Adapting to Digital: GMIC Conference Tackles the Big Marketing Issues

Tel Aviv, Israel, March 17, 2016 (Newswire.com) - ​​The latest study from the Association of National Advertisers reveals that when it comes to marketing in the digital age, companies are – to a significant extent – lost. Some key findings:

• ‘Fifty percent of respondents do not have a clearly defined customer decision journey nor do they understand where they need to focus their marketing programs.’
   
• ‘More than one-third of companies are not using data to make decisions, and almost half say they still don’t have the right analytics in place.’
   
• ‘84 percent of marketers do not have a formal content strategy and distribution process.’ (Source: ANA).

The ever present specter of traditional marketing methodology continues to haunt the industry, despite the clearly shifting priorities of consumers regarding media platforms. Increasing global smartphone penetration signals the need for more creative and solid strategies. The rise ofadblocking software is the beginning of the end of banner ads. Consumers overwhelmingly trust the advice of friends and peers (including bloggers) over brands. Digital and mobile has fundamentally changed the marketing landscape, so what can companies do to survive and thrive in this brave new world? Attendees and speakers of GMIC will address this question with supporting examples and case studies of the continuously changing digital marketing landscape. 

Today's marketers must be more skilled than ever, including at least some knowledge of data analytics.

Social media has changed the customer-brand relationship from a one-way, direct projection in the days of yore to a two-way conversation. Consumers can easily communicate with brands via Facebook, Twitter, and other platforms, right from their phones. Even more importantly, consumers can now communicate with each other on a grand scale. This makes the customer decision journey a more complex process than ever. Before making a purchasing decision, customers may consult social media, blogs, review sites, and more. In fact, 60% of consumers in the US have made a purchasing decision based on a blog post. Companies need to take this journey into account and rethink their approach to social and influencer marketing.

Companies need to start investing in and hiring analytical talent and today’s marketers must be more skilled than ever, including at least some knowledge of data analytics.

Content and distribution are the two most crucial ingredients to a successful strategy. Great content will not be seen by anyone if the distribution is weak; but an excellent distribution strategy will fail with subpar content. Here it is important to shape strategy on a campaign-by-campaign basis. In a a mobile social media campaign, for example, the distribution strategy would be vastly different than running a TV ad – this is obvious. However, a campaign on Twitter may not be suitable for Instagram. Each social network has a different audience, language, and reach. Furthermore, all campaigns need to have a certain structure and set goals in mind. Brands need to ask themselves these basic questions: What is the aim of this campaign? Who is the target audience? Where and when are they most likely to be active? What appeals to them? What tools would help the brand reach them?

As an example of this in action is the app Wlingua which was created to help kids and adults learn Spanish. Wlingua knew that if an educational app needed to recruit influential mom and dad bloggers to review. Working with blogger influencers through this year's GMIC media partner BlogsRelease, mutual exposure on all possible social media platforms was made possible while keeping track of reach. Ultimately, reviews from just 30 bloggers generated thousands of views.

There is a new normal for the marketing reality. While the advent of mobile and digital may signal the end of some traditional forms of advertising, it opens up countless new doorways to exciting possibilities and campaigns.

GMIC annually hosts tens of thousands of mobile executives, entrepreneurs, developers, and investors from around the globe and across platforms to build partnerships, to learn from industry thought leaders, to better understand mobile technology trends, and to highlight how mobile is positively changing the world. 

BlogsRelease is a PR marketplace for brands to engage with influencers by posting blogger review campaigns for products, events, and news. By implementing, monitoring, and analyzing blogger review campaigns for top brands worldwide, BlogsRelease ensures the creation of lasting online impressions.