October 2019

Facebook Ads, Google Ads, SEO

How Digital Marketing will change in 2020

Before we get into what’s about to change in Digital Marketing in 2020, it’s important to assert that the most important things do not change. Good copywriting will always be central to good digital marketing. Understanding your customer deeply is the first step for any effective campaign.‌ Improving key metrics’ like cost per lead, conversion rate, and retention will still remain critical. Google and Facebook will still remain the biggest advertising channels for digital marketers. And good ole’ SEO and email marketing will still thrive. So what’s new for Digital Marketing in 2020?‌ 1)‌ AI‌ will become more relevant The use of services like Alexa, Siri and Google Asssistant continue to rise.‌ With more advancements in these technologies, it will become important for digital marketers to understand the nuances of reaching the customer through these AI robots instead of directly. One obvious impact of this on Digital Marketing in 2020 is that search results get more personalized. If I am into online education, and keep making searches in that regard, searching “Salman Khan” might lead me to Khan Academy. On the other hand, if I’m a Bollywood movie buff, I‌ might find more results for the Bollywood mega-star Salman Khan. While Google and other companies have made good advances in this regard, it is likely that in the next year they’ll take it to the next level. 2)‌ A trend against social media Until recently, there was nothing bad perceived by mainstream society in social media. It was a way to connect with friends, to find expression for one’s thoughts, experiences and opinions, and a way to collaborate to solve problems or share meaningful conversations. However, in the last few years, a growing percentage of the population seems to recognize the ill-effects of social media. Smartphones, particularly with the social apps on them, have become an addiction for many of us. With the constant stream of notifications, comments, likes, hearts and retweets, many people feel tired. Worst of all, they feel they’re missing out on the real reason they signed up for these services- authentic social interaction. With this trend, many new books (such as Digital Minimalism by Cal Newport)‌ have started advising people on how to have a better, more sane relationship with their smartphone and social media apps. If this trend continues to gain momentum, we may see a dip in the number of hours of social media usage, even among millennials. 3)‌ Video is big To be fair, this isn’t really new for 2020. But there’s no doubt that anyone who’s not already jumped on the video bandwagon that started somewhere around 2012, is missing on huge opportunities to engage with their customers and prospects. Video is replacing how we tell stories on our websites, on social media ads, on landing pages and even on messaging apps like WhatsApp. A‌ good video team, agency, or freelancer may become necessary for almost every company in the near future. 4)‌‌ Voice based search Voice based search takes over a bigger and bigger pie of total searches happening online. It is important to notice the subtle differences this introduces. For example, a conversational tone now has even more advantages to a cold, corporate tone on your website. Answering questions that users might be frequently voicing on their mobile phones, instead of just selling the products, becomes an even better source of traffic. And longer phrases (long-tailed keywords) are preferred even more to short one or two word search terms. 5)‌ Algorithms make targeting easier Social Media companies such as Facebook offer what’s called a “lookalike audience”. This is one of the easier ways to get your targeting right. Let’s say you have 250 customers who bought a particular product on your website. If you upload the list of email IDs or phone numbers of these 250, Facebook’s algorithms can target hundreds of thousands of people who are quite similar in profile and behaviour to your list. This kind of targeting allows digital marketers to focus primarily on design and copy, while letting smarter algorithms determine the appropriate audience. As machine learning and AI make advances, these algorithms continue to get smarter. This means that, for a digitally aware marketer, cost of advertising to irrelevant audiences keeps reducing. Read our Digital Marketing in the Financial Industry.

