The pandemic has brought about notable shifts across industries, and the case has been no different for marketing. Today, digital marketing has become a crucial aspect in order to acquire new customers and retain existing ones. In our weekly BrandWagon Ad Talk series, industry experts highlight what has changed over the past two years and more importantly, are these changes here to stay. Mohd Saqib Khan, co-founder and CEO, DigiXpressions Mediatalks, to BrandWagon Online, about the dos and don’ts of digital marketing, best marketing campaigns, and more.
What is the difference between launching a brand in today’s digital era versus earlier?
While brand launch in the earlier days was about mass target, today’s launches implement a more targeted approach, driven by digital channels and data-driven strategies. In the past, traditional media like TV, print, and radio were the primary channels for brand launches. However, in the current digital landscape, brands need to have a strong online presence with robust tech and tracking in place, engaging in social media campaigns. A more targeted approach helps brands connect with the right set of audience and create more impact from the very first launch. Programmatic advertising, customized messages, hyper-personalization driven ad campaigns today. Audience targets created using geographies and demographics, reaching out to people based on their intent, income, gender, likes and dislikes, have proven to be more impactful than the television ads of earlier days.
What are the recent best marketing or advertising campaigns you have seen and why?
Like I mentioned, there have been a lot of great brand and marketing campaigns, however, I would like to mention one of our own campaigns. In one of our recent campaigns for a company in the personal loan space, we had built the campaign based on intent of the keyword search. We recognized that consumers who have high chances of subscribing or buying often search for products or services using intent driven keywords, rather than directly searching for brand names. By exploring such keywords, we reached out to the desired target audience and was able to create content and campaigns that are better aligned with the users’ intent.
By using right keywords and creating highly targeted content, we increased month on month lead generation by 2.5x and 5x month on month increase in website traffic. By aligning content with user intent through targeted keywords and offering tools and calculators, we enhanced user experience. Our multi-channel approach, coupled with effective outreach campaigns, boosted brand visibility. The success of the campaign came from strategic keyword selection, intent-based content creation, and continuous optimization. This data-centric strategy proves the power of personalized digital marketing in driving results and elevating brand value in a competitive landscape. Our campaign led to effective brand mentions and improved online visibility and the company witnessed 5x growth in consumer outreach in one year.
Which brand in the last year has made the best use of digital and how?
While there were a lot of breath-taking campaigns last year; JioCinema’s ‘Peacock Hub’ campaign was just brilliant. They used this really unique blend of CGI and traditional storytelling to create hilariously absurd scenarios and trippy visuals. It was so eye-catching and engaging on digital platforms. You couldn’t help but stop and watch their ads – they had such a distinctive style that really made them memorable. Swiggy’s “Swiggy Instamart” campaign is another example too. Swiggy tapped into the space for instant grocery delivery service, using celebrity cameos, funny relatable humor, and targeted digital ads to spread the word. It was the perfect mix of driving home the convenience factor while also being entertaining.
In a post-Covid world, what are the dos and don’ts of digital marketing?
Now, looking at the dos and don’ts of digital marketing in a post-Covid world, we have understood that it is crucial to lead campaigns with empathy. Being adaptable to changing circumstances and consumer behaviour is key, along with utilising data and analytics to make informed decisions. Creating engaging content and collaborating with influencers can also make a big impact. On the flip side, it is important to avoid being insensitive in the messaging, steer clear of excessive self-promotion. As the world is becoming more and more digital, advertisers should prioritize user privacy and experience, balancing paid advertising with a strong organic strategy for long-term succs supported by robust tech.
One recent bad case of advertising you have seen, and why?
I do not think there is any advertising which I can bracket as a bad case of advertising. Every brand and campaign today has its own charm and innovative ideations. What marketers should be aware of is that, there should not be any mis-selling of ads and marketers should be very careful about the consumer data and information, they are using for creating target markets.