Publication date: 28 December 2018
Author: German magazine “WirtschaftsWoche”
Situate the phase of this article in the digital evolution: phase 3
Link the content to the course: interaction of robots and AI with the personnel, AI as facilitator for business processes, fast, interlinked & easy access to all information, transition into cognitive robotics technology with artificial smartness, digitalization can boost companies’ profitability
Why did this article interest you? Digitalization can be both threat and opportunities for companies. What I found interesting is that education, not only in school, but especially for employees, is key for a successful digital transformation. Digital education is especially in Germany were weak and underadvanced.
Digitalization will transform the way we used to work very dramastically and will have an impact on everyone’s business practices. But the author also stated that there will be just a shift, not unemployment due to digitalization which I found very interesting.
Title: Using AI To Drive High-Converting Predictive Marketing
Author: Vance Reavie
Release Date: 17 January 2019
Situate the phase of this article in the digital evolution: phase 3
Link the content to the course:
Use of AI in online business, effectiveness of marketing, machine learning, prediction of customer behaviour
Why did this article interest you? AI to replace traditional market research tools, higher engagement and conversion rates, individualized marketing and predictable sales forecasting, combination of customer information (sociodemographic information) with individual preferences, AI can support market reserach as it dected millions of relationships and possibilities to create a competitve advantage
“Coronavirus Will Change Consumer Shopping Habits Permanently
The coronavirus pandemic could leave a lasting mark on consumers as social distancing becomes the norm long after the crisis passes.”
Published: April 11, 2020 3:00 PM UTC by: Stephanie Bedard-Chateauneuf
This article tackles a recent issue that we all have been facing due to the Corona Crises: the migration from traditional groceries to online shopping.
The online shopping was there for a long time, but it was not so popular. Other products had gained the preferences of the public for online shopping but there was a big portion of the population that still remained going to the supermarkets.
The social distance, sanitarian and healthy restrictions imposed by the virus associated with the shortage of products as simple as toilet papers and the slow replenishment of the shelves led a massive number of new clients to the online platforms.
There is a bet in the article that these new fashion will be trend in the future and it will be the end of many traditional stores and restaurants.
This is particularly linked to my project and the classes because we addressed the focus on what the customers want and need in order to provide the right service and experience. I am researching for a food company that sells their long range of products in traditional stores or in their humble and low profile online shop. I want to develop that to reach these new consumers that want to buy online with social and environmental conscious.
“Coronavirus Will Change Consumer Shopping Habits Permanently
The coronavirus pandemic could leave a lasting mark on consumers as social distancing becomes the norm long after the crisis passes.”
Published: April 11, 2020 3:00 PM UTC by: Stephanie Bedard-Chateauneuf
This article tackles a recent issue that we all have been facing due to the Corona Crises: the migration from traditional groceries to online shopping.
The online shopping was there for a long time, but it was not so popular. Other products had gained the preferences of the public for online shopping but there was a big portion of the population that still remained going to the supermarkets.
The social distance, sanitarian and healthy restrictions imposed by the virus associated with the shortage of products as simple as toilet papers and the slow replenishment of the shelves led a massive number of new clients to the online platforms.
There is a bet in the article that these new fashion will be trend in the future and it will be the end of many traditional stores and restaurants.
This is particularly linked to my project and the classes because we addressed the focus on what the customers want and need in order to provide the right service and experience. I am researching for a food company that sells their long range of products in traditional stores or in their humble and low profile online shop. I want to develop that to reach these new consumers that want to buy online with social and environmental conscious.
“Grocery stores turn to robots during the coronavirus
By Nathaniel Meyersohn
CNN Business
Published on April 7, 2020
This article also debate how Corona Crisis affected the grocery stores and how they are reacting using new technologies to address urgent demands of consumers and the new environment.
There are three activities performed by robots: cleaning, replenishment of shelves and delivery and pick-up orders of customers when the physical stores are closed. In a pre-Corona world, maybe the customers would not value such tasks and experiences. However, since the standards for improvements in sanitation, social distance and agility had quickly and drastically changed, that required new solutions and reactions from the business where the human being was not available.
This is linked to my project because I am analysing solutions for a traditional food industry. It seems the resistance to online groceries stores are over and more people will migrate to that. On the other hand, the physical stores will have to transform themselves to be competitive and offer at least availability of products and cleanse.
“Coronavirus Will Change Consumer Shopping Habits Permanently
The coronavirus pandemic could leave a lasting mark on consumers as social distancing becomes the norm long after the crisis passes.”
Published: April 11, 2020 3:00 PM UTC by: Stephanie Bedard-Chateauneuf
This article tackles a recent issue that we all have been facing due to the Corona Crises: the migration from traditional groceries to online shopping.
The online shopping was there for a long time, but it was not so popular. Other products had gained the preferences of the public for online shopping but there was a big portion of the population that still remained going to the supermarkets.
The social distance, sanitarian and healthy restrictions imposed by the virus associated with the shortage of products as simple as toilet papers and the slow replenishment of the shelves led a massive number of new clients to the online platforms.
There is a bet in the article that these new fashion will be trend in the future and it will be the end of many traditional stores and restaurants.
This is particularly linked to my project and the classes because we addressed the focus on what the customers want and need in order to provide the right service and experience. I am researching for a food company that sells their long range of products in traditional stores or in their humble and low profile online shop. I want to develop that to reach these new consumers that want to buy online with social and environmental conscious.
This article looks at the results of the strong integration of Social Media in peoples daily lives during phase two. The author demonstrates nicely how the digital generation perceives their dependence on Social Media and their fear to lose the contact to their peers without these platforms, and thus picks up the implicitness of digital features in our daily life, which we discussed in the course as well. For me, this article was interesting, because I did already consider to distance myself from Social Media as well. The article gives insights into the advantages and disadvantages of exiting the Social Media world.
The article introduces a tool that supports the visitor experience in museums through digitalisation and therefore belongs to phase three. During class we discussed several implications that digitalisation already has or could have on our daily routine – the article shows another possible facet of this process. For me, it’s interesting to get an idea of how digitalisation can advance the way we experience something very dignified, like a classic car.
Situate the phase of this article in the digital evolution:
phase 3 –> use of AI
Link the content to the course:
Use of AI in online business, machine learning of consumer behaviour, creation and suggestion of content, planning of ressources, future technology
Why did this article interest you?
The article Shows that AI is crucial for digital business of the future. It is shown how market leaders like Netflix or Amazon manage their basic business like creating content or organize warehouses. It shows that a lot of companies, which including the AI have growth in their business, and those who missing out on this will have Problems in the future. In general it is astonishing to see, that companies we use in our daily life already use AI.
Publication date: Dec.20th 2018
Author: Lilach Bullock, puplished via Forbes
Link the content to the course: The usage of Social Media was part of our lectures. How social media can influence customers and their reactions was discussed. This article provides information about different social media marketing strategies and introduces 5 useful tools that will support the implementation of your social media strategy
Why did this article interest you? The article provides hands-on tips & tools (Sentinoen, Idomoo, Smarps etc.) for the implementation of a social media strategy. The importance of the usage of social media in most of our businesses was underlined. Interesting for me as well because I didn’t know about them at all 🙂
Publication date: Dec.27th 2018
Author: Lilach Bullock, puplished via Forbes
Link the content to the course: It is about social media strategies which were disccussed in lectures and are part of our final projects. The articel, in particular is about pitfalls of social media strategies and explains why they could harm from a marketing perspective.
Why did this article interest you? The author explains Top 5 No-goes for social media strategies. The most interesting no-go for me is the fact that you shouldn’t replicate updates and re-share them on different platforms. Instead it is adviced to tailor content and optimized for each social platform. Closing social accounts(that do not suit…..) and decreasing of posts could be a positive action for your success.
Author: Sanjeev Mukhija
Publication date: January 8th, 2019
Situate the phase of this article in the digital evolution: Phase 2
Link the content to the course: Companies need to cover more and more touchpoints to reach their customers and to profit of the constantly growing market dynamic in the fashion branch. Mobile devices and laptops are a must for the Indians to do their online shopping in combination with traditional offline POS. AI or VR isnt a common thing in the Asian state until today.
Why did this article interest you: It is interesting to see how the so-called IT-affin Indians look at new trends in online marketing and seem to still be behind the western standards in online marketing. A new fact for me is, that the Indian fashion branch also works with influencers and that companies try to personalize their marketing activities.
Situate the phase of this article in the digital evolution: Phase 3
Link the content to the course: The article lists the biggest trends in AI for the year 2019 and helps companies to create profit because of newest inventions to develop their digital marketing. The article covers the topic of Artificial intelligence and therefor also shows the relevance of it as we also discussed in class. Until today AI in the year 2019 cant be emotional.
Why did this article interest you: The topic of AI is a topic that we all know but the details and newest trends were new for me. Many points that are explained in the article are solutions for problems we might all think about but haven’t thought about a technical and intelligent solution. That the functions of AI could also help people in emergencies will drive it beyond many helpful inventions of the last years.
Situate the phase of this article in the digital evolution: Phase 2 + 3
Link the content to the course: A lot of topics that were addressed in this article were also named in the course. The article shows nicely the transformation from phase 2 up to phase 3. For example, using mobile devices and going on to artificial intelligence. Also the creation of value for the customers is addressed in this article.
Why did this article interest you? The article shows the development in digital marketing very well. I also like the fact that actual trends were pointed out very clear. It is always interesting to see what current trends appear in digital marketing and which could be interesting for the own company.
Situate the phase of this article in the digital evolution: Phase 3
Link the content to the course: Digital marketing is described as a fast-moving environment in this article. New trends emerge, some stay and some go away. New trends like voice search were also addressed and linked to Amazon Echo. Different generations and their needs were also named in this article. Chatbots for solving customer requests were named as trend for newer generations as well.
Why did this article interest you? Some new trends were addressed in this article which appear more and more in different businesses. The impact of new generations on these trends is also very interesting. I also liked the fact about the explanation that customers like the answers of chatbots, which I did not see as positive yet.
Resource: Forbes, written by Lilach Bullock
Publication date: 16.11.2018
Situate the phase of this article in the digital evolution:
Phase 3
Link the content to the course:
Technologies like Augmented Reality are already part of many applications used in marketing, like photo filters and games, but still not all possibilities are exhausted. This article discusses similar topics as we do in the course: How can data help us to optimize marketing? What is going to change in the future? How can we implement AR usefully in social media marketing? It is also much about how the user experience can be evolved by using AR and which new possibilities are waiting.
Why did this article interest you?
Honestly, I did not connected AR technology with social media. For me this kind of technologies is in the first place something that has to do with IT or gaming. Because for this, I was interested and after reading surprised how much AR is already used in social media applications like especially Snapchat. This shows me, that marketing tasks are going to change even more in the future.
Author: Rameez Ramzan
Written on: 7th December 2018
Situate the phase of this article in the digital evolution: Phase 3
Link the content to the course: The article lists the biggest trends in AI for the year 2019 and helps companies to create profit because of newest inventions to develop their digital marketing. The article covers the topic of Artificial intelligence and therefor also shows the relevance of it as we also discussed in class. Until today AI in the year 2019 cant be emotional.
Why did this article interest you: The topic of AI is a topic that we all know but the details and newest trends were new for me. Many points that are explained in the article are solutions for problems we might all think about but haven’t thought about a technical and intelligent solution. That the functions of AI could also help people in emergencies will drive it beyond many helpful inventions in the last years.
Comment: I was curious about a summary of realistic digital trends we can expect for the near future. Especially in times of data security, better to know what will be coming up to be forearmed 🙂 The digital future will be highly focusing on personalization and customer service. Trends: AI, audio & video content, chatbots,…
2.)
The digital gap between rich and poor kids is not what we expected
New York Times by Nellie Bowles 26.10.2018
Phase 2 (talking about digitalization in general)
Comment: In times of the omnipresent trend toward digitalization parents fear the bad influence of the digital world and try to get their kids off the screens. The video seen in class was already astonishing, which emotional turmoil children had without their smartphones. In the article it was very interesting to read that especially children of poorer conditions are at the mercy of digitalization. Not because they can´t afford the devices, it´s because their parents have less alternatives like paying for a nanny to take care of their children and ensure human interaction instead of screens. Children of richer conditions spend 5h 42 min at screens whereas children of poorer conditions 8h 7min.
Situate the phase of this article in the digital evolution:
phase 3 –> use of AR, VR, AI
Link the content to the course:
Use of new technologies in offline stores. Buying experience of offline stores at home, individual customer adaption, use of human-robot interaction.
Why did this article interest you?
With AR the vision of the customer is adapted to individual needs. Other apps let customers dress mannequins with their body shape. And those are only a few examples of new technologies, which are used in offline and online stores. It is very interesting to see, which ideas companies have to bring customers back in stores or how they bring the feeling of a store to the customers home. Also the increase of revenue through this adaptions is amazing, or also the increase of interaction, when using a bot in store.
Author: Rameez Ramzan
Written on: 7th December 2018
Situate the phase of this article in the digital evolution: Phase 3
Link the content to the course: The article lists the biggest trends in AI for the year 2019 and helps companies to create profit because of newest inventions to develop their digital marketing. The article covers the topic of Artificial intelligence and therefor also shows the relevance of it as we also discussed in class. Until today AI in the year 2019 cant be emotional.
Why did this article interest you: The topic of AI is a topic that we all know but the details and newest trends were new for me. Many points that are explained in the article are solutions for problems we might all think about but haven’t thought about a technical and intelligent solution. That the functions of AI could also help people in emergencies will drive it beyond many helpful inventions in the last years.
Publication date: January 4,2019
Author: Adam Enfroy, ecommerce platforms
Situate the phase of this article in the digital evolution: phase 3
Link the content to the course: E-commerce stores and online platforms are getting more personalized and try to interact with customers automatically. Robots as Chabots and AI are designed to enhance a customer’s overall shopping experience.
Why did this article interest you? We are currently developing our own web shop at our company. Therefore, trends and suggestions for optimizing the online appearance are relevant to the class and my current tasks at work.
2. Addicted to digital devices? Focus on how you use tech, not screen time
Publication date: December 13,2018
Author: Margaret E Morris, Business Standard
Situate the phase of this article in the digital evolution: phase 3
Link the content to the course: That article critically reflects saying spending a lot of time on digital devices is bad in general. It turns out that not the amount of time but how the time is used is important. Some people even pushed the digital products beyond their intended purpose for self-help.
Why did this article interest you? I’m counting myself to the connected generation. Therefore, I am currently also reflecting on how much time I spend with digital devices. Having different opinions than just saying spending less time is better was a refreshing and provocative perspective in which I was interested in.
Link the content to the course: Unlike what I used to believe, small business also needs digital marketing. This also has been mentioned during our lecture: “every business can be transformed into digital business”. This article furtherly explains why this step is necessary, while traditional ad and channels are important, marketers should not ignore the opportunity or bigger potential and prospects that can be reached online. The article shows evidence that digital business can be even more effective to expand your market and gain contact with customers.
