Emerging Trends in Digital Marketing

David Edmundson-BirdDirector MSc Digital Marketing

CommunicationsMMU Business School

Emerging Trends in Digital Marketing

• You’re going to expect:

The Emerging Difference Between Search and Social Media Marketing

• Search is a tactic for when you want to gain engagement from someone who already knows they do a specific thing

• Social media on the other hand is a tactic that can align a brand with an intent that doesn’t currently exist or by peer recommendation of a consumer’s experience of a product, service or brand.

Digital is only going to get bigger

• Almost all agencies and client-sides are talking about growing spend on digital marketing projects– A bigger slice of a shrinking marketing budget– A budget in its own right that’s getting bigger

Behaviour drives Investment

• Investment in digital is increasing because customers are changing the way they behave– Digital isn't about fashion it’s about

communicating to consumers in a way that coincides with their new behaviour

What should you be investing in?

• Clearly– Social networks, social media, social applications

• But also– Digital experiences of the brand• Experiential marketing shifts to a digital focus• Creativity will be key

The Web Site is still King

• It’s still vitally important to invest and maintain your web sites in terms of content, brand, search

• But it’s becoming almost as important to invest in social media presences– The main web site is where many customers consult

and/or finally transact– The main web site needs to be optimized for mobile

• Integration across channels to point to the site as a final destination

Unpaid Advertising is Growing

• Consumers experience a brand best from someone else

• The growth in personal referrals• Consumers are increasingly trusting messages

from contacts rather than direct from brands– Valuable but risky– Brand Hijack

There are going to be more Social Media Marketing Gurus

• Some of them will be douchebags• The skillset will evolve– Key points• Kids who use social media networks as participants are

not social media experts• There needs to be a growth in the development of key

skills in the area

Old School Analytics is Over

• Controversial but...• Measuring CTR, hits, CPM, traffic may not be

helpful• Measuring engagement might be more useful– Measure brand awareness– Measure the number of leads generated by a

marketing lever• The Growth of “Return on Engagement” and

the demise of ROI

We need to do our homework into how customers behave

• Market research remains important• But “listening” via networks is vital– Reading blogs (tiny influencers)– Creating blogs where customers can comment– Your most critical customer could be your biggest

fan

The Jury is Out on....

• Location– Somebody might find a way to make Foursquare

work (if Foursquare can find a way to make money)

• Augmented Reality– Still a bit clunky, requires seamlessness

The Future of Digital Marketing

• Every year will remain the year of mobile• Something will replace Twitter• Tablets will replace laptops for casual

interaction• Neuroscience will become an important field

in understanding customer behaviour

Thank You

• David Edmundson-Bird– d.edmundson-bird@mmu.ac.uk– @groovegenerator– http://uk.linkedin.com/in/davidbird