The Internet has instilled radical changes in different functional domains of businesses. For instance, finance has come out of large manual spreadsheets to automated servers. Sales have become readily observable through real-time monitoring dashboards. However, marketing has undoubtedly seen the most significant shift during this transition. We do not see this many innovations incorporated in a business function as we have in marketing. Online marketing and digital avenues have taken the place of conventional marketing channels.
Market presence, brand awareness, and customer engagement have never been such daunting tasks as they are now. Marketers need to take care of several factors at the same time. Successful marketing campaigns rely on different digital inputs. Marketers need to perform comprehensive research to identify the right factors that make their digital marketing efforts successful. Proper research still holds great significance in the marketing function. It is only research through which marketers can highlight the right customer insights to design an effective digital marketing strategy.
There are around 4.5 billion internet users globally, and 78% of these users search for products through online resources. Now imagine the size of this audience and the never-ending diversity. You are planning to interact with this audience through digital marketing.
Therefore, you certainly need to have comprehensive research before you initiate your next digital marketing move. In case you have not gained the expected outcome from your digital marketing campaigns by now, probably, lack of research is the reason. You can also read about Amazon SEO strategy for a better understanding of Amazon SEO.
Therefore, this article is of great importance to you. It highlights five reasons why research is necessary before executing a digital marketing strategy.
1. The World of SEO
Table of Contents
93% of all online activities initiate through a search engine, the importance of Search Engine Optimization (SEO) becomes self-explanatory. You might not realize the importance of SEO unless you see the extensive use of free keyword research tools and other content optimization services. It is mainly because these keywords drive the entire SEO industry. It is where research plays a huge part too.
There are billions of websites and millions of daily online searches. Therefore, you need to carry out proper research for the right keywords and content strategies. It will make your digital marketing moves more visible online and enhance your website ranking. Adequate research will also enable you to keep a close eye on your competitors’ online presence. You can gain valuable insights into what digital marketing strategies are producing results for your competition. Then, you can position your offerings on a digital platform in a better way.
2. Increasing Significance of Data in Digital Marketing
If you are a marketer and have already played with digital marketing, you would probably know what big data and data analytics are. Big data refers to those vast data sets that you have collected at different touchpoints of market interactions. At the same time, data analytics is the interpretation of that data into valuable means. Big data utilization’s market size just for marketing purposes will reach around $103 billion by 2023.
Only proper research before strategizing your next digital marketing move can create the right avenues for data utilization. Research provides valuable insights and opens new channels, enabling marketers to optimize channel efficiency through appropriate data analytics tools. For example, Netflix produced new digital marketing channels through big data and data analytics. These channel optimizations save Netflix a whopping $1 billion per year.
3. Varying Customer Needs and Demands
A modern-day customer wants customization and personalization to the maximum. People have become increasingly aware of more market players, intensifying the competition even further. It, in return, has flooded the markets with different customer requirements. Catering to these varying customer needs and demands is undoubtedly not possible without scrupulous research.
Research enables a marketer to identify the right digital marketing platform, the correct time, the perfect message, and the most effective channel. Research equips your digital marketing strategy with the right tactics to accommodate customer preferences. It is best evident from the fact that personalized product recommendation engines contribute around 35% of the total revenue of Amazon.
4. Importance of Omnichannel Marketing
Omnichannel marketing is maintaining an overall theme for the brand across different marketing channels. Brands need to offer a comparable experience over the online store, just like the feel of visiting a flagship store physically. Then a digital marketer must ensure customer exposure to ads that convey a similar connotation. The increased prevalence of technology has produced numerous customer touchpoints. Different channels surround a modern customer from many perspectives, from a smartphone’s screen to their laptop’s feed.
Research brings all these different yet significant marketing channels to a marketer’s notice. It helps the marketer to identify the right combination of the digital marketing message across various marketing channels. It is how companies can increase customer retention because they can capture their customer on every possible platform.
5. Constructing the Right User Personas
A user persona is a fictional sketch of either the current or the potential target customer. These personas then help the companies to make their offerings attractive to this target group.
When you have billions of potential target customers on digital platforms, you would certainly want to narrow it down. User personas are the best tool to exercise this approach. However, producing the right user personas requires thorough research. Only research can provide the closest possible sociocultural and demographic details of your target customers. Research provides customer-centric user personas, which marketers then use to design an effective digital marketing strategy.
Conclusion
53% of shoppers research before buying anything. That includes even the pettiest things. Then, why don’t you exercise proper research before investing hefty amounts in digital marketing activities? It might seem simple and straightforward. Once you start exploring digital marketing options, you realize it’s an entire Pandora box.
There are limitless avenues one can utilize for digital marketing. For instance, search engine management, increasing data, personalization, broad customer approach, and user personas are just some of the basic ones. The key to successful digital marketing lies in doing proper research to identify the most befitting option for your business.