Why did this article interest you: The idea of taking advantage of this technology advancement help small business to sell their products more efficiently. Because not only the internet that has developed, but our customers and competitors are most likely online as well. It makes me realize that digital business is crucial regarding any size of your business.
2. What Marketers Need to Know about Selling to Millenials.
Publication date: 25 January 2017.
Author: Jeff Fromm
Link to the course: It explains the importance of digital business when selling to Millenial generation. The article also mentions their main characteristics and how to approach them. They are in mobile communication, technology, and experiences. They are basically the digital generation. It fits to the lecture we had in the class. By reading this article I understand more how to approach this market.
Why this article interests me: It explains in details, what makes this generation become digital generation. And I discover that this millennial generation prefers their chosen brand than paying less for a product. The article also shows a different customer journey for this specific generation.
Forbes Magazine: Seven Businesses That Promise Digital Can Be Ethical
7th of November 2018
Between phase 2 – 3
Link to the course
Al the businesses are concerned about customer centricity in an ethical approach. The article discusses the issue of privacy and personal data in the world wide web. This is linked to the discussion in our course of how much data needs to be collected from the customers and for what purpose. In the end it is all about “digital trust” that will be rewarded and this is what the businesses from this article try to achieve.
Why did this article interest you?
The article describes the ethical component as an opportunity for businesses as it can be a USP and a way to differentiate from the competition. IOTEC, one company that is introduced in the article even built a consultant agency that shows businesses how to be more transparent, how to protect itself against fraud in digital activities and built an “ethical digital ecosystem.”
Link to the course
Al the businesses are concerned about customer centricity in an ethical approach. The article discusses the issue of privacy and personal data in the world wide web. This is linked to the discussion in our course of how much data needs to be collected from the customers and for what purpose. In the end it is all about “digital trust” that will be rewarded and this is what the businesses from this article try to achieve.
Why did this article interest you?
The article describes the ethical component as an opportunity for businesses as it can be a USP and a way to differentiate from the competition. IOTEC, one company that is introduced in the article even built a consultant agency that shows businesses how to be more transparent, how to protect itself against fraud in digital activities and built an “ethical digital ecosystem.”
The news article is about robots helping surviving dependants to grieve. Robots should be able to speak with the voice of the deceased person and perform typical hand and head movements of the person. The bereaved have the robot for 49 days. This corresponds to the traditional Buddhist period of mourning in Japan. On the 49th day the robot says goodbye and the mimic program is finished.
I found this article interesting and amusing because on the one hand it sounds strange to talk with a dead person in form of a robot but on the other hand it also has a good thing, when it really helps the bereaved to grieve.
After hackers published personal data of numerous German politicians and artists on Twitter, this article critically examines the fit between democracy and big data. The authors thesis is therefore: Digital data economy is fundamentally incompatible with democracy. It is ultimately the opposite of democracy and data protection.
Democrats must be able to talk to people who have completely different opinions. That is difficult, and it must be practiced constantly. In the digital world we lose this ability as it promotes life in the filter bubble and social isolation. The original democratic ability to deal objectively and fairly with opposing interests is lost.
I found this interesting since I never thought of it that way. Even if the opinion of the author is somewhat exaggerated, it has something true.
Forbes Magazine: Seven Businesses That Promise Digital Can Be Ethical
7th of November 2018
Between phase 2 – 3
Link to the course
Al the businesses are concerned about customer centricity in an ethical approach. The article discusses the issue of privacy and personal data in the world wide web. This is linked to the discussion in our course of how much data needs to be collected from the customers and for what purpose. In the end it is all about “digital trust” that will be rewarded and this is what the businesses from this article try to achieve.
Why did this article interest you?
The article describes the ethical component as an opportunity for businesses as it can be a USP and a way to differentiate from the competition. IOTEC, one company that is introduced in the article even built a consultant agency that shows businesses how to be more transparent, how to protect itself against fraud in digital activities and built an “ethical digital ecosystem.”
Link to the course
The article shows the trends of digitalization and what the impact of these trends will be on the economy as well as on organizations. It depicts how different developments of digitalization will influence the interaction of people with technology. Especially the transformation of chatbots, machine learning and AI link to the topics we discussed in the course.
Why did this article interest you?
The article gives great insights of what is to come. It has an influence on every single person and business and can not be ignored. Especially in B2C business companies have to be quick and adaptive in order to stay competitive and make a further development.
Resource: iMPACT, written by David Little
Publication date: 05.11.2018
Situate the phase of this article in the digital evolution:
Phase 3
Link the content to the course:
Facebook as a platform started in phase 2 of the digital evolution and now is struggling to remain an important social media channel. The article is telling about Facebook efforts to get into phase 3, means using “Stories” like Snapchat and Instagram are doing. Like we are discussing in the course the article is trying to have a look in the future – in the past we placed everything on Facebook, but this is changing, what are the impacts on our marketing business? Like we discussed in course the new challenge for marketing funnels is to reach the people at the right moment – also the article is recommending to reach people on Facebook, when they using it, not just having an ads on Facebook feed. In addition, using pictures in social media marketing is old-fashioned, videos are more effective to reach the target group.
Why did this article interest you?
Because Facebook often is stated as a channel that is not longer important, but I think it depends on the target group you are focusing on. In my opinion, Facebook should not be underestimated, but I find it interesting to think about new ways to use Facebook as a channel.
Written by Thomas Griffin, Forbes Technology Council
Published: 27/06/2019
Situate the phase of this article in the digital evolution: Phase 3 –> AI
Link the content to the course: The usage of AI and Social Media was part of the course “Digital Marketing”. It was shown how AI can be implemented or used in online business, what machine learning is and how future can or will technology will look like.
Why did this article interest you: The article deals with a trend that we all know, but which is still difficult to implement. The article describes very interesting things about how we can improve the social media marketing. For example, how AI can be used to solve problems like accessibility of a company for its customers, how AI can save a company’s time and how they can achieve better results, and I heard for the first time that magazines are already using AI to quickly create content. In addition, the article gives an outlook on how to use AI in the future.
2. The reality of truly personalised marketing approaches: An investor’s viewpoint
Situate the phase of this article in the digital evolution: Phase 3 Semantic Web
Link the content to the course: The article describes topics discussed in class such as Augmented Reality, Virtual Reality, Voice Assistance, Machine Learning
Why did this article interest you: The article describes the change of technology. An example therefore are chatbots. Few years ago, we were able to recognize if we are talking to a machine or a person. Nowadays, this technology has been developed in such a way that it is almost impossible to distinguish between a person and a machine. Moreover, I was interested in the topic of machine learning as well as the increasing potential of voice and video.
Situate the phase of this article in the digital evolution: Phase 3
Link the content to the course:
The article explains the importance of artificial intelligence as a success factor for future digital marketing activities. As discussed in class, artificial intelligence is an essential factor in phase 3 of the digital evolution. Artificial intelligence helps companies to use smarter machines or robots which will be one of the most disruptive technologies of the next decade. A personal highlight in class was that artificial intelligence can even go one step further and integrate human-inspired elements from cognitive and emotional competence. It remains exciting how companies will implement the transition from phase 3, Semantic Web, to phase 4, Emotional Web.
Why did this article interest you?
Especially interesting for me was the fact that this article explains how artificial intelligence will revolutionize digital marketing. The article states the benefits from using AI and the companies profiting from it will be able to achieve greater productivity, efficiency and profitability – factors that all companies seek for.
It is also interesting that AI is used to predict customer behavior and predictive analytics enables marketing experts to extract details from data in order to forecast buying trends and consumer habits.
Situate the phase of this article in the digital evolution: Phase 2
Link the content to the course:
The article explains important guidelines for doing digital marketing successfully in 2019. In this article, many equal aspects as discussed in class are confirmed. The very essential parts of good digital marketing are self-initiated collectives, word of mouth trustfulness, micro-influencers and human stories with a meaningful message as a main element in branding campaigns.
The best brands are able to deliver value with digital content via Instagram stories or alike. As mentioned in class, no campaign will get attention if no value is transparent for the people. Good marketers should focus on the value first, before thinking about getting attention or even conversion.
As shown by the example in class, a more promising approach is to focus on micro-influencers. Those are the ones who have a stronger connection to their followers and have a more credible and trustworthy image. Therefore, the engagement per post is higher than macro- and mega-influencers normally reach.
Why did this article interest you?
It is particularly interesting for me that micro-influencers are the better choice when doing a digital marketing campaign. I really like the fact that the digital society seeks for human connections and stories within branding initiatives. I like that this leads to a considerable reduction of unreliable stories and bad campaigns, as most companies in the meantime realized that the focus should not be the product, but the story which should deliver real value.
Source: Wall Street Journal Blog
Author: Irving Wladawsky-Berger
Published: 5/7/2019 (hopefully that is okay, although it is newer than required)
Interesting article on AR as the solution to overcome the discrepancy of the three dimensional reals world and the (till now) two dimentsional “screen-world” of digital devices.
As Tom mentioned in our lectures also the author agrees that the combination of machine and human capabilities will lead to best results that either of them could reach alone.
This article was interesting to me beacuse I can hardly immagine in which fields AR can be used and what the advantages are. The article briefly shows some and helped me to immagine some fields of application.
Source: http://www.forbes.com
Author: Shama Hyder
Published: 2/7/2019 (hopefully that is okay, although it is one day newer than required)
When talking about influencer marketing B2C marketing comes to ones mind. But obviously it is althou a suitable tool for B2B marketing – which really surprised me. Since we did not touch that topic in detail in our lecture I wanted to share this article with you.
Just two exciting ideas from the article:
Also in B2B it is a good strategy to work with authentic micro- and nano-influencers – something we also talked about in the lecture. Interesting and good to know that it does not always have to be the big name that brings you the desired results.
“A brand’s employees are a vastly underappreciated resource”. That is an interesting approach. Enthusiatic employees can become authentic advocates for the own brand – for low or little money.
In my opinion the content is linked to phase 2 in the digital evolution.
A survey found that directors, CEOs and senior executives think that the digital transformation is the number 1 risk for their companies in 2019. A lot of money was spent already for digital transformation during the last year, but most of it went to waste. A lot of companies fail trying to transform to digital. But why? The article describes 5 key-steps that have helped successful companies in their digital transformation and should not be missed:
1. Figure out your business strategy before you invest in anything
2. Leverage insiders
3. Design customer experience from the outside in
4. Recognize employee’s fear of getting replaced
5. Bring Silicon Valley start-up culture inside
This article was interesting for me because we are currently in the middle of a digital transformation but sometimes, it feels like a clear strategy is missing and the directions to go are not clear yet. This article shows how a company should proceed when trying to shift it’s business on the digital site.
The article is linked to the topics discussed in class:
It shows that it’s not only about selecting a tool or a software to transform a company’s business into digital. First, a clear strategy is needed and customer expectations need to be well known. A lot of companies try to move on with their existing hierarchy and ways of decision making. Digital transformation also requires change in terms of organizational structures and a well-planned chance management in order to prevent employees from panic.
With 3rd world country background in mind this article was written. It’s indicated by the statement that access to water is positioned below to the access to mobile communication. And herewith it’s as well addressing the impact of digital marketing in todays live.
The article addresses the power of digital media. It refers to the opportunity of business by creating and developing customer leads and strong brand recognition. It even outlines that customers tend to follow more known brands over celebrities, hence branding is essential. As well it explains the impact of shared media of micro influencers on it’s network, leveraging the reach of a fine network of users. The major focus of the article can be summarized as increase of brand awareness, generation of leads, boost of sales and viral growth. This closes the loop to our discussions in clase about impact of digital marketing on our environment.
Creating impact by using digital marketing is a topic that I’m working on in my daily business. I feel the strong necessity to create a digital communication pull in our company. The aim is to gain customer interest and leads, allowing to reach prospects and supporting our sales team in beeing more efficient and successful.
The article addresses the phase 1 and 2. since it’s addressing the general impact of digital marketing and it’s transformation of the business world.
Digital transformation of a company its not just about creating a new fancy webpage. It’s about the changing the organization, reinventing it’s place in the market to generate customer value and to be successful.
The interview with Nick Evans from Extra Mile Communications, addresses the need of readjusting it’s targets due to the quick change seen in the marketing industry. The largest goal of digital transformation it’s about tearing down silos and interconnect everyone. Being more individual focused is key. It’s all about making the customer experience transparent and personally, since the customer is not anymore willing to accept being treated as all others.
Linking to our class, the article addresses the need for a complete and well thought customer journey on which everyone in the company is obliged to support. Medium is not accepted by customers. The customer expects professionalism in every aspect of the experience. Nick Evans addresses therefore also the need to find the correct partner for the digital transformation.
In the company I’m working we’re on phase 1 and starting to do the first steps in changing. Silos need to be tear down and communication needs to be rethought to address our customer professional.
The article addresses the phase 1. and it’s essential reorganization needs to achieve a digital transformation.
The article focuses on the digital trends that need to be watched out in 2019. It points out the importance of the effectively executed marketing advertising campaign so that the demand for the products and services offered is increased. It is fully related to the content of the Digital Marketing course and is very interesting to me as it presents details, gives examples and explains current important trends in the digital marketing area.
Very interesting point discussed was that, nevertheless Facebook drops popularity amongst the young people, it reaches impressive percentages between the users aged over 65 years and more. This trend is important to be taken strongly into account for future marketing campaigns. The right social medias needs to be used to target the right audience.
What was also impressive is the power of the video as a very effective digital marketing tool. A good video can capture and convey detailed information to the client and present in an excellent way the company brand.
The article is relevant to Phase 1 and 2 while discussing the dynamics of the still existing importance of the content management and the email marketing, as well as the development of the digital marketing using social media.
Comment: The article describes what is Augmented Intelligence and how Augmented Intelligence can be used for improved sales in the future. It delivers the idea of human and machines working together to improve productivity. Especially in sales, this can be used in better and quicker decision making without removing the salesperson out of the whole sales process.
The phase of the article in the digital evolution: Content addresses Phase 3 – Semantic Web
Content link to the course: Content links the theory of Web 3.0 where every knowledge is connected together and operated by Artificial Intelligence, to be used by Humans like described in Phase 3 of the digital evolution
Interest: I am very interested in the sales process and selling opportunities in the future by using new technologies and tools
Comment: The article describes how customers need social interactions on their customer journey today. It is not enough to have just a passive E-Commerce platform with “Buy” buttons to order the goods online. Social commerce explains the new superpower of shopping and experience where customers can interact with real persons who are answering questions and allowing easy decision making.
The phase of the article in the digital evolution: Content addresses Phase 2 – Social & Mobile Web
Content link to the course: The Content links to the topic about customer-centricity where it is described that only a USP is not enough any more but more excellence in all topics is required today from customers. Additionally, it is addressing the need for a new customer relationship with hyper-personalization, ultimate convenience and fast response.
Interest: How does the customer journey should look like today in an omnichannel world and mixed shopping possibilities in offline and online channels.
The article points out the importance for the companies to use video content for their digital marketing campaigns. It explains how video marketing helps the brand loyalty, conversions and sales to be increased.
