The other week we were delighted to be part of Marketing Week Live, exhibiting in the Online Marketing Show, and more excitingly, speaking in the Search, Affiliate and Display Arena (the video link is at the end of this blog).
Matt Hopkins, our MD, examined The Evolution of Online Marketing, looking at:
• the various stages in the development of the business website
• the changing factors within search engines and social media
• the demands of information-hungry consumers
• how marketers have adapted so far to keep up
• the challenges they face today and in the future
He focused on three key takeaway points for the audience:
1. Search vs Discovery.
What are the differences between search and discovery, and how can we as marketers use both to create the right audience for a brand?
There are two ways that people access information online. Search we’re all familiar with. To ‘Google it’ has become a commonly used phrase because search is really an essential part of life for most people.
Discovery, on the other hand, is different, and has traditionally been ‘owned’ by offline marketing channels. Browsing through a magazine or passing a billboard you may stumble on the latest gadget to change your life. You didn’t know it existed before, but now you need it!
The point is that search delivers expected results, whereas discovery yields the unexpected. Tweet this!
2. Brands are now publishers.
The nature of the business website has moved on, and to attract and retain readers – not traffic – you must adopt an editorial approach to your online marketing.
For businesses to be successful in their market they need to engage customers early in the buying cycle. And this doesn’t mean hitting them with your sales pitch from the start.
Building loyalty for your brand starts with content – for engagement, education, information and persuasion. Tweet this!
3. Convergence.
Social media isn’t replacing search; it generates content and relationships. Search helps us sift through content and conversations in pursuit of a specific goal/information.
Technical SEO on its own no longer works. Content on its own goes nowhere. Social on its own is just conversation. Marketers must integrate all three to be successful. Tweet this!