Industry-specific

Digital Marketing in the Financial Industry

Financial industry’s products and services are just like any other product or service. They need to be marketed. The services provided by banks, insurance companies, mutual funds, financial institutions etc. have their customers just like in any other industry. These companies require customers to purchase their securities. The traditional style of marketing any financial product is publishing through yellow pages, hoardings, advertisements on televisions, magazines, newspapers, etc. It is not easy to get this age-old business (and often controlled by the government) to adapt to new technologies. There is often tremendous friction. However, the companies which have made (or are making) this shift well are the ones that are thriving in the 21st century. Let’s explore some ways in which Financial Industry can use digital marketing. 5 WAYS TO USE DIGITAL MEDIA IN THE FINANCIAL INDUSTRY 1) TO FIND PROSPECTS With the world going digital, it is easy to segment and target very relevant persons who might be interested in specific types of products. Both Social Media Ads and Google Search or Display Ads have very powerful ways to reach people interested in any niche product. Devising a behaviour-based and customized marketing strategy, showcasing the right product to the right person at the right time – can be achieved through digital media. 2) TO GET CUSTOMER FEEDBACK & ENGAGEMENT Social media is the finest way to assess genuine feedback and concerns. A company that keeps its ears open for social media conversations around their industry will often achieve the best insights and design strategies that alleviate the most customer pain-points. Social media monitoring tools are an enormous resource for any finance-based company. 3) TO HAVE AN ONGOING CONVERSATION WITH THE MARKET A rational and relevant conversation with the customers can elevate customer experience. Customer issues and grievances can be solved virtually to boost company goodwill. A company that responds quickly online builds enormous trust in today’s customers. 4) TO TELL YOUR BRAND STORY USING VIDEO People prefer to watch videos rather than read large amounts of text. A business social media page with a lot of videos tends to have more likes and followers. Websites have also been using videos very effectively in the last 6-7 years. They engage customers by posting mouth-watering videos. ICICI bank posts about numerous activities they perform on their social media channels very effectively. If a finance company explains its schemes, policies and procedures through videos instead of written content, people will learn more, get attracted more, and get retained more. Good video content is also rewarded by Google and Facebook’s algorithms. You’re more likely to reach your target audience if you use video instead of plain text. 5) TO RESOLVE QUERIES USING CHATBOTS Customers not only want online services, but also want to solve their minor queries on digital platforms. Companies can now ensure that they are 24*7 available. Using Chatbots , most customer queries can be resolved using a conversational and easy-to-approach tone. The advances in machine learning and A.I. have made the design of effective Chabot extremely viable. REAL INSTANCES OF DIGITAL MARKETING OF FINANCE INDUSTRY. 1) Yes bank digital diya campaign in 2017. Yes bank launched a website (http://www.thedigitaldiya.in) where every visit on this website will light up a digital diya. An amount equal to every visit was contributed towards the fund for eradicating rural financial illiteracy. The success was easily measured by counting the number of visits. Following this creative trend, the bank managed to light up over 1 million diyas. 2) ICICI mobile application – iMobile app. With the world obsessed with smartphones, mobile apps keep you a step ahead. ICICI advertised about its mobile app in a very creative way. ICICI mobile app provides you the travel card and there is no need to get into issues of currency exchange. ICICI has been awarded with India’s best mobile banking app by The Forrester banking wave. 3) SBI-Cashkiaadatbadlo In the wake of demonetization, it was very needful to go digital for customers. People suffered liquidity crunches. SBI early in that year of demonetization came up with the campaign of CASHKIAADATBADLO. It advertised products like SBI debit card, SBI Pay and SBI buddy mobile wallet. Its advertisements were so real and relatable for the audience that it was more reliable and trustworthy. You can see the video here. 4) Chatbots developed by Indian banks. Yes bank has Yes robot, ICICI has software robotics, City bank has Humanoid Laxmi, HDFC bank has Onchat. These chatbots help customers by providing various services like checking account balance, tranfering money, opening new accounts, locating ATMs and branches, giving current interest on loans. About the Author: Tanushri Saxena is pursuing her MBA from GLS, Ahmedabad. Currently, she is interning as a content writer at WebKow. She enjoys an occasional cup of coffee and is an avid Game of Thrones fan (but not season 8  ).

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