Impressive is the fact that according to 71% of the marketers their conversions were increased with the support of the video content. In addition to that the engagement through videos increases the trust of the website visitors. Very interesting is also how video content motivates the people to participate in discussions. Video ads posted on Facebook or Instagram are commented by followers, creating a strong advertising system powered by the consumers themselves. According to the article videos will account for 82% of all the internet traffic by 2021.
The article is strongly related to the content of the Digital Marketing course, discussing the influence and the importance of the videos to deliver the company message faster, to create higher engagement rate and to increase conversions.
The article refers to Phase 2 of the digital evolution as it comments the importance creating and posting video information on the company’s websites and social media.
> Situate the phase of this article in the digital evolution
On the verge of phase 3
> Link the content to the course
The article puts the course content in a nutshell, shedding light on today’s highly engaged customers who want to receive real-time assistance. The article proposes 4 ways to enhance the digital customer journey in order to increase customer satisfaction, sales and qualified leads:
1) Segmenting the audience into meaningful groups
2) Proactive engagement with buyers
3) Attacking the mid-sales-funnel
4) Offer of multiple customer service options
The main reasons why a company should manage its customer journey are ROIM (Return on Marketing Investments), improvement in customer service costs, positive mentions through social media but also increasing revenue through customer referrals and cross- & up-selling. As regards the sales funnel, companies tend to focus rather on the top or the bottom but fail to engage with the middle line. Results are insufficient content, bad usability, poor CTA and bad enquiry processes, which hinders companies to fully reach their revenue potential. Often, companies do not necessarily require more leads but should instead focus on nurturing and engaging via relevant content – quick, friendly and effective troubleshooting (also via channels apart from e-mail and phone calls) is essential. Since “customer service is backed by conversational marketing”, AI-based chatbots start to become an attractive solution.
> Why did this article interest you?
The content caught my attention, since it sums up very well how Gen C should be dealt with. It offers practical advice how to outline a well-designed customer journey and clearly states the purposes of a customer journey. The author suggests creating not just one but several customer journey maps for various personas – the tool “Suite CX” is a valuable facilitator in sketching them out.
As discussed during the lectures, it doesn’t matter where you look: if it’s about marketing, it’s automatically also about digital marketing. It seems as if traditional marketing no longer plays a role, because people can be reached best through social networks or other online channels. The headline of the article “Finding The Sweet Spot With Traditional And Digital Marketing” reflects the content perfectly. Even if nowadays a large number of people clearly prefer convenience in form of online shopping and online advertisement, companies should keep in mind that eye-catching advertisements in magazines or on television still generate a recognizable reach.
However, at the same time it is obvious that traditional marketing has a lot of disadvantages compared to the online versions of advertisement:
1. Traditional print or television advertising reaches a comparably small number of people on the one hand but costs a lot of money on the other hand
2. Traditional advertising does not allow the companies to obtain information about the “users”, which would be of great advantage in regard to the optimization of advertising but also of the product.
Why am I interested in this article? As described at the beginning, everything in the area of marketing revolves around the digital area. However, I like the critical point of view that there is still a large number of people who cannot be reached via the internet due to their age or their basic attitude towards the internet and social media, but who nevertheless represent an important target group for certain industries. Therefore, there must always be an appropriate mix between conventional and modern media.
Influencer marketing plays a more and more important role in social media marketing. Hereby influencers, which does not only include celebrities, but especially micro-influencers with a high but moderate number of followers, are in the foreground.
Mouth-to-mouth propaganda still plays an important role when it comes to buying products. The good feeling to buy a certain product is especially then existent, when recommended by friends or a family member. In social media, these boundaries are becoming blurred. As discussed during the lecture, strangers, namely the influencers, seem to become friends you trust and believe in.
For me, this article is particularly interesting with regard to the trust aspect. While you normally would not trust a stranger on the street when it is about expensive beauty products or dietary supplements, a lot of people do so on Instagram and other social media channels. This is a further proof that different rules apply in social media than in real life and that our mindset changes as soon as entering the digital world. This type of digital marketing represents a great opportunity, especially for small and/or unknown companies, because with the right correctly chosen influencers you can create a large media penetration.
Publication date: 01. March 2020
Author: John Hall, published via Inc.com
Phase in Digital Evolution: Phase 3
The article deals with virtual reality marketing trends and embraces the fact that VR is playing a huge role and is apparently a “rapidly growing segment”. The author mentioned that AI, AR and VR is more often merged together e.g. filter on Instagram and Snapchat. He also mentioned that emotional engagement is very important, and VR is getting more immersive and tactile – which could help a company to be closer to customers. Another trend mentioned was gamification – I personally really like that trend because I have already implemented a few games at my work events and so far, it was really successful. Also in class we talked about VR, AI and AR and discussed the relevance of those topics to businesses. We also looked at customer engagement and that it is important to look at the customer and find out what he/she likes. The best would be to have a long-term value to the customer in mind. AR, AI and/or VR could be the facilitator for new opportunities. In general, I think it is quite interesting to see what kind of new trends emerge and how quickly a company should adapt to new marketing trends (in order to not miss out).
Publication date: 06. April 2020
Author: Janet Balis, published via Harvard Business Review
Phase in digital evolution: Phase 2 + 3
The next article I looked at was about brand marketing in times of the coronavirus. It illustrated really good how the crises impacted the way brands communicate with their customers and it also highlighted that customers behavior changed. The author mentioned that brands have to be aware that people will view their brands differently – the goal in such times would be to provide “feel good content”. People will apparently look more closely at brands and “judge” their behavior differently – e.g. SAP offered its Qualtrics Remote Work Pulse platform for free to companies that needed to adjust quite quickly to the new situation – sets a statement to customer that SAP is not willing to exploit companies in need.
I think it is quite interesting to see how fast companies adapted to this new change and I think for me it is also interesting to know how brands and brand awareness can change in such circumstances. Also in the digital marketing course we heard that is important to listen to your customers and to analyze their behavior. In addition, we are living in a VUCA world – vibrant, uncertain, crazy and astounding and therefore we should embrace it. In general, it is important to look ahead and be ready to change ideas or plans – as all of us probably learnt during the last 6 weeks.
This article is trying to give tips and tricks for B2B companies to help them with their marketing during the corona crisis. The article is giving 5 overall tips with explanations and examples how B2B companies can include these tactics for better marketing during these times.
1. Account Based Marketing for the Win (Micro Marketing for clients that most likely will convert)
2. Build an Online Presence (high quality website, mobile friendly, incl. chat bots, links to social media)
3. Customer is Still your King (focus on retaining existing customers, show business can be done digitally, offer speed and convenience, transparency)
4. Content is Queen (offer valuable content like webinars, ebooks, case studies etc.)
5. Use Video Marketing (with the use of Facebook Live, Instagram TV etc. a company can provide news, tutorials, demo, live questions)
Digital marketing is now because of the corona virus and limited physical access extremely important to still reach customers. It is very interesting and shows that the tools we learn in the course are also relevant for B2B companies, especially in times where digital marketing is (almost) the only way for us to do marketing. I like this article because it shows opportunities and possible actions to remain a market presence and do good marketing, even when there are restrictions. I can imagine that many companies now are investing more in digital marketing because of the crisis and I am looking forward to seeing how digital marketing will develop.
This article is about the new possibilities which technology offers regarding marketing. It discusses that with AI, marketing methods and practiced will be enhanced and not costing all jobs for marketeers. The example of A/B testing is mentioned and how with technology the results are better than if a human would do it. Therefore, marketeers can focus on the human, emotional side – because this is something an algorithm can’t. Creativity and thinking out of the box will still be necessary and the other things a machine can do, is something a machine should do.
This article relates to the content of the class, because important technologies were introduced with the key message that the human part is not substituted. Furthermore, the article shows that technology like AI can help us in marketing to reach better results for certain task, but other task which include e.g. creativity is something where the human is still superior. Therefore, AI and other technologies need to be introduced and thought to marketeers, so they can use if adequately. Interesting is also that this article reflects on how it is a myth that technology is costing all jobs, because it also creates new job. Throughout human history technology was always replacing jobs that could be replaced, but also create new jobs which were then needed.
This article deals with phase 2 of the digital evolution. It deals with the consumer use of social media platforms. The usage is considered from several perspectives: The path to purchase decision is for example introduced as well as the role of the interaction with different post formats. According to the topic, the digital usage is illustrated with numbers and statistics. On this basis, the interaction of users can be analyzed in detail. Based on these statistics, each company can choose the right channel to create more value to its target customers.
I selected this article because it highlights the various ways and elements to creating value to the customers. This is only possible, if companies know their target customers and their usage behavior. To establish a successful social media channel, a mixture of data generated by the companies as well as a strategy based on theoretical knowledge is fundamental.
Although I grew up with social media, I don´t use it excessively. Therefore, it is very interesting to see numbers and statistics which explain user´s decisions. I really was impressed that the buying decision can be described by age. In addition, it was interesting to see scientifically approved that the post type differ from channel to channel, but also from season to season.
This article deals with phase 2 of the digital evolution. It deals with the importance of the interaction between the customer service and the e-commerce business. In class, we talked about the digital value model. One element of it is the customer centricity. In this article, the role of a personalized customer service is analyzed. To a company, it is important to focus on the customer instead on the channel. This is what the article highlights.
I was interested in this article because I didn´t work with ecommerce so far. That´s also the reason why ‘customer service’ is not the first thought when I think about the ecommerce business. It is clear, that customers want some level of service when they buy in local stores. Nevertheless, the importance of customer service in combination with the ecommerce was not clear to me yet.
This article deals with the three topics: building online communities, humanizing your brand and social purchasing. I like this article, because it gives a short overview of the most important points a company should consider regarding their social media marketing strategy. What I find particularly interesting is that companies still underestimate the impact of creating a positive user experience (UX) in case of revenues.
We also learned about the importance of user experience in class – the product/service has to be “fast, easy & fun” (our examples in class: Google, HelloFresh, Amazon, Airbnb…).
Due to the mentioning of social media I would suggest phase 2 of digital evolution, but at a later stage of the article personalized ads are mentioned which I would see more in phase 3 of digital evolution.
Phase of this article: Phase 3 (Artificial Intelligence)
Comment on the article: This article states that, robots are going to replace many humans in their job. Because of COVID-19 this trend is coming even faster, as consumer preferences changed, which of course opens up new opportunities for automation. Robots are already used for
x Scrubbing floors in Walmart
x Measuring temperature and distributing hand sanitiser
x Sorting, Shipping and Packaging.
Further they are also testing AI in order to replace school tutors, fitness trainers or financial advisers. Again COVID-19 made humans more comfortable with the idea of connecting remotely.
Link the content to the course: As working together with Robots or AI in particular is one main aspect of the digital evolution phase 3, this article is highly relevant to the course. Further within the course our task was adding additional digital value to a company. For my company (Skinfit) the idea of introducing an online fitness trainer or consulting person is highly relevant, which is why I can immediately implement this idea in the digital value model.
Why did this article interest me? First of all the headline: Will Covid-19 speed up the use of robots to replace human workers? catched me, as many people are scared from exactly that. In my opinion however the jobs won’t get lost. So in other words if the robot is able to clean the floors, then it is true that we need a cleaning person less, however we need an IT specialist more, which is able to fix the robot if it is broken. Which is then ultimately also increasing the level of education of our society positively.
Comment on the article: This article is focusing on the past, present and future of marketing. However I only want to highlight the future, as these trends are basically deciding if a marketing campaign is successful in the future or not.
The trends for 2030 say that social media is evolving rapidly. This means Twitter will be used as a real-time customer service communication platform. Further also the branding approach on social media is changing from brand-owned social media profiles to investing heavily on influencer marketing. Finally especially millenials are getting bored of Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, which is why some brands begin to leverage their influencer network to lesser known apps, such as Whisper > where communities are organized around specific interests and topics.
Link the content to the course: Again I would like to link it to my assessment company Skinfit, as I also suggested to focus on influencer marketing to reach many potential customers. Furthermore we also discussed in class that the media set-up is changing and I think this is also highlighted within this article.
Why did this article interest me? This article is in particular interesting for me as I am not 100% convinced from the influencer marketing. I agree that recommendations from friends and family are worth way more than any advertise campaign. However I think that people are nowadays already so used to social media and earning money with social media, that they also understand that many influencers are just recommending a product because they are paid for doing so.
Therefore I am still surprised how much influencer marketing is still gaining in importance. However I would also agree with the aspect that micro influencer, are probably the better option than focusing on the really big fishes with millions of followers.
Forbes Magazine, 11th February, 2020 by Oganes Vagramovich Barsegyan
Phase of this article: Phase 2 (social Media) & Phase 3 (Voice search)
Comment on the article: It describes the three major trends in digital marketing for 2020 I.e voice search, Videos and livestreaming as well as social media platforms.
Link the content to the course: It is important to identify the major channels used by target customers for target marketing to be effective. Customers preference changes, marketers to keep track on the trend to determine change in users’ behaviour.
Why did this article interest me? Digital marketing landscape is very dynamic and it changes with change in technology. Thus, it is important to gather information from experts and learn about the anticipated trends in digital marketing. It is interesting that experts predict that in 2020 voice search will comprise half of all queries because it is faster. Secondly that more companies are expected to use livestream features to launch product. Lastly, the author writes that the use of social media is going to increase rather than decline.
Forbes Magazine, 11th February, 2020 by Charles Mazzini
Phase of this article: Phase 2
Comment on the article: The article highlights importance of having a “defined” digital marketing strategy. The solution is having a well-defined, well-analysed and well-performed digital marketing strategy. It entails, researching, understanding and defining a specific target audience. Understanding the company’s marketing goals, competitive landscape, channel performance and budget allocation is also important.
Link the content to the course: Many companies fail to realise ROI when it comes to digital marketing because they failed to identify the channel used by target customers.
Why did this article interest me? Digital marketing is gaining prominence. Unfortunately most firms do not have the know-how and therefore rely on services of the marketing agencies who mostly aim at ensuring quick results at low costs, thus instead of coming up with a defined strategy that suits the customers’ needs, they simply sell anything to customers with a promise of excellent results.
Phase of digital evolution: Phase 2 as the article talks about the digital display of information but also the connection of people through request forms
Comment on the article: This article talks about the transformation of offline trade fairs to digital trade fairs. The example is a trade fair for furniture and accessories. Because of Covid-19 the offline trade fair had to be canceled which was the reason to develop a digital trade fair. The tools that were used were the digital display of catalogues, webinars and virtual showrooms. Furthermore, buyers could send requests to the sellers. This trade fair offered the possibility to discover products and novelties virtual and connect to the sellers.
Link content to the course: This article talks about the transformation from offline to online. It shows that also typical offline events like trade fairs need to become digital. It talks about the digital display of information which is part of phase 1 of digital transformation but there were additional features like virtual showrooms, webinars and request forms that classify the example to phase 2. The article mentions virtual showrooms, which can be the future for many companies. Finally, the article showed the success of the digital trade fairs but also pointed out that in the future, trade fairs can’t be completely digital but a digital part may still exist after the covid-19 regulations.
