At first glance, it’s perplexing why Canadian businesses are so far behind the rest of the world in online marketing. Especially given that Canada has one of the highest broadband penetration rates in the world. Not to mention that half the adult population is on Facebook. And that nearly 70% of Canadians watch videos online.
Do they know that English-speaking Canadians aged 18 to 34 spend more than a third of their time online, certainly more time than they spend watching television, or reading newspapers? Do they know, according to Harris Research, that 70% of adults watching TV are online at the same time?
Online advertising revenue quadrupled over the past five years to about $1.6 billion in 2008. Though spending on digital advertising only accounted for 11% of overall marketing budgets, according to IAB. By comparison, businesses in the U.S. spent 14%. England, even more.
“Canada has world-class internet penetration, it’s in the top leading markets around the world,” says Nikesh Arora, Google’s head of global sales (who handles more than $23 billion in annual revenue).
“What we find fascinating is that [Canada] is not as competitive a business market … which basically suggests that there’s not as many businesses online because they’re not competing for share amongst each other, or there are not enough businesses competing in certain areas. The online adoption of businesses is not at par with the online adoption of consumers, which is a challenge in the long term.”
Or, is it an opportunity for smart and savvy marketers?
The hurdle, however, is the lack of knowledge of marketing fundamentals displayed by many web based agencies, or suppliers. Along with a lack of process and understanding of metrics. Not to mention, a lack of creative. At least in comparison to what traditional agencies deliver.
This can probably be understood because online advertising is still relatively new in comparison to the older media. It’s also true that most digital start ups are run, not by people with a marketing, advertising, or even a creative background – but by techies – who largely learned much of what they know in their basements, through a binary lens. Hence, the digital gimmicks, juvenile antics and precious attitude that marketing online and especially the general idea of social media is somehow completely different and new. A corollary of which is that people today are completely different and new.
A recent article in the National Post stated, “One of the most prominent challenges facing the online advertising industry, not just in Canada, is its inability to provide marketers with standardized measurement data that can be easily understood by companies looking to move their dollars online.”
I, for one, find this statement a bit misleading. The web has more metrics, including a plethora of free tools for measurement than all traditional media combined. The problem is that there is such an abundance and not enough knowledgeable people using the tools correctly, in order to find those insights and act on them. Take for example, Omniture’s analytics for brands. Or Radian6’s social media monitoring and measurement tools. How about Google analytics? Or, the literally hundreds of low cost to free measurement applications for twitter, search and pretty much every blog and social site out there.
Want demographics? Check “Revealing the People Defining Social Networks” at briansolis.com. But first you might want to be clear on social media metrics definitions, which you can find at IAB’s site.
The fact of the matter is, that the internet has been built on metrics and you can get as granular as you’d like. If you know what you’re doing. And if you’re a CMO, or CEO, you’d better start knowing pretty fast, or find somebody that does.
“When CEOs doubt the importance of technology in the economy, I pull out a home grown aphorism: Technology is changing your customer, and your customer will change your company. In other words, whether you like it or not, demand will ultimately morph supply.” – George F. Colony, CEO, Forrester Research
New research from Altimeter Group, a digital consulting firm, found that companies with the highest levels of social media activity on average increased revenues by 18% in the last 12 months, while the least active saw sales drop 6% over that period. Among the top 100 brands reviewed, Starbucks came out on top with a score of 127, followed by Dell (123), eBay (115), Google (105), and Microsoft (103). Companies were scored based on the level of interaction across 10 social media channels including blogs, Facebook, Twitter and wikis. The study found that social media efforts tend to build on themselves. “There is an exponential growth in the depth of engagement as the brand extends itself into more and more channels,” according to the report.
So, if you’re a marketer, how do you get on board? Forget the traditional agency with its antiquated silos. Find a convergent agency, or digital/traditional hybrid. One that blurs, if not demolishes the line between traditional and digital media. A place where you’ll find the necessary marketing fundamentals intact; strategic planning with the added ability to source, understand and act on online metrics and just as importantly; relevant and engaging creative, with the chops to build proprietary social apps to boot. Because the web is not about novelty anymore. For successful marketing, it’s about relevance, with the focus on utility, that connects with the qualities of the brand’s essence and point of difference.
Marketers need to abandon the campaign flight and start thinking of marketing as a constant application of a rigorous discipline. They should think of their marketing the same way that Facebook puts out a new feature every two weeks, tweaks it, changes it, and re-releases it. It’s not focus groups and luck that’s brought Facebook 400 million users and Twitter 40 million in such a short time.
It’s likely that marketing is becoming less and less a choice between either traditional or digital. It’s increasingly about optimization of your overall marketing strategy with digital as the hub for all initiatives. Campaigns efficiently started and beta tested online – then, based on success and if necessary – built out to traditional media.
“We have gone from scarcity of media to scarcity of attention – which cannot be bought but earned. Therefore, the days of developing expensive brand monologues behind closed walls and launching them fully formed on the world in the hope someone will pay attention are over.” – Mel Exon and Joakim Vars Nilsen
Posted via email from Fecal Matter
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