyone can quickly grasp the current situation.
Possible to cut costs
Digital marketing only requires the cost of a website and tools, so the cost is significantly lower than the labor costs associated with traditional telephone sales and other sales. Labor saving is also a great benefit for companies with a shortage of human resources.
Disadvantages of digital marketing
Although “digital marketing” is an advanced technology that is in line with the times, there are disadvantages as well. These are the following items.
- If you don’t follow the trends, it will be difficult to see results.
- Difficult to respond to area-limited services
- Technology becomes obsolete quickly
If you don’t follow the trends, it will be difficult to see results.
Digital marketing requires “digital data” of customers.
It is possible to collect customer data such as payment history on smartphones, behavior on e-commerce sites, application usage status, etc. when customers become interested in and utilize the medium or service.
In other words, customers need to be on top of the “trends” in the name of new services and technologies.
For a customer to follow a trend means to “use” the service or technology, and only after it is used is the customer’s digital data recorded on a medium.
If the customers are not on board with the “trends”, it can be said that the digital marketing project is unlikely to be effective.
Difficult to respond to area-limited services
One of the strengths of digital marketing is that there are no restrictions based on location as long as there is an internet connection. In other words, the site can be viewed by people all over the world.
If you are developing a service limited to an area, even if people outside of that area visit your site, it will not lead to conversion (CV).
If such people make inquiries, it may take effort to respond and respond, which may disrupt normal business operations. Due to this background, it is difficult to support area-limited services.
Technology becomes obsolete quickly
In the field of technology, it is said that “technology evolves all the time.” Technology changes rapidly, and as new technologies emerge one after another, older technologies become obsolete.
Digital technology is no exception, and as digital technology becomes obsolete, related marketing strategies may also become obsolete.
Against this background, even if you try to accumulate know-how in-house, it may not always go as planned.
Digital marketing success story
From here, we will introduce five success stories of actual digital marketing initiatives that led to increased sales and recognition of products and services.
Panasonic “Video marketing on YouTube”
Panasonic introduces products such as household appliances and hairdressing equipment on its official YouTube channel, which has gained over 100,000 subscribers in less than a year since its launch. This greatly contributes to raising awareness and leads to purchases.
Coca-Cola “SNS image analysis using AI”
Coca-Cola is using AI to analyze images posted on SNS and use this to formulate new strategies. We extract photos with the Coca-Cola logo and analyze situations such as who is drinking the product and where, which can be used as a reference for acquiring new customers and developing products. After that, hit products such as the “Lemondou” alcoholic beverage series and “Ayataka Cafe Matcha Latte” were created.
Sharp “Branding with SNS”
Sharp’s official Twitter account uses human-like tweets and information dissemination to improve product awareness and branding. In addition to acquiring new customers, we also deepen our relationships with existing customers. The campaign is gaining popularity as it requires existing customers to apply when the campaign is held.
Aoyama Shoji “Marketing tailored to customer needs”
Aoyama Shoji, which is familiar with “Aoyama of Clothes”, is working on marketing on multiple media, such as opening a next -generation store from a suitable suit store and opening a SNS account for schoolgirls. In addition to conventional stores, we develop “Digital Lab”, which combines Internet mail order, online and actual stores. We accurately capture customer needs.
SBI Holdings “Conversion improvement with YouTube advertisement”
In the In’s Web, an insurance estimate comparison site operated by SBI Holdings, most search advertisements that attract customers with keywords accounted for most of the advertising distribution. However, because it is difficult to connect to the conversion, we adopted YouTube advertising “TrueView Action”. As a result, it was possible to display focused phrases and ads, and the conversion was 40 % improved and greatly effective.
Click here if you want to know more about success examples using online ads
What is digital marketing in the future of digital marketing?
“Web2.0 Marketing”, which was the mainstream from the early 2000s to the present, is showing a deadlock with the market change associated with the times.
In the future, it is necessary to move to a marketing method in line with the web3.0, focusing on distributed networks, and one of them is “Talking Marketing”.
“Talking marketing” that is attracting attention on Web3.0
Talking muff is a mechanism that explores hobbies and tastes from the “token (authentication device)” owned by the person.
Then, refer to the public information of the token from the blockchain, send NFT (non-fungible Token = unresponsive token), which seems to be the best token holder, to appeal your products and services. This marketing method is called “Talking Marketing”.
On Web3.0, data owners will be shifted to individuals, and companies will not be able to collect consumer data as in Web2.0. Against this background, this talk kinglaf marketing is attracting attention.
Summary: The importance of digital marketing is increasing
Digital marketing is a marketing that is indispensable to companies in the future with the spread of devices such as smartphones and tablets. In addition, telework and nesting demand are still continuing due to the influence of the new colon virus infections, and there are benefits that can easily respond to changes in the situation, such as if they are more heavy in face -to -face sales.
Digitalization of everything, such as the increase in media such as Web media and SNS, the use of IoT, and digital marketing will be more important. In order not to waste data, there are many companies that outsource the analysis and strategic plans, but also outsource to marketing professionals.