Why is the article interesting: I think this article is interesting as it shows a new potential of digital transformation. This possibility does not only affect the market of furniture but it can be transferred to many different markets and companies. The article shows how trade fairs can be held in the future but this can also be done for single product launches. Combined with the technology of virtual reality, this offers even more potential.
comment on the article: This article seems to be a comment on AI. The article talks about AI and the necessity to include empathy in the development of AI. Artificial intelligence is developed by humans and is depended on the input that is put into the system. There is the possibility of wrong interpretations of data if the AI-system is not trained with empathy. This is shown through some examples.
Link content to the course: The article talks about the technology of AI. Additionally, it shows weaknesses of the technology and highlights features like empathy that need to be considered.
Why is the article interesting: First of all, I am not sure whether the statement that “The future of Artificial Intelligence relies solely on empathy” is correct as there are many aspects besides empathy that need to be considered. But I think that the article puts a focus on aspects of AI that might be underestimated. AI offers a lot of potentials but there is also a huge potential for improvements.
Author: Doxee Marketing Team, Publication Date: February 18, 2020
Comment on the article: The article deals with the influence of digital transformation and consequently the impact of digital marketing on the food and beverage industry. Particularly in the area of digital media, food is one of the most popular and most searched-for topics alongside sport and fashion. If you scroll through the latest posts on your Instagram start page, you’ll quickly realize that the majority of the content developed is about food or in connection with other topics (e.g. relaxation, sports, children, …). Food is an important part of our lives. In addition to the supply of vital nutrients, the topic of food also brings a social aspect with family and friends. As a result, this topic is a magnet for achieving reach and possibly conversion rates and is therefore used by the majority of social media influencers as a content focus or addition to their posts.
Link the content to the course: The article and the topic it addresses can be wonderfully combined with the company I have chosen for the assignment. The ice manufacturer Kolibri is meanwhile very well-known and popular in Vorarlberg. However, this reputation has only developed over the last 4 years. Previously, the company was mainly known in Wolfurt, where it has its headquarters. With a good digital marketing strategy and presence, they changed this situation and are now one of the leading ice cream manufacturers in Vorarlberg and beyond Austrian borders (Liechtenstein, Switzerland). We also discussed the speed of the digital transformation, which can be seen very clearly in the case of Kolibri. Digital transparency & permanent presence is essential for the sustainable success of a company.
Why did this article interest me? I was particularly interested in this article because I work in the marketing department of a beverage company. I am also mainly responsible for the support of the social media channels and therefore also for the creation of the weekly posts. The interesting thing about social media work is how customers react to the various posts. Besides raffles, which generate high conversion rates, funny sayings about the product also manage to achieve equally high numbers. Other contributions that were thought to be super generate only a fraction of what you would have hoped for. For this reason, it is always important to be up to date in order to keep up with the latest trends. This is the only way to stay in the minds of customers.
Author: Antonio Gonzalo, Holger Harreis, Carlos Sanchez Altable, and Cyrielle Villepelet
Publication Date: May 6th 2020, McKinsey & Company
This article deals with the importance of digitalization and its benefits in the fashion industry. This is also explained in the context of the covid-19 pandemic.
A particularly interesting aspect for me was that constant customer contact in an authentic way is especially important in times when customers consume little or nothing (like during covid-19). Since the company I chose is also active in the fashion industry, the article was of interest to me, although in my eyes most of the mentioned points can only be implemented by larger companies, because they have more resources and money for advanced technologies. However, I think that many companies still underestimate the importance of integrating a perfect omnichannel experience and offering a personalized service. In this aspect, I see inter alia the link to the course where we learned that people still prefer to get in touch with people. This creates value for the end consumer.
As this article also deals with the topic of AI I would situate the article in phase 3 of digital evolution.
Publication Date: Publication Date: May 12th 2020, Dealer Marketing Magazine
This article is about the importance of online shopping linked to car purchasing and methods how to engage customers for further services and at least how important further data analyzing could be for reaching more customers at all.
Phase of digital evolution: At a first impression I would link the content of the article in phase 2 of digital marketing due to simple content aboout importance of online selling methods, but if a automotive retailer takes a partner for data analyzing and forecasting this could also linked to phase 3 if AI is used.
Link to the course and personal interest on the article: Due to the fact that for further research for the portfolio, it is important to know which digital marketing methods for automotive retail are available and how to implement them, also it is interesting to know in a business and also private context that more than 80 % of car buyers do research online before purchasing a car. The most important method for selling cars online are still online advertisements, as this is still a very traditional way of marketing at all. All in all this article is linked to the course because of the way of transformation from offline to online business with a expensive product.
Publication Date: Update: May 5th, 2020; Relevance
This article is primarily concerned with showing reasons why digital marketing has become indispensable in the automotive trade and why the automotive sector is lagging behind other industries in terms of digital marketing. The tools are search enginge optimization, mobile marketing social media and content management.
Phase of digital evolution: As the digital evolution of automotive retail itself is really weak in comparison to other industries and the article just show general tools of how digital marketing can be implemented the article may linked to phase 2.
Link to the course and personal interest: Regarding SEO, it is important to know that this is often where the customer journey of the average car buyer starts. Therefore, it is important to be supported on the first pages of the search engine and matching keywords. Also through the everyday use of smartphones will mainly optimize the importance of the mobile implementation of the website / app. Furthermore, information is important for the purchase decision in order to present brand and product details more precisely. An own thought beside SEO, good content etc. is to offer the customer a trustworthy appearance, especially in the used car trade. In general the connection to course is that the digital transformation is not to be imagined without and therefore the marketing strategy of many car dealers has to be changed to survive within the high competitive environment.
Author: Doxee Marketing Team, Publication Date: February 18, 2020
Comment on the article: The article deals with the influence of digital transformation and consequently the impact of digital marketing on the food and beverage industry. Particularly in the area of digital media, food is one of the most popular and most searched-for topics alongside sport and fashion. If you scroll through the latest posts on your Instagram start page, you’ll quickly realize that the majority of the content developed is about food or in connection with other topics (e.g. relaxation, sports, children, …). Food is an important part of our lives. In addition to the supply of vital nutrients, the topic of food also brings a social aspect with family and friends. As a result, this topic is a magnet for achieving reach and possibly conversion rates and is therefore used by the majority of social media influencers as a content focus or addition to their posts.
Link the content to the course: The article and the topic it addresses can be wonderfully combined with the company I have chosen for the assignment. The ice manufacturer Kolibri is meanwhile very well-known and popular in Vorarlberg. However, this reputation has only developed over the last 4 years. Previously, the company was mainly known in Wolfurt, where it has its headquarters. With a good digital marketing strategy and presence, they changed this situation and are now one of the leading ice cream manufacturers in Vorarlberg and beyond Austrian borders (Liechtenstein, Switzerland). We also discussed the speed of the digital transformation, which can be seen very clearly in the case of Kolibri. Digital transparency & permanent presence is essential for the sustainable success of a company.
Why did this article interest me? I was particularly interested in this article because I work in the marketing department of a beverage company. I am also mainly responsible for the support of the social media channels and therefore also for the creation of the weekly posts. The interesting thing about social media work is how customers react to the various posts. Besides raffles, which generate high conversion rates, funny sayings about the product also manage to achieve equally high numbers. Other contributions that were thought to be super generate only a fraction of what you would have hoped for. For this reason, it is always important to be up to date in order to keep up with the latest trends. This is the only way to stay in the minds of customers.
Author: Doxee Marketing Team, Publication Date: February 10, 2020
Comment on the article: Because food and beverage are the most interesting topics on social media, this article deals with the 5 latest trends regarding this topic in terms of digital marketing. Digitalization has not only completely changed and simplified our lives but also many industries. Examples are ordering via apps or online, delivery services or platforms to share opinions and reviews about restaurants such as TripAdvisor. Basically, it is easy to gain a reputation for food and beverage on social media. As in other areas, it is important to be up to date and follow the latest trends and implement them if necessary. As already mentioned, the article shows a handful of trends for the digital marketing of the food industry.
Link the content to the course: Especially in the field of digital marketing it is easy to create a connection to the course. The main part of the articles online deal with topics we have already covered in class, such as Big Data, SEO, Augmented Reality, Virtual Reality, Influencers and much more. As well as this article. The five trends that are described in more detail and whose statements also agree with those of the course are
1. sustainability & health are the new IT keywords
2. search engine optimization (SEO) is key, since not appearing on Google practically means that you do not exist
3. User Generated Content & Storytelling is crucial for any digitally successful company (important platform: Instagram)
4. more targeted advertising can be made on the basis of collected (big) data about customers. Knowing customers allows you to personalize your advertising and products exactly on their needs, wishes and wants.
5. terms like Virtual/Augmented Reality & Voice Technology are not just concepts of the future, but reality and are increasingly in demand. Therefore, the courage to incorporate these terms into the business model should be taken.
Why did this article interest me? As already mentioned with the first article, the combination of digital media or marketing and the food industry is especially exciting, because I work in this area. The social media feeds on the fast pace of living. This is especially recognizable by the constantly changing or newly emerging trends in every respect. This article was particularly exciting for me because I can take important tips for my profession and will try to implement them. Especially if you are more or less alone responsible for the content creation, new impulses are of great use and help to gain new views.
Title: Older Consumers, Digital Marketing, and Public Policy: A Review and Research Agenda
(published in Journal of Public Policy & Marketing 2019, Vol. 38(4) 469-483)
This article deals with the effects of the aging population in relation to the increasingly technology-oriented marketing environment. It is interesting that there is a lack of empirical studies on this topic, although the aging population has a major impact on market structures. Thus, when looking at the relationship between ageing and new technologies, the marketing “voice” in terms of customer needs is hardly found in the literature. There is a limited availability of data on age and current usage patterns of digital services.
The article argues for the use of generational cohorts as a research framework, which provides a rich stream of topics that are crucial for understanding the future consumer landscape. The needs of all consumers should be considered. The article also describes that marketing cannot detach itself from the big questions that shape societies. The failure to examine the role of technology-based platforms in the context of an ageing population is to be addressed.
For it is also the case that not only older cohorts are excluded from using the Internet. Internet use is linked to gender, income and educational level. I find this article exciting because it shows that older people per se should not be excluded from marketing because one believes that they are not the users anyway, but that one should think about how to address this cohort in digital marketing. In the lecture we had talked about the generations and came to the conclusion that a narrow limitation or demarcation is not reasonable (Millenials vs. Gen Z) but that they can be summarized in Gen C. One should not forget that older cohorts also have different types of users.
Author(s): Abhishek Borah, Sourindra Banerjee, Yu-Ting Lin, Apurv Jain, Andreas B. Eisingerich (published in Journal of Marketing 2020, Vol. 84(2) 69-91)
Phase: 2
This research article is about virality. Online (Social Media) virality has attracted the attention of academics and marketers who want to identify the characteristics of online content that encourage sharing. Here we examine the phenomenon of improvised marketing
(IMIs)-social media actions that are compiled and executed in real time proximally to an external event (including the example of OREO who successfully tweeted after the power outage at the SuperBowl in the USA… “Power out? No problem, You can still dunk in the dark”). The researchers found that IMIs are fostered by humour and timeliness or unpredictability, and that this has implications for virality and goodwill. These results point to the potential of IMIs in social media and to the potential for managers to take action.
This article shows that many managers have succumbed to the misconception that a company’s marketing message is best planned, organised and 100% under the control of the company well in advance. Of course, this approach has many advantages, but these will not be discussed here. Nevertheless, the latter strategy can also lead to a brand being seen as being remote from the zeitgeist and from the target group and failing to capture the trends, feelings and ideas typical of the time. The results of the study are very interesting and are intended to encourage marketing managers to think carefully not what they say, but above all how and when they say it using social media. Internal marketing teams often lack the responsiveness and scope to take the opportunity to present the company through a current event and link the brand message to the event with maximum impact. This means, of course, finding people who are creative and spontaneous, and most importantly, trust is important, because tweets like Oreo’s would not have been tweeted otherwise. The researchers found that many brands have yet to discover the potential of this marketing method.
This article shows that 2020 is likely to be seen as year zero for renewed interest in equality, cultural inclusion and sustainability by future generations. This means that Fairkom is on a good path by committing to overcome social and environmental issues. Another aspect to consider is how staying at home during the lockdown has changed the digital landscape. Live streaming, podcasts and companies that focus on building communities have seen a huge increase in popularity. However the arguably most important consideration of all is that companies have to be transparent in order to connect with their customers as they want to want to feel that they are spending their money with a business that shares their values. Also here Fairkom is already well prepared for this, as transparency is deeply rooted in their core corporate values.
As the title suggests, this article argues that digital marketing has become the new way of marketing. It also states that it has less to do with marketing channels and more to do with a holistic approach to marketing, business development, experience and transparency. This has the effect that this new world is perceived as more genuine by customers. Fairkom has the great advantage that they are well versed in the digital world and should take advantage of this by leveraging the possibilities of digital marketing. In this way, a digital presence also supports their core business by offering (fair) software.
The first article is about three key trends in marketing, sales and service solutions that are expected to evolve in 2021.
#1 A good customer experience strategy is more important than ever
During the lectures, we have already learned that the customer should always be at the centre of attention, even in the digital world. The author of the Forbes article also states: “In the digital era, the customer is king.” Consequently, the customer should be at the centre of the company’s communication strategies in order to be able to guarantee a holistic and excellent customer experience.
#2 Customers are longing for quick problem solving
As we heard in the course, “we tweet back within the hour” is no longer state-of-the-art. What counts is being able to give quick answers to questions. This fast round-the-clock service can be provided by so-called chatbots. According to the Forbes article, these are becoming increasingly important and are also a win-win situation, because companies also benefit from having work taken off their hands.
#3 Service, marketing and sales must pull together
With this third trend, the author is referring to a CRM system, a kind of “single point of customer truth”, where all data and encounters with customers are recorded. This should ensure that everyone, whether in service, marketing or sales, is on the same level, thus enabling an even better customer experience.
***ARTICLE 2***
“The Power Word-Of-Mouth Has in Marketing, And How To Cultivate It”
By Rafael Schwartz, Published at Forbes, 08.09.2020
The second article is about the power of the word of mouth in marketing. Especially in the digital world, we are confronted with tons of content every day. Accordingly, positive word-of-mouth is more important than ever, as it generates trust among consumers.
The article is also about six basic principles on how a company can maximise its Word of Mouth potential:
#1 Social Currency (Statements on WOM recommendations have a direct influence on customer’s own image)
#2 Triggers (Recommendations are top of mind)
#3 Emotion (Recommendations are based on own interests)
#4 Public (Customers look for recommendations, so product must be visible to boost WOM)
#5 Practical Value (It is more likely to recommend products that help others)
#6 Stories (It is more likely that good stories will be shared, because people love stories!)
***CONCLUSION FOR THE FAIRKOM CASE***
As the first article shows, it is important that customers have a good user experience. This means that Fairkom must also put the customer at the centre of its communication strategy. Furthermore, the customer expects a quick solution to problems, which can be guaranteed, for example, through the use of chatbots. The article also addresses the use of a CRM system, which should also contribute to an improved customer experience (as long as the company’s privacy principles allow it).
