Practical Insights on Digital Marketing

Some heavy rain, hot coffee, and fresh cake ushered in our Masterclass on Tuesday, 28th April. Joe Kanyua was the speaker for the evening and up his sleeve he had prepared insights on digital marketing. Joe is a business solutions lead at oracle; over his career he has interacted with data from large corporations and assessed how they work.

It is this insight that Joe shared with participants of his masterclass.

Change in marketing trends

“The aim of marketing is to make selling unnecessary” – Peter Drucker

During the session, Joe talked about knowing what a customer wants; he emphasized on the changing needs of consumers and the shift in their buying behaviors. He mentioned that now, more than ever buyers have made 60% of the buy decision before meeting the sales person. As a result, this 60% gap creates a problem for the seller. If a seller is absent when a potential consumer is making these perceptions that will ultimately influence their choice then they miss out on large opportunities. This is where digital marketing comes in.

Previously, with traditional marketing, a seller could only influence around 10-20% of the buying process. However, the game has changed and it is important for sellers to align themselves with the changing dynamics this means making themselves a part of the process by providing information a opposed to just creating awareness.
This means that sellers need to change their approach; they need to start looking at things from a consumer level. This allows the seller to create an experience for the consumer; a system where the seller can individually interact with each one of them. These experiences are what inform the buying process and digital marketing plays a big role in this.

Drivers in digital marketing

In digital marketing the most important thing is data. There is a growing need to understand the consumer and tailoring your strategies to meet their demands. Most organizations understand the why of digital marketing but most do not grasp the how and it is here where most get lost in the noise.

Joe also mentioned the rapid growth of mobility. Everyone is on their phones and the trend is on a steady rise. In the next few years consumers will need solutions tailored to their lifestyles. Their interactions with sellers will majorly be on an online platform.

It is at this point that Joe introduced the importance of big data as well as the need to adapt to cloud-based computing systems. With big data it is possible for a seller to adapt in real time to what their consumer wants. Coupled with cloud based computing they will be also able to rapidly innovate and take advantage of digital marketing tools such as social media.

How it ended

With the distant backdrop of rain and warm chatter in the room the session came to an end. Everyone left feeling they had gained practical insights on digital marketing and were looking forward to the next installment of the masterclass.