Since the dawn of the Internet, marketers have regarded it as a vast laboratory, launching experiment after experiment to crack the code that generates sales and customer loyalty. Not surprising, most have failed. Consumers adopted digital technology as they themselves saw fit, in the process fundamentally altering the way they make purchasing decisions.1 Companies that understand this evolution are now carefully moving digital interactivity toward the center of their marketing strategies, rethinking their priorities and budgets, and substantially reshaping their processes and skills.
Through our work with dozens of companies navigating this shifting landscape, we have found that the most successful digital marketers focus on managing four core sources of value as they increase the percentage of marketing and channel spending that is directed to digital activities. First, they coordinate their activities to engage the consumer throughout an increasingly digital purchase journey. Second, they harness interest in their brands by syndicating content that empowers the consumer to build his or her own marketing identity and, in the process, to serve as a brand ambassador. Third, they recognize the need to think like a large-scale multimedia publisher as they manage a staggering increase in the content they create to support products, segments, channels, and promotions. Finally, these marketers strategically plot how to gather and use the plethora of digital data now available.
The digital-marketing difference
At the simplest level, we’ve always known that consumers tend to go through a multistage journey as they make purchasing decisions. Yet most companies still concentrate marketing resources on only two stages: brand marketing up front to woo consumers when they first consider products, and promotions at the final point of sale to sway them as they are about to make a purchase.Digital technology is changing all that. Consumers who used to seek out family and friends for word-of-mouth product recommendations now read online reviews, compare features and prices on Web sites, and discuss options via social-networking sites. This information flow not only empowers consumers but also allows marketing departments to be part of the conversation consumers have as they actively learn about product categories and evaluate choices. In fact, both business-to-consumer (B2C) and business-to-business (B2B) purchasers increasingly want marketers to help them make smart decisions. They just don’t want to feel subjected to the hard sell—they expect marketers to engage them, not dictate to them.
Moving from a one-way, company-driven sales mentality to a two-way relationship with consumers requires core changes in the way marketers do business (see sidebar, “Digital marketing for the C-suite”). While some of them have adjusted effectively, most simply tried everything that came to mind, because they weren’t sure what would work. Companies have explored digital-marketing vehicles such as video ads, sponsored content, and online promotions. New forms of targeted online ad delivery have emerged. Web sites have been overhauled, and microsites for specific products or promotions have multiplied. Companies are buying thousands of search terms across their lines of business, and new agencies keep popping up to serve marketers’ increasingly keen desire for innovative content, user tools, or social experimentation. While these initiatives usually make sense, their implementation often doesn’t: most companies merely add them to their other operations and thus stretch their organizations financially and operationally. In our experience, companies must thoughtfully integrate such initiatives by focusing on four core sources of value.
Orchestrate an integrated consumer experience
Whether by receiving marketing e-mails, searching for products online, or using mobile devices to find retail coupons, customers today continually interact with brands as they move closer to making purchasing decisions. Yet completely different parts of an organization manage most such contacts. Digital channels can unify that experience and prevent the leakage of opportunity. Across a range of B2C and B2B clients, we’ve seen companies accelerate revenue growth by tightening the coordination of the end-to-end experience (Exhibit 1). These increases represent the cumulative impact of capturing more online traffic, engaging consumers effectively, raising sales conversion rates, and then deepening bonds with the brand after sales are made.Article Source : www.mckinsey.com