In conclusion, Word of Mouth has become an extremely valuable medium in the digital age, as customers can rely on the authentic experiences of others. This is something Fairkom can also benefit from.
Situate the phase of this article in the digital evolution: Phase 2
Comment on the article:
Companies need to be truly adaptable, respond quickly to trends, and keep an eye on their customers and their rapidly changing needs. Environmental conditions can change fast, and so the shift towards the need for digitized processes is a given – now and in the future. One should not lose too much time to still be able to interact with the customer, with speed being a crucial factor. In addition, it’s important to address the issues customers face in this COVID19 pandemic: they are isolated and need digital options that work from home without real face-to-face interaction. Companies that jump on the bandwagon and offer efficient solutions for customers clearly win and build a strong sustainable advantage. Even after the pandemic, buying behavior will change and online presence will become more important in daily life.
Link the content to the course:
This article describes how certain external influences can affect familiar processes. With regard to the COVID 19 pandemic, it looks at how the customer journey and the customer experience are changing and how they can be maintained through digitization, among other things. Digital models had to appear to do business according to strict regulations of not having to meet in store. Marketing had to focus more on customer needs and concerns, and commerce shifted to digital operations. Everyone had to adapt, whether they were digital natives or digitally resistant. In regard to the course’s case study, fairkom made it possible to interact without being physically present. Their solution makes it possible to still take care of customers without meeting them in person, in a simple, understandable, and data-secure way. Moreover, fairkom is also based on online interaction with their customers, so they do not face huge issues due to COVID in that case.
Why did this article interest me?
Over the last 1.5 years, COVID19 has basically taken over and disrupted most of the processes we were used to in our daily business. We were used to shopping in the store, we were used to having constant access to all kinds of goods. But as the virus spread out, more and more goods became unavailable or extended the delivery time immensely. Companies then started realizing and adapting to the circumstances. People started to value other things, due to the isolation. I am curious on how companies really tackled this issue, how they implemented digital strategies in such a short time to be able to fulfil customers’ needs and wants.
Situate the phase of this article in the digital evolution: Phase 3
Comment on the article:
This article deals with the possibilities in marketing regarding virtual and augmented reality. VR and AR make it possible to enable people to perceive objects and have a significant impact on the customer experience. They provide an overview of how VR is used in the various steps of the customer journey, how and what data is collected. As an example, the technology can be used to guide customers through their journey, from awareness to decision making to testing and assessing. Most often, it is used for promotional and sales purposes, as IKEA has done with the ability to place furniture directly in a room by downloading a smartphone app. Interactivity, information provision and trackable interactions are a key benefit of implementing VR or AR. When customers shop, VR steps in to provide a personalized shopping trip optimized to the customer’s needs, increasing efficiency. In addition, virtual product demonstrations and store tours are possible – making it easier to truly match products to purpose (e.g., placing furniture in the room) through the use of technology alone.
Link the content to the course: Marketing efforts evolve, transform and modernize. In the course, we also looked at how marketing efforts have changed over time and have become more interactive through the use of smart technology. Also, the digital marketing funnel shows that user experience is becoming more important in terms of digital processes, as the information level in the content delivered matters and availability is no longer as limited. In this area, VR and AR actually deliver the experience needed to bring customers virtually into contact with products along the customer journey and also provide convenience, for example, by allowing them to try out furniture in a virtual but real room. Fairkom could use AI to have a more automated process in terms of customer service, especially when requests become repetitive. As our solution is based on AI, so that they implement an intelligent real time assistant (chatbot) there is a clear connection that this helps to improve fairkom’s customer experience.
Why did this article interest you?
We have already discussed the influence of VR on business processes in another course. I find it fascinating how real an experience can be portrayed and how the technology manages to influence marketing processes and so have such a huge impact on the customer experience. The article provides a good overview of how those technologies that are applied along the customer journey to improve and make the customer experience more attractive. Also, I was already curious about where VR can take place along the buying process, for example, at Mr. Spex you can also try on sunglasses, which is much more convenient than going to a store just for that. This article clearly shows what is already possible and what is needed to be up to date with your customer marketing efforts.
Link the content to the course:
In class, we talked about the current trends in digital marketing. In addition, the further development of marketing over the years and the changes in the core elements were also discussed. Furthermore, we take a look at the existing technologies (AR/VR/AI) and the opportunities and advantages they offer. Moreover, it was also clarified how the technology determines our everyday life, respectively which role they have already taken and will still take in the future. The course also clearly showed the evolution of the various technologies and how they have developed over the years. Furthermore, the importance of data was pointed out.
Why did this article interested you?
It was also very exciting for me to learn how much money flows into marketing worldwide, which clearly shows how much power and what an essential role marketing has acquired over the years. The article also dealt with the digital trends in digital marketing as the associated consequences, such as data protection. It was interesting that interactive content, which includes technologies such as AR, VR and AI, can be controlled and customized by the user. Particularly interesting for me was that AI can be applied to analyze user behavior and this knowledge is used to subsequently adapt the video content to the users.
Connection to the case
Our case takes a closer look at the company Fairkom, which offers sustainable software that is open source. The company also attaches great importance to data protection and the environment. The article also highlights the importance of consumer data protection, which is also the link to Fairkom. After all, with the new trends in digital marketing, consumer data protection is taking on an increasingly important role, because more and more data is collected about the users. According to the article, there should be clear communication to customers about what happens to the data and what rights they are entitled to. Furthermore, the use of a so-called privacy disclaimer can build a trustworthy relationship between the company and the customer. If Fairkom implements such a clear communication strategy, the company can stand out from the competition and has also created a marketing advantage. Another tip in the article, which can be applied to Fairkom, represents the creation of interactive content on the website so that customers can interact with the brand and build a connection right away. In our project, the Green Party from Vorarlberg represents the persona. This party attaches importance to a sustainable and fair image. Furthermore, data protection as well as the security of data within Austria is a top priority, as this is very confidential data.
Link the content to the course:
In the course, we focused on the current technological trends and the associated changes that will affect marketing in the future. In addition, we also dealt with the consumers, for whom the technologies have already become a fixed part of everyday life. The article once again highlights the importance of voice assistants, which can provide consumers with an immediate answer to a question. Furthermore, in the course we found out, that customers are looking for experiences, are already familiar with technology (gen C) and are used to get the information quickly through the smartphone or the Internet. Using these technologies not only puts the consumer at the center, but also gives them a certain customer experience when they interact with the voice assistant. Through the possibilities mentioned in the article where the voice request can be used for the optimization of the website, the customer receives the desired information in the shortest possible time. According to the article, this can also fulfill the urgency that consumers demand in terms of technology, because the information is delivered to the customer in the shortest possible time.
Why did this article interested you?
It was exciting for me to learn about the possibilities offered by the use of voice assistants and what adaptations these entail. Because according to experts, half of all search queries will be made via voice searches in 2020. As a result, key words will change, because customers will now start question-based searches instead of strung together terms, and as a result, the website should also be adapted in the direction of voice queries. Furthermore, I was interested in how far the provision of videos instead of texts affects users behavior. The results of a survey clearly show that half of the users would like to see more content in the form of videos, which gives companies the opportunity to interact with customers. If customers are offered such an experience, they are the focus of attention and automatically stay longer on the website.
Connection to the case
In our project, the IT company Fairkom was analyzed in more detail, which offers customer-specific and sustainable IT solutions. The article illustrates that the company can benefit from new technologies such as voice assistants or the integration of video content. The findings make it clear that the Fairkom website should also be reviewed with regards to voice queries. In addition, adjustments should be made if necessary, so that Fairkom appears among the top search results. Furthermore, the article makes clear that the existing website can be improved by integrating product memos and instruction videos. Through this customization and the use of simple and understandable language, a customer experience is provided on the website. Fairkom thus achieves a more customer-oriented website design and can also benefit from users spending more time on the website.
In the course we talked about the network effect in the context of social media. The network effect transports information fast through the social media channels. Sometimes even faster than the public media and for free. Seth Godin in his blog article talks about how, depending on the value and type of content, you may want to use the network effect to spread the information to everyone for free. This is especially the case when the information is meant to attract attention, such as advertisements or songs on the radio. On the other hand there is information which creates a specific value such as knowledge, scarcity, or solving a problem. This kind of information has a higher purpose and is more valuable if it costs something. In the context of social media, this could be, for example, a special group of like minded people in a channel where I have to pay for membership to be invited and receive the information.
Why did this article interested you?
For me, this article is interesting as it looks from two sides on the topic of spreading information. Until I read the article, I was not so aware that there are two sides to the issue and when to use what. I found it particular interesting that information can lose its value when it is free. Especially in today´s social media world there are many things being spread that are not of value. These days, anyone can spread information, whether that information is true or not. Additionally, it is getting more and more difficult to separate the truth from the lies. Thus, groups with specific and valuable content that tells the truth for a specific topic can be of particular interest to people who are fed up with the worthless and/or fake flood of information.
Connection to the case:
For Fairkom, this approach to information that should be disseminated and information that should be scarce is also of value. The company should create two different types of information. The first type can be simple content about the software, how to use it and about the vision and mission of the company. This type of information is free, should be distributed through the various social media channels and link to the company’s blog. The second type of information should be free on the surface, but to get access to the full content you should be a member (someone who has purchased the software). So this type of information should be of value. Such as tips and tricks, a guide on how to best use the software and a closed forum for members to share and ask questions. This would then create curiosity for those who are not members and a special group feeling for those who are.
Author: Christine Crandell
Published by: CMS WiRE
Date: January 6, 2020
The article definitely catches your eyes with its title. I immediately wanted to find out what the author meant. In fact, the article does not say, that the content is not present any more or that it is not required. Quite opposite it says it is highly important to have the valuable and inspiring content to attract and retain the customer. However, the problem is that the content is often of low quality or irrelevant. The author claims the content “burned out”. Three reasons of this burnout are defined: inside-out strategy, involvement of too many channels and content-centric lead generation. The author than describes the ways how to repair the content so it again becomes the powerful customer enabler.
The article as well as our course points out the importance of the very thought-out content strategy. The Persona level content strategy should define how each channel and its content satisfies the need of the customer and how the success will be measured. Also, it is important to use AI in the creation of content, for example it can help propose the right format of the content, for example the use of the statistics charts instead of plain text. Once the content strategy is developed or aligned, it needs to be constantly updated following ever-evolving customer needs. Machine learning platforms and AI need to be used to help organise the content and to automatically create new content suitable for specific customers and journey steps. The fact that the author refers so much to the AI indicates that the article can be situated in the transition to the 3rd phase of the digital evolution.
The article appears to be quite relevant to the Fairkom case. The Fairkom content strategy probably does exist but it is not thought through: the content on the Internet site is not clear and not quite suited to the targeted personas, the power of channels is not utilised in full, the appropriateness of the content format needs to be validated with the help of AI, so it is satisfying for the customers. All this is important not only for Fairkom but for any company that wants to succeed. Those will win the customer preference who can quickly adapt its content and choose it from the set of information elements that the customers identified as important at the particular moment of time. And also, those who use the journey maps to put together the information elements which help customers achieve their micro-moment targets.
Article 2
Title: How To Turn Your Business Goals Into A Strong Social Media Strategy
Author: Elissa Liu, Forbes Councils Member
Published by: Forbes Agency Council
Date: January 3, 2020
The author of the article speaks about the importance of having not just a business strategy but also a social media strategy. Surprisingly, many companies perform various social media activity without a strategy, hoping and thinking that the content they put in the social media will be liked by their customers. In the end, the efforts and budgets are invested while the results are questionable. The article attracted me as I do think that the strategy in general is the corner stone of every success. That is why I wanted to read about the social media strategy in more details. We did not discuss the strategy per se during the course, however it was implied that having a thought through strategy is a prerequisite for success for every company. The article can be situated in the second phase of the digital evolution as it describes the basic element of the social media, not mentioning for example the use of AI.
The article gives some examples and hints. In order to create the good social media strategy a company needs to start with the overall business strategy and translate the goals into social media goals. Some of the goals will be easily translated, like for example the goal to grow sales or revenues can mean in the social media strategy increasing repeat sales and the lifetime value of existing customers with the further drill down to more specific goals. However, some goals are not that easy to translate, or they may not have a connection to the social media program. Despite that a closer look needs to be taken into those goals. Probably social media can help achieve those goals as well. For example, the launch of the sustainability program can be supported by a social media campaign specially developed for this. Obviously after the social media strategy is developed a set of KPIs and specific targets needs to be established to be able to track the success of the chosen strategy.
The concept discussed in the article is relevant to the Fairkom case. Both the business strategy and the social media strategy need to be more clearly worded by Fairkom. In case the social media strategy does not exist, it needs to be developed. As Fairkom promotes the fair and sustainable conferencing services, the social media can help to support this idea with a specially designed campaign, as suggested by the article.
Resource & Publication date:
Published on MarketingTech / marketingtechnews.com on 6th February 2020, written by James Bourne
Digital evolution phase:
Phase 2 – Social Web
Link the content to the course:
As the course has dealt a lot with social media strategies and influencers, the content of the article matches with what has been said about social media best practices. The article contains study results from the study “How Brands’ Social Media Impacts Consumers” from 554 respondents and gives insights about what influences purchase intentions of social media users. The study showed that consumers are more likely to buy from companies with which they’ve been already socially connected and the majority considers social channels of companies while researching for a product. Relevance of brand’s social media content and social presence also with regard to customer service are important points to consider as well. Hence, social media can be used by companies to create awareness and attract new customers by relevant and interesting content and increase customer loyalty by staying connected and thus being always accessible for customers.
Why did this article interest you:
Since the article contains actual survey results from a relatively big sample, I found it interesting to get my assumptions confirmed that a lot of people actually consider social media profiles of companies when they intend to buy a product. As the survey results also mainly match my own experiences and opinions, it was interesting to read that still a lot of brands have not adjusted their social media presence and use their social channels rather as a one-way street than and interactive tool for themselves and their customers.
Resource & Publication date:
Published on MarketingTech / marketingtechnews.com on 14th May 2020, written by Daniel Andrews
Digital evolution phase:
Phase 2 – 3 – Social web up to usage of AI to get insights into customer demographics
Link the content to the course:
Due to the global Covid-19 pandemic, consumer preferences have been shifting for more than one year and thus, force businesses to rethink their operating as well as brand and marketing strategies in order to cope with the current challenges. To tackle the crisis and in order to not lose a lot of revenue and customers, businesses have to enforce brand consistency more than ever and think future-oriented, consequently meaning to focus on their online brand presence and business and on how to link and manage their online and offline brand consistency. To foster this, intelligent technology tools help to understand social target demographics and customers needs. Afterwards, companies can streamline their offering as well as offline and online customer service approaches by relying on intelligent technology which provides valuable customer insights. As the crisis visualizes the importance of a proper online presence even more, businesses and brands can take advantages out of the crisis dynamics and re-shape their brand in a consistent way to adapt to the changing society’s needs. Also, the course content made clear that investing into augmented intelligence and tools to get proper customer insights can help companies and brands to grow their customer base and thus revenue. Especially the Fairkom case could be used as a real-life example to form brand consistency by building up a proper digital marketing strategy.
