The Future is Digital (mostly)

We’ve just returned from the excellent B2B Marketing conference , B2B Marketing in the 21^stCentury, which focussed on the topic of digital. The potential of the channel offers so much now in terms of enabling one to one communication with customers who you know are interested in your products and services.

However, whilst there is extraordinary potential, it’s also important to remember that there are two limitations with the channel. Firstly, the customer is in control of where and when they receive information and communications. Throughout the process of researching and gathering information, they will be looking at you as well as other suppliers, talking to users and finding out more from independent voices. Catching customers at an early point in the buying cycle is still a holy grail.

The second catch is the greatly reduced attention span that customers now have. In the digital arena, you have four seconds to catch a customer’s attention before they click off. Making your communication stand out amidst the ever increasing volume of marketing messages which bombard every one every day is harder than ever.

The importance, as with any channel is in understanding the customer and their habits so an effective marketing strategy which reaches these customers in the right place with the right message at the right time can be put together. Digital will be an ever more important strand of this strategy, but traditional media may well remain important in order to reinforce brand awareness. After all, even Apple goes offline to extend its reach.