Why did this article interest you:
This article was of interest to me since I often noticed real-life examples of inconsistent brand presentations, especially when it comes to own homepages of websites. In addition to that, the article talks about how important it is for companies to realize that they can actually gain something from the global crisis if they used the chance to adjust their brand consistency as it is the perfect time since globally not even economic and social circumstances are changing but also attitudes of people have been changing quickly throughout the past year.
In the article, Gary Vaynerchuk, a successful serial entrepreneur deep in digital marketing, talks about two elements we discussed in our class. First, he talks about how now is the time to start innovating, especially on the marketing side. During the pandemic, many people turned to social media and streaming subscriptions, where no ads are displayed. Therefore, Gary recommends that companies start doing social media marketing to stay visible in the marketplace and attract attention.The second thing Gary talks about, which we also talked about in class, was storytelling. He believes that storytelling is an important concept, and even more so during the pandemic. He suggests that companies should tell people entertaining stories within the company that they wouldn’t normally hear about. This then creates a deeper relationship between the brand and them. Especially since there is no direct contact during a shutdown.
Why did this article interested you?
Gary V. talks a lot about being open and looking for opportunities with digital tools and the power of social media. In my opinion, there is a lot of value in being positive and looking for opportunities, even in bad situations. Burying your head in the sand and complaining is the wrong way to go for me. His how-to examples were especially interesting as they were really actionable and help understand what can be done to innovate awareness in marketing.
Connection to the case:
In my opinion, this is also the right way for Fairkom. The company should launch its social media presence as soon as possible to attract more attention. Since Fairkom is very strong on sustainability and transparency, I would suggest that they should focus on these segments and topics in the social media channels. To build a deeper relationship, I would also suggest that in addition to posting valuable content about their product, sustainability, and transparency, they also post funny stories about their work, problems they’ve had, and other entertaining insights about the company.
Published: Feb 4th, 2021 on OptiMonk
Author: David Kosmayer
Phase 3
This article lists a few ways that most companies can/should implement AI into their businesses. As we discussed in our fairkom case, chatbots are listed here and will soon be essential. AI will allow businesses to customize their offer, layout, and marketing strategies to fit the needs of the exact person who is looking at them at that specific time. In a world where personalization is highly valued and privacy equally so, utilizing AI to create unique experiences for customers is a great tool. It is highly likely that all of us will interact with AI on a daily basis whether on our own smartphones or when we digitally interact with a company. I think the two easiest AI technologies to implement will be the chatbot and customer relations. These tools are already provided for free by Facebook and there are other options for installing such tools on your website.
Published: May 7th, 2021 on Ron Sela
Author: Ron Sela
Phase 2
This article is a very comprehensive coverage of B2B digital marketing, as the title would suggest. It is a great foundation for new businesses getting started or existing businesses that have not yet taken the full plunge into digital marketing. He does a good job of showing how marketing used to be and how traditional marketing plays a role in today’s digital world. fairkom could benefit from reading up on this article and diving deeper into the area they find to be the most realistic starting points for their B2B efforts in selling services to offices, schools, etc…
I like this article because it really showed the wide variety of inputs that digital marketing can have. Working in a B2C marketing environment it was very educational to read an article from a professional in the B2B sector regarding the same topics I manage every day.
During the class, we talked about how brand awareness is the first phase of any successful digital marketing conversion funnel. In this article, the author has highlighted some of the most effective digital marketing tactics to increase brand awareness in 2021. The hallmark of any good digital marketing strategy is that it takes into account all the latest marketing trends and implements them together. The author is confident that increasing brand awareness is associated with understanding what your target audience is looking for. In the case of Faircom, they implement only little part of listed activities to increase brand awareness.
Such articles are always interesting to me, because knowing what is happening now and in the future is a key element in creating a marketing strategy. It is necessary to understand the importance of new trends, as well as the importance of their timely implementation.
Nowadays, it can be challenging for a business to gain the trust of customers. According to the article, 39% of people are unlikely to build an emotional relationship with a brand if they don’t engage with it on social media. Fortunately, social media makes it easy to reach audiences in meaningful ways at any scale. The author notes the importance of storytelling, and also emphasizes the transparency of the company’s work. Before it can increase customer engagement and loyalty, a company needs their trust. Faircom also adheres to this strategy and tries to gain customer trust in a variety of ways, for example using the prefix “fair”. However, the company can explain in more detail what they do, post behind-the-scenes shots of the office, or tell employee stories. All these activities allow Faircom to remind users that the company is made up of people who face similar problems and experiences on a daily basis as everyone else.
Title: Customer Journey Mapping And Its Essential Place For Today’s Modern Marketer
Link: https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesagencycouncil/2021/02/02/customer-journey-mapping-and-its-essential-place-for-todays-modern-marketer/?sh=5e82161b4a4e
Published: February 2nd, 2021
Author: Simms Jenkins
The article emphasized how important is the customer journey in modern marketing. The marketers focus on delivering the best customer experience, so they compete not just within their industry, but across industries. According to the article, the communication is no longer enough to attract and retain customers and build brand loyalty, and many companies are using customer journey mapping to identify opportunities and deliver better customer experiences on a large scale. Customer journey describes the steps and various touchpoints at which customers interact with a brand, be it for a service, a product or an experience. In addition, this article includes interesting survey findings regarding the increasingly complex barriers to success of the customer journeys.
flatworldbusiness.wordpress.com 
https://www.wiwo.de/erfolg/beruf/arbeitsmarkt-fachkraefte-werden-am-meisten-unter-der-digitalisierung-leiden/23791854.html
Publication date: 28 December 2018
Author: German magazine “WirtschaftsWoche”
Situate the phase of this article in the digital evolution: phase 3
Link the content to the course: interaction of robots and AI with the personnel, AI as facilitator for business processes, fast, interlinked & easy access to all information, transition into cognitive robotics technology with artificial smartness, digitalization can boost companies’ profitability
Why did this article interest you? Digitalization can be both threat and opportunities for companies. What I found interesting is that education, not only in school, but especially for employees, is key for a successful digital transformation. Digital education is especially in Germany were weak and underadvanced.
Digitalization will transform the way we used to work very dramastically and will have an impact on everyone’s business practices. But the author also stated that there will be just a shift, not unemployment due to digitalization which I found very interesting.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesagencycouncil/2019/01/17/using-ai-to-drive-high-converting-predictive-marketing/#2c1282e09cd0
Title: Using AI To Drive High-Converting Predictive Marketing
Author: Vance Reavie
Release Date: 17 January 2019
Situate the phase of this article in the digital evolution: phase 3
Link the content to the course:
Use of AI in online business, effectiveness of marketing, machine learning, prediction of customer behaviour
Why did this article interest you? AI to replace traditional market research tools, higher engagement and conversion rates, individualized marketing and predictable sales forecasting, combination of customer information (sociodemographic information) with individual preferences, AI can support market reserach as it dected millions of relationships and possibilities to create a competitve advantage
“Coronavirus Will Change Consumer Shopping Habits Permanently
The coronavirus pandemic could leave a lasting mark on consumers as social distancing becomes the norm long after the crisis passes.”
Published: April 11, 2020 3:00 PM UTC by: Stephanie Bedard-Chateauneuf
This article tackles a recent issue that we all have been facing due to the Corona Crises: the migration from traditional groceries to online shopping.
The online shopping was there for a long time, but it was not so popular. Other products had gained the preferences of the public for online shopping but there was a big portion of the population that still remained going to the supermarkets.
The social distance, sanitarian and healthy restrictions imposed by the virus associated with the shortage of products as simple as toilet papers and the slow replenishment of the shelves led a massive number of new clients to the online platforms.
There is a bet in the article that these new fashion will be trend in the future and it will be the end of many traditional stores and restaurants.
This is particularly linked to my project and the classes because we addressed the focus on what the customers want and need in order to provide the right service and experience. I am researching for a food company that sells their long range of products in traditional stores or in their humble and low profile online shop. I want to develop that to reach these new consumers that want to buy online with social and environmental conscious.
“Coronavirus Will Change Consumer Shopping Habits Permanently
The coronavirus pandemic could leave a lasting mark on consumers as social distancing becomes the norm long after the crisis passes.”
Published: April 11, 2020 3:00 PM UTC by: Stephanie Bedard-Chateauneuf
This article tackles a recent issue that we all have been facing due to the Corona Crises: the migration from traditional groceries to online shopping.
The online shopping was there for a long time, but it was not so popular. Other products had gained the preferences of the public for online shopping but there was a big portion of the population that still remained going to the supermarkets.
The social distance, sanitarian and healthy restrictions imposed by the virus associated with the shortage of products as simple as toilet papers and the slow replenishment of the shelves led a massive number of new clients to the online platforms.
There is a bet in the article that these new fashion will be trend in the future and it will be the end of many traditional stores and restaurants.
This is particularly linked to my project and the classes because we addressed the focus on what the customers want and need in order to provide the right service and experience. I am researching for a food company that sells their long range of products in traditional stores or in their humble and low profile online shop. I want to develop that to reach these new consumers that want to buy online with social and environmental conscious.
Link to the article: https://www.ccn.com/coronavirus-will-change-consumer-shopping-habits-permanently/
“Grocery stores turn to robots during the coronavirus
By Nathaniel Meyersohn
CNN Business
Published on April 7, 2020
This article also debate how Corona Crisis affected the grocery stores and how they are reacting using new technologies to address urgent demands of consumers and the new environment.
There are three activities performed by robots: cleaning, replenishment of shelves and delivery and pick-up orders of customers when the physical stores are closed. In a pre-Corona world, maybe the customers would not value such tasks and experiences. However, since the standards for improvements in sanitation, social distance and agility had quickly and drastically changed, that required new solutions and reactions from the business where the human being was not available.
This is linked to my project because I am analysing solutions for a traditional food industry. It seems the resistance to online groceries stores are over and more people will migrate to that. On the other hand, the physical stores will have to transform themselves to be competitive and offer at least availability of products and cleanse.
Link to the article: https://edition.cnn.com/2020/04/07/business/grocery-stores-robots-automation/index.html
“Coronavirus Will Change Consumer Shopping Habits Permanently
The coronavirus pandemic could leave a lasting mark on consumers as social distancing becomes the norm long after the crisis passes.”
Published: April 11, 2020 3:00 PM UTC by: Stephanie Bedard-Chateauneuf
This article tackles a recent issue that we all have been facing due to the Corona Crises: the migration from traditional groceries to online shopping.
The online shopping was there for a long time, but it was not so popular. Other products had gained the preferences of the public for online shopping but there was a big portion of the population that still remained going to the supermarkets.
The social distance, sanitarian and healthy restrictions imposed by the virus associated with the shortage of products as simple as toilet papers and the slow replenishment of the shelves led a massive number of new clients to the online platforms.
There is a bet in the article that these new fashion will be trend in the future and it will be the end of many traditional stores and restaurants.
This is particularly linked to my project and the classes because we addressed the focus on what the customers want and need in order to provide the right service and experience. I am researching for a food company that sells their long range of products in traditional stores or in their humble and low profile online shop. I want to develop that to reach these new consumers that want to buy online with social and environmental conscious.
Link to the article: https://www.ccn.com/coronavirus-will-change-consumer-shopping-habits-permanently/
Reflections on a year without social media (excluding LinkedIn)
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/reflections-year-without-social-media-excluding-tony-mclachlan/
LinkedIn, 30. December 2018
This article looks at the results of the strong integration of Social Media in peoples daily lives during phase two. The author demonstrates nicely how the digital generation perceives their dependence on Social Media and their fear to lose the contact to their peers without these platforms, and thus picks up the implicitness of digital features in our daily life, which we discussed in the course as well. For me, this article was interesting, because I did already consider to distance myself from Social Media as well. The article gives insights into the advantages and disadvantages of exiting the Social Media world.
Digital storytelling – a plea for memorable experiences in museums
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/digital-storytelling-plea-memorable-experiences-wolfgang-bernecker/
LinkedIn, 9. December 2018
The article introduces a tool that supports the visitor experience in museums through digitalisation and therefore belongs to phase three. During class we discussed several implications that digitalisation already has or could have on our daily routine – the article shows another possible facet of this process. For me, it’s interesting to get an idea of how digitalisation can advance the way we experience something very dignified, like a classic car.
AI adoption: When will it be too late for you?
2nd January 2019
Written by Craig Stewart, SVP of Product at SnapLogic
https://www.information-age.com/ai-adoption-123477759/
Situate the phase of this article in the digital evolution:
phase 3 –> use of AI
Link the content to the course:
Use of AI in online business, machine learning of consumer behaviour, creation and suggestion of content, planning of ressources, future technology
Why did this article interest you?
The article Shows that AI is crucial for digital business of the future. It is shown how market leaders like Netflix or Amazon manage their basic business like creating content or organize warehouses. It shows that a lot of companies, which including the AI have growth in their business, and those who missing out on this will have Problems in the future. In general it is astonishing to see, that companies we use in our daily life already use AI.
5 Social Media Strategies That Will Grow Your Business In 2019
https://www.forbes.com/sites/lilachbullock/2018/12/20/5-social-media-strategies-that-will-grow-your-business-in-2019/
Publication date: Dec.20th 2018
Author: Lilach Bullock, puplished via Forbes
Link the content to the course: The usage of Social Media was part of our lectures. How social media can influence customers and their reactions was discussed. This article provides information about different social media marketing strategies and introduces 5 useful tools that will support the implementation of your social media strategy
Why did this article interest you? The article provides hands-on tips & tools (Sentinoen, Idomoo, Smarps etc.) for the implementation of a social media strategy. The importance of the usage of social media in most of our businesses was underlined. Interesting for me as well because I didn’t know about them at all 🙂
5 Major Social Media Marketing Mistakes And How To Overcome Them
https://www.forbes.com/sites/lilachbullock/2018/12/27/5-major-social-media-marketing-mistakes-and-how-to-overcome-them/#4af85bd6157d
Publication date: Dec.27th 2018
Author: Lilach Bullock, puplished via Forbes
Link the content to the course: It is about social media strategies which were disccussed in lectures and are part of our final projects. The articel, in particular is about pitfalls of social media strategies and explains why they could harm from a marketing perspective.
Why did this article interest you? The author explains Top 5 No-goes for social media strategies. The most interesting no-go for me is the fact that you shouldn’t replicate updates and re-share them on different platforms. Instead it is adviced to tailor content and optimized for each social platform. Closing social accounts(that do not suit…..) and decreasing of posts could be a positive action for your success.
How Online Shopping Has Changed The Fundamentals of Fashion-Oriented Business
https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/325945
Author: Sanjeev Mukhija
Publication date: January 8th, 2019
Situate the phase of this article in the digital evolution: Phase 2
Link the content to the course: Companies need to cover more and more touchpoints to reach their customers and to profit of the constantly growing market dynamic in the fashion branch. Mobile devices and laptops are a must for the Indians to do their online shopping in combination with traditional offline POS. AI or VR isnt a common thing in the Asian state until today.
Why did this article interest you: It is interesting to see how the so-called IT-affin Indians look at new trends in online marketing and seem to still be behind the western standards in online marketing. A new fact for me is, that the Indian fashion branch also works with influencers and that companies try to personalize their marketing activities.
5 Artificial Intelligence Trends To Look Forward To In 2019
https://digitalagencynetwork.com/5-artificial-intelligence-trends-to-look-forward-to-in-2019/
Author: Rameez Ramzan
Publication date: 7th December, 2018
Situate the phase of this article in the digital evolution: Phase 3
Link the content to the course: The article lists the biggest trends in AI for the year 2019 and helps companies to create profit because of newest inventions to develop their digital marketing. The article covers the topic of Artificial intelligence and therefor also shows the relevance of it as we also discussed in class. Until today AI in the year 2019 cant be emotional.
Why did this article interest you: The topic of AI is a topic that we all know but the details and newest trends were new for me. Many points that are explained in the article are solutions for problems we might all think about but haven’t thought about a technical and intelligent solution. That the functions of AI could also help people in emergencies will drive it beyond many helpful inventions of the last years.
https://blog.adext.com/en/digital-marketing-trends-2017-infographic
Publication date: December 19th 2018
Author: Natalia Maynez C.
Situate the phase of this article in the digital evolution: Phase 2 + 3
Link the content to the course: A lot of topics that were addressed in this article were also named in the course. The article shows nicely the transformation from phase 2 up to phase 3. For example, using mobile devices and going on to artificial intelligence. Also the creation of value for the customers is addressed in this article.
Why did this article interest you? The article shows the development in digital marketing very well. I also like the fact that actual trends were pointed out very clear. It is always interesting to see what current trends appear in digital marketing and which could be interesting for the own company.
https://www.business2community.com/digital-marketing/3-digital-marketing-trends-to-look-out-for-in-2019-02141075
Publication date: November 20th 2018
Author: Syed Balkhi
Situate the phase of this article in the digital evolution: Phase 3
Link the content to the course: Digital marketing is described as a fast-moving environment in this article. New trends emerge, some stay and some go away. New trends like voice search were also addressed and linked to Amazon Echo. Different generations and their needs were also named in this article. Chatbots for solving customer requests were named as trend for newer generations as well.
Why did this article interest you? Some new trends were addressed in this article which appear more and more in different businesses. The impact of new generations on these trends is also very interesting. I also liked the fact about the explanation that customers like the answers of chatbots, which I did not see as positive yet.
AR And Social Media: Is Augmented Reality The Future Of Social Media?
https://www.forbes.com/sites/lilachbullock/2018/11/16/ar-and-social-media-is-augmented-reality-the-future-of-social-media/#56bd39f6e141
Resource: Forbes, written by Lilach Bullock
Publication date: 16.11.2018
Situate the phase of this article in the digital evolution:
Phase 3
Link the content to the course:
Technologies like Augmented Reality are already part of many applications used in marketing, like photo filters and games, but still not all possibilities are exhausted. This article discusses similar topics as we do in the course: How can data help us to optimize marketing? What is going to change in the future? How can we implement AR usefully in social media marketing? It is also much about how the user experience can be evolved by using AR and which new possibilities are waiting.
Why did this article interest you?
Honestly, I did not connected AR technology with social media. For me this kind of technologies is in the first place something that has to do with IT or gaming. Because for this, I was interested and after reading surprised how much AR is already used in social media applications like especially Snapchat. This shows me, that marketing tasks are going to change even more in the future.
5 Artificial Intelligence Trends To Look Forward To In 2019
https://digitalagencynetwork.com/5-artificial-intelligence-trends-to-look-forward-to-in-2019/
Author: Rameez Ramzan
Written on: 7th December 2018
Situate the phase of this article in the digital evolution: Phase 3
Link the content to the course: The article lists the biggest trends in AI for the year 2019 and helps companies to create profit because of newest inventions to develop their digital marketing. The article covers the topic of Artificial intelligence and therefor also shows the relevance of it as we also discussed in class. Until today AI in the year 2019 cant be emotional.
Why did this article interest you: The topic of AI is a topic that we all know but the details and newest trends were new for me. Many points that are explained in the article are solutions for problems we might all think about but haven’t thought about a technical and intelligent solution. That the functions of AI could also help people in emergencies will drive it beyond many helpful inventions in the last years.
1.)
10 Digital Marketing Trends and Innovations for 2019
https://www.cardinaldigitalmarketing.com/blog/digital-marketing-trends-and-innovative-tactics-for-2019/
Cardinal byAlex Membrillo / 24.12.2018
Phase 3 + 4 (talking about future trends)
Comment: I was curious about a summary of realistic digital trends we can expect for the near future. Especially in times of data security, better to know what will be coming up to be forearmed 🙂 The digital future will be highly focusing on personalization and customer service. Trends: AI, audio & video content, chatbots,…
2.)
The digital gap between rich and poor kids is not what we expected
New York Times by Nellie Bowles 26.10.2018
Phase 2 (talking about digitalization in general)
Comment: In times of the omnipresent trend toward digitalization parents fear the bad influence of the digital world and try to get their kids off the screens. The video seen in class was already astonishing, which emotional turmoil children had without their smartphones. In the article it was very interesting to read that especially children of poorer conditions are at the mercy of digitalization. Not because they can´t afford the devices, it´s because their parents have less alternatives like paying for a nanny to take care of their children and ensure human interaction instead of screens. Children of richer conditions spend 5h 42 min at screens whereas children of poorer conditions 8h 7min.
AI adoption: Virtual retail – the future is now
9th January 2019
Written by Nancy Klaiman Prentice
https://mr-mag.com/virtual-retail-the-future-is-now/
Situate the phase of this article in the digital evolution:
phase 3 –> use of AR, VR, AI
Link the content to the course:
Use of new technologies in offline stores. Buying experience of offline stores at home, individual customer adaption, use of human-robot interaction.
Why did this article interest you?
With AR the vision of the customer is adapted to individual needs. Other apps let customers dress mannequins with their body shape. And those are only a few examples of new technologies, which are used in offline and online stores. It is very interesting to see, which ideas companies have to bring customers back in stores or how they bring the feeling of a store to the customers home. Also the increase of revenue through this adaptions is amazing, or also the increase of interaction, when using a bot in store.
5 Artificial Intelligence Trends To Look Forward To In 2019
https://digitalagencynetwork.com/5-artificial-intelligence-trends-to-look-forward-to-in-2019/
Author: Rameez Ramzan
Written on: 7th December 2018
Situate the phase of this article in the digital evolution: Phase 3
Link the content to the course: The article lists the biggest trends in AI for the year 2019 and helps companies to create profit because of newest inventions to develop their digital marketing. The article covers the topic of Artificial intelligence and therefor also shows the relevance of it as we also discussed in class. Until today AI in the year 2019 cant be emotional.
Why did this article interest you: The topic of AI is a topic that we all know but the details and newest trends were new for me. Many points that are explained in the article are solutions for problems we might all think about but haven’t thought about a technical and intelligent solution. That the functions of AI could also help people in emergencies will drive it beyond many helpful inventions in the last years.
1. 5 Future Ecommerce Trends of 2019
Publication date: January 4,2019
Author: Adam Enfroy, ecommerce platforms
Situate the phase of this article in the digital evolution: phase 3
Link the content to the course: E-commerce stores and online platforms are getting more personalized and try to interact with customers automatically. Robots as Chabots and AI are designed to enhance a customer’s overall shopping experience.
Why did this article interest you? We are currently developing our own web shop at our company. Therefore, trends and suggestions for optimizing the online appearance are relevant to the class and my current tasks at work.
Link: https://ecommerce-platforms.com/articles/5-future-ecommerce-trends-of-2019
2. Addicted to digital devices? Focus on how you use tech, not screen time
Publication date: December 13,2018
Author: Margaret E Morris, Business Standard
Situate the phase of this article in the digital evolution: phase 3
Link the content to the course: That article critically reflects saying spending a lot of time on digital devices is bad in general. It turns out that not the amount of time but how the time is used is important. Some people even pushed the digital products beyond their intended purpose for self-help.
Why did this article interest you? I’m counting myself to the connected generation. Therefore, I am currently also reflecting on how much time I spend with digital devices. Having different opinions than just saying spending less time is better was a refreshing and provocative perspective in which I was interested in.
Link: https://www.business-standard.com/article/current-affairs/addicted-to-digital-devices-focus-on-how-you-use-tech-not-screen-time-118121300201_1.html
1. Why Digital Marketing is Important for Small Business
Author: Digital Marketing Institute
Copyright: 2019
Link: https://digitalmarketinginstitute.com/blog/why-digital-marketing-is-important-for-small-business
Link the content to the course: Unlike what I used to believe, small business also needs digital marketing. This also has been mentioned during our lecture: “every business can be transformed into digital business”. This article furtherly explains why this step is necessary, while traditional ad and channels are important, marketers should not ignore the opportunity or bigger potential and prospects that can be reached online. The article shows evidence that digital business can be even more effective to expand your market and gain contact with customers.
Why did this article interest you: The idea of taking advantage of this technology advancement help small business to sell their products more efficiently. Because not only the internet that has developed, but our customers and competitors are most likely online as well. It makes me realize that digital business is crucial regarding any size of your business.
2. What Marketers Need to Know about Selling to Millenials.
Publication date: 25 January 2017.
Author: Jeff Fromm
Link: https://www.forbes.com/sites/jefffromm/2017/01/25/what-marketers-need-to-know-about-selling-to-millennials/#2e58115ac03d
Link to the course: It explains the importance of digital business when selling to Millenial generation. The article also mentions their main characteristics and how to approach them. They are in mobile communication, technology, and experiences. They are basically the digital generation. It fits to the lecture we had in the class. By reading this article I understand more how to approach this market.
Why this article interests me: It explains in details, what makes this generation become digital generation. And I discover that this millennial generation prefers their chosen brand than paying less for a product. The article also shows a different customer journey for this specific generation.
Forbes Magazine: Seven Businesses That Promise Digital Can Be Ethical
7th of November 2018
Between phase 2 – 3
Link to the course
Al the businesses are concerned about customer centricity in an ethical approach. The article discusses the issue of privacy and personal data in the world wide web. This is linked to the discussion in our course of how much data needs to be collected from the customers and for what purpose. In the end it is all about “digital trust” that will be rewarded and this is what the businesses from this article try to achieve.
Why did this article interest you?
The article describes the ethical component as an opportunity for businesses as it can be a USP and a way to differentiate from the competition. IOTEC, one company that is introduced in the article even built a consultant agency that shows businesses how to be more transparent, how to protect itself against fraud in digital activities and built an “ethical digital ecosystem.”
Forbes Magazine: Seven Businesses That Promise Digital Can Be Ethical
https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidprosser/2018/11/07/seven-businesses-that-promise-digital-can-be-ethical/#ea2315c1c142
7th of November 2018
Between phase 2 – 3
Link to the course
Al the businesses are concerned about customer centricity in an ethical approach. The article discusses the issue of privacy and personal data in the world wide web. This is linked to the discussion in our course of how much data needs to be collected from the customers and for what purpose. In the end it is all about “digital trust” that will be rewarded and this is what the businesses from this article try to achieve.
Why did this article interest you?
The article describes the ethical component as an opportunity for businesses as it can be a USP and a way to differentiate from the competition. IOTEC, one company that is introduced in the article even built a consultant agency that shows businesses how to be more transparent, how to protect itself against fraud in digital activities and built an “ethical digital ecosystem.”
Robot with 3D-printed face of the dead helping to grieve
https://futurezone.at/digital-life/roboter-mit-3d-gedruckten-gesicht-von-toten-soll-beim-trauern-helfen/400365197
Futurezone, 12/30/2018
Phase 3 of the digital evolution
The news article is about robots helping surviving dependants to grieve. Robots should be able to speak with the voice of the deceased person and perform typical hand and head movements of the person. The bereaved have the robot for 49 days. This corresponds to the traditional Buddhist period of mourning in Japan. On the 49th day the robot says goodbye and the mimic program is finished.
I found this article interesting and amusing because on the one hand it sounds strange to talk with a dead person in form of a robot but on the other hand it also has a good thing, when it really helps the bereaved to grieve.
Digitalization is eroding our democracy
https://www.welt.de/debatte/kommentare/article186843448/Big-Data-Die-Digitalisierung-hoehlt-unsere-Demokratie-aus.html?wtrid=onsite.onsitesearch
Welt, 01/10/2019
Phase 2/3 of the digital evolution
After hackers published personal data of numerous German politicians and artists on Twitter, this article critically examines the fit between democracy and big data. The authors thesis is therefore: Digital data economy is fundamentally incompatible with democracy. It is ultimately the opposite of democracy and data protection.
Democrats must be able to talk to people who have completely different opinions. That is difficult, and it must be practiced constantly. In the digital world we lose this ability as it promotes life in the filter bubble and social isolation. The original democratic ability to deal objectively and fairly with opposing interests is lost.
I found this interesting since I never thought of it that way. Even if the opinion of the author is somewhat exaggerated, it has something true.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidprosser/2018/11/07/seven-businesses-that-promise-digital-can-be-ethical/#ea2315c1c142
Forbes Magazine: Seven Businesses That Promise Digital Can Be Ethical
7th of November 2018
Between phase 2 – 3
Link to the course
Al the businesses are concerned about customer centricity in an ethical approach. The article discusses the issue of privacy and personal data in the world wide web. This is linked to the discussion in our course of how much data needs to be collected from the customers and for what purpose. In the end it is all about “digital trust” that will be rewarded and this is what the businesses from this article try to achieve.
Why did this article interest you?
The article describes the ethical component as an opportunity for businesses as it can be a USP and a way to differentiate from the competition. IOTEC, one company that is introduced in the article even built a consultant agency that shows businesses how to be more transparent, how to protect itself against fraud in digital activities and built an “ethical digital ecosystem.”
Top 10 Digital Transformation Trends For 2019
Sep 11, 2018
Phase: 3 & 4
Link to the course
The article shows the trends of digitalization and what the impact of these trends will be on the economy as well as on organizations. It depicts how different developments of digitalization will influence the interaction of people with technology. Especially the transformation of chatbots, machine learning and AI link to the topics we discussed in the course.
Why did this article interest you?
The article gives great insights of what is to come. It has an influence on every single person and business and can not be ignored. Especially in B2C business companies have to be quick and adaptive in order to stay competitive and make a further development.
Stories May Be The Future of Facebook (& Your Social Media Marketing)
https://www.impactbnd.com/blog/stories-the-future-of-facebook-social-media-marketing
Resource: iMPACT, written by David Little
Publication date: 05.11.2018
Situate the phase of this article in the digital evolution:
Phase 3
Link the content to the course:
Facebook as a platform started in phase 2 of the digital evolution and now is struggling to remain an important social media channel. The article is telling about Facebook efforts to get into phase 3, means using “Stories” like Snapchat and Instagram are doing. Like we are discussing in the course the article is trying to have a look in the future – in the past we placed everything on Facebook, but this is changing, what are the impacts on our marketing business? Like we discussed in course the new challenge for marketing funnels is to reach the people at the right moment – also the article is recommending to reach people on Facebook, when they using it, not just having an ads on Facebook feed. In addition, using pictures in social media marketing is old-fashioned, videos are more effective to reach the target group.
Why did this article interest you?
Because Facebook often is stated as a channel that is not longer important, but I think it depends on the target group you are focusing on. In my opinion, Facebook should not be underestimated, but I find it interesting to think about new ways to use Facebook as a channel.
1. How AI Can Improve Your Social Media Marketing
https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbestechcouncil/2019/06/27/how-ai-can-improve-your-social-media-marketing/
Written by Thomas Griffin, Forbes Technology Council
Published: 27/06/2019
Situate the phase of this article in the digital evolution: Phase 3 –> AI
Link the content to the course: The usage of AI and Social Media was part of the course “Digital Marketing”. It was shown how AI can be implemented or used in online business, what machine learning is and how future can or will technology will look like.
Why did this article interest you: The article deals with a trend that we all know, but which is still difficult to implement. The article describes very interesting things about how we can improve the social media marketing. For example, how AI can be used to solve problems like accessibility of a company for its customers, how AI can save a company’s time and how they can achieve better results, and I heard for the first time that magazines are already using AI to quickly create content. In addition, the article gives an outlook on how to use AI in the future.
2. The reality of truly personalised marketing approaches: An investor’s viewpoint
https://www.marketingtechnews.net/news/2019/jun/24/reality-truly-personalised-marketing-approaches-investors-viewpoint/
Written by Emil Gigov, MarketingTech
Published: 24/06/2019
Situate the phase of this article in the digital evolution: Phase 3 Semantic Web
Link the content to the course: The article describes topics discussed in class such as Augmented Reality, Virtual Reality, Voice Assistance, Machine Learning
Why did this article interest you: The article describes the change of technology. An example therefore are chatbots. Few years ago, we were able to recognize if we are talking to a machine or a person. Nowadays, this technology has been developed in such a way that it is almost impossible to distinguish between a person and a machine. Moreover, I was interested in the topic of machine learning as well as the increasing potential of voice and video.
How is Artificial Intelligence Revolutionizing Digital Marketing?
View at Medium.com
Realomat in The Startup
11 January 2019
Situate the phase of this article in the digital evolution: Phase 3
Link the content to the course:
The article explains the importance of artificial intelligence as a success factor for future digital marketing activities. As discussed in class, artificial intelligence is an essential factor in phase 3 of the digital evolution. Artificial intelligence helps companies to use smarter machines or robots which will be one of the most disruptive technologies of the next decade. A personal highlight in class was that artificial intelligence can even go one step further and integrate human-inspired elements from cognitive and emotional competence. It remains exciting how companies will implement the transition from phase 3, Semantic Web, to phase 4, Emotional Web.
Why did this article interest you?
Especially interesting for me was the fact that this article explains how artificial intelligence will revolutionize digital marketing. The article states the benefits from using AI and the companies profiting from it will be able to achieve greater productivity, efficiency and profitability – factors that all companies seek for.
It is also interesting that AI is used to predict customer behavior and predictive analytics enables marketing experts to extract details from data in order to forecast buying trends and consumer habits.
Digital Marketing Is No Longer About Products, It’s About Buying A Better Version Of Yourself
https://www.forbes.com/sites/briannawiest/2019/03/11/digital-marketing-is-no-longer-about-products-its-about-buying-a-better-version-of-yourself/#634d6a4e734d
Brianna Wiest
11 March 2019
Situate the phase of this article in the digital evolution: Phase 2
Link the content to the course:
The article explains important guidelines for doing digital marketing successfully in 2019. In this article, many equal aspects as discussed in class are confirmed. The very essential parts of good digital marketing are self-initiated collectives, word of mouth trustfulness, micro-influencers and human stories with a meaningful message as a main element in branding campaigns.
The best brands are able to deliver value with digital content via Instagram stories or alike. As mentioned in class, no campaign will get attention if no value is transparent for the people. Good marketers should focus on the value first, before thinking about getting attention or even conversion.
As shown by the example in class, a more promising approach is to focus on micro-influencers. Those are the ones who have a stronger connection to their followers and have a more credible and trustworthy image. Therefore, the engagement per post is higher than macro- and mega-influencers normally reach.
Why did this article interest you?
It is particularly interesting for me that micro-influencers are the better choice when doing a digital marketing campaign. I really like the fact that the digital society seeks for human connections and stories within branding initiatives. I like that this leads to a considerable reduction of unreliable stories and bad campaigns, as most companies in the meantime realized that the focus should not be the product, but the story which should deliver real value.
The Business Value of Augmented Reality
https://blogs.wsj.com/cio/2019/07/05/the-business-value-of-augmented-reality/
Source: Wall Street Journal Blog
Author: Irving Wladawsky-Berger
Published: 5/7/2019 (hopefully that is okay, although it is newer than required)
Interesting article on AR as the solution to overcome the discrepancy of the three dimensional reals world and the (till now) two dimentsional “screen-world” of digital devices.
As Tom mentioned in our lectures also the author agrees that the combination of machine and human capabilities will lead to best results that either of them could reach alone.
This article was interesting to me beacuse I can hardly immagine in which fields AR can be used and what the advantages are. The article briefly shows some and helped me to immagine some fields of application.
Related to phase 3 of the digital evolution.
Why Influencer Marketing Is The Next Hottest Thing In B2B Marketing
https://www.forbes.com/sites/shamahyder/2019/07/02/why-influencer-marketing-is-the-next-hottest-thing-in-b2b-marketing/#6f232e3a1192
Source: http://www.forbes.com
Author: Shama Hyder
Published: 2/7/2019 (hopefully that is okay, although it is one day newer than required)
When talking about influencer marketing B2C marketing comes to ones mind. But obviously it is althou a suitable tool for B2B marketing – which really surprised me. Since we did not touch that topic in detail in our lecture I wanted to share this article with you.
Just two exciting ideas from the article:
Also in B2B it is a good strategy to work with authentic micro- and nano-influencers – something we also talked about in the lecture. Interesting and good to know that it does not always have to be the big name that brings you the desired results.
“A brand’s employees are a vastly underappreciated resource”. That is an interesting approach. Enthusiatic employees can become authentic advocates for the own brand – for low or little money.
In my opinion the content is linked to phase 2 in the digital evolution.
Title: Digital Transformation is not bout Technology
Source: Harvard Business Review (https://hbr.org/2019/03/digital-transformation-is-not-about-technology)
Authors: Behnam Tabrizi, Ed Lam, Kirk Girard, Vernon Irvin
A survey found that directors, CEOs and senior executives think that the digital transformation is the number 1 risk for their companies in 2019. A lot of money was spent already for digital transformation during the last year, but most of it went to waste. A lot of companies fail trying to transform to digital. But why? The article describes 5 key-steps that have helped successful companies in their digital transformation and should not be missed:
1. Figure out your business strategy before you invest in anything
2. Leverage insiders
3. Design customer experience from the outside in
4. Recognize employee’s fear of getting replaced
5. Bring Silicon Valley start-up culture inside
This article was interesting for me because we are currently in the middle of a digital transformation but sometimes, it feels like a clear strategy is missing and the directions to go are not clear yet. This article shows how a company should proceed when trying to shift it’s business on the digital site.
The article is linked to the topics discussed in class:
It shows that it’s not only about selecting a tool or a software to transform a company’s business into digital. First, a clear strategy is needed and customer expectations need to be well known. A lot of companies try to move on with their existing hierarchy and ways of decision making. Digital transformation also requires change in terms of organizational structures and a well-planned chance management in order to prevent employees from panic.
Title: Impact of Digital Marketing on Businesses
Source: SRV Media
Author: (Not known)
Link: https://www.srvmedia.com/blog/impact-digital-marketing-businesses/
With 3rd world country background in mind this article was written. It’s indicated by the statement that access to water is positioned below to the access to mobile communication. And herewith it’s as well addressing the impact of digital marketing in todays live.
The article addresses the power of digital media. It refers to the opportunity of business by creating and developing customer leads and strong brand recognition. It even outlines that customers tend to follow more known brands over celebrities, hence branding is essential. As well it explains the impact of shared media of micro influencers on it’s network, leveraging the reach of a fine network of users. The major focus of the article can be summarized as increase of brand awareness, generation of leads, boost of sales and viral growth. This closes the loop to our discussions in clase about impact of digital marketing on our environment.
Creating impact by using digital marketing is a topic that I’m working on in my daily business. I feel the strong necessity to create a digital communication pull in our company. The aim is to gain customer interest and leads, allowing to reach prospects and supporting our sales team in beeing more efficient and successful.
The article addresses the phase 1 and 2. since it’s addressing the general impact of digital marketing and it’s transformation of the business world.
Publsihed: 2.July 201
Title: Digital marketing transformation: a revolution of strategy and execution
Source: http://www.information-age.com/
Author: Nick Ismail
Publication: 10 January 2019
Link: https://www.information-age.com/digital-marketing-transformation-a-revolution-of-strategy-and-execution-123478009/
Digital transformation of a company its not just about creating a new fancy webpage. It’s about the changing the organization, reinventing it’s place in the market to generate customer value and to be successful.
The interview with Nick Evans from Extra Mile Communications, addresses the need of readjusting it’s targets due to the quick change seen in the marketing industry. The largest goal of digital transformation it’s about tearing down silos and interconnect everyone. Being more individual focused is key. It’s all about making the customer experience transparent and personally, since the customer is not anymore willing to accept being treated as all others.
Linking to our class, the article addresses the need for a complete and well thought customer journey on which everyone in the company is obliged to support. Medium is not accepted by customers. The customer expects professionalism in every aspect of the experience. Nick Evans addresses therefore also the need to find the correct partner for the digital transformation.
In the company I’m working we’re on phase 1 and starting to do the first steps in changing. Silos need to be tear down and communication needs to be rethought to address our customer professional.
The article addresses the phase 1. and it’s essential reorganization needs to achieve a digital transformation.
8 Digital Marketing Trends to Watch Out for in 2019
Source: Digital Marketing Institute © 2019
Link: https://digitalmarketinginstitute.com/en-eu/blog/8-digital-marketing-trends-to-watch-out-for-in-2019
Author: Clodagh O’Brien
The article focuses on the digital trends that need to be watched out in 2019. It points out the importance of the effectively executed marketing advertising campaign so that the demand for the products and services offered is increased. It is fully related to the content of the Digital Marketing course and is very interesting to me as it presents details, gives examples and explains current important trends in the digital marketing area.
Very interesting point discussed was that, nevertheless Facebook drops popularity amongst the young people, it reaches impressive percentages between the users aged over 65 years and more. This trend is important to be taken strongly into account for future marketing campaigns. The right social medias needs to be used to target the right audience.
What was also impressive is the power of the video as a very effective digital marketing tool. A good video can capture and convey detailed information to the client and present in an excellent way the company brand.
The article is relevant to Phase 1 and 2 while discussing the dynamics of the still existing importance of the content management and the email marketing, as well as the development of the digital marketing using social media.
Title: What is augmented intelligence and why use it for sales
Link: https://automationhero.ai/blog/what-is-augmented-intelligence/
Resource: Automation Hero, written by Jessica Munday
Publication date: May 8, 2019
Comment: The article describes what is Augmented Intelligence and how Augmented Intelligence can be used for improved sales in the future. It delivers the idea of human and machines working together to improve productivity. Especially in sales, this can be used in better and quicker decision making without removing the salesperson out of the whole sales process.
The phase of the article in the digital evolution: Content addresses Phase 3 – Semantic Web
Content link to the course: Content links the theory of Web 3.0 where every knowledge is connected together and operated by Artificial Intelligence, to be used by Humans like described in Phase 3 of the digital evolution
Interest: I am very interested in the sales process and selling opportunities in the future by using new technologies and tools
Title: E-commerce can’t deliver what consumers want, but social commerce can
Link: https://www.zdnet.com/article/e-commerce-can-not-deliver-what-consumers-want-but-social-commerce-can/
Resource: ZDNet, written by Eileen Brown
Publication date: March 6, 2019
Comment: The article describes how customers need social interactions on their customer journey today. It is not enough to have just a passive E-Commerce platform with “Buy” buttons to order the goods online. Social commerce explains the new superpower of shopping and experience where customers can interact with real persons who are answering questions and allowing easy decision making.
The phase of the article in the digital evolution: Content addresses Phase 2 – Social & Mobile Web
Content link to the course: The Content links to the topic about customer-centricity where it is described that only a USP is not enough any more but more excellence in all topics is required today from customers. Additionally, it is addressing the need for a new customer relationship with hyper-personalization, ultimate convenience and fast response.
Interest: How does the customer journey should look like today in an omnichannel world and mixed shopping possibilities in offline and online channels.
The Importance of Video in the Digital Marketing Industry
Source: DicoSoft
Link: https://dicosoftdigital.com/the-importance-of-video-in-the-digital-marketing-industry/
Author: Andres Quintero
Published date: 26.02.2019
The article points out the importance for the companies to use video content for their digital marketing campaigns. It explains how video marketing helps the brand loyalty, conversions and sales to be increased.
Impressive is the fact that according to 71% of the marketers their conversions were increased with the support of the video content. In addition to that the engagement through videos increases the trust of the website visitors. Very interesting is also how video content motivates the people to participate in discussions. Video ads posted on Facebook or Instagram are commented by followers, creating a strong advertising system powered by the consumers themselves. According to the article videos will account for 82% of all the internet traffic by 2021.
The article is strongly related to the content of the Digital Marketing course, discussing the influence and the importance of the videos to deliver the company message faster, to create higher engagement rate and to increase conversions.
The article refers to Phase 2 of the digital evolution as it comments the importance creating and posting video information on the company’s websites and social media.
4 Key Steps To Optimize the Digital Customer Journey and Grow Sales
https://zoovu.com/blog/key-steps-optimize-digital-customer-journey-grow-sales/
zoovu | 31 May 2019
> Situate the phase of this article in the digital evolution
On the verge of phase 3
> Link the content to the course
The article puts the course content in a nutshell, shedding light on today’s highly engaged customers who want to receive real-time assistance. The article proposes 4 ways to enhance the digital customer journey in order to increase customer satisfaction, sales and qualified leads:
1) Segmenting the audience into meaningful groups
2) Proactive engagement with buyers
3) Attacking the mid-sales-funnel
4) Offer of multiple customer service options
The main reasons why a company should manage its customer journey are ROIM (Return on Marketing Investments), improvement in customer service costs, positive mentions through social media but also increasing revenue through customer referrals and cross- & up-selling. As regards the sales funnel, companies tend to focus rather on the top or the bottom but fail to engage with the middle line. Results are insufficient content, bad usability, poor CTA and bad enquiry processes, which hinders companies to fully reach their revenue potential. Often, companies do not necessarily require more leads but should instead focus on nurturing and engaging via relevant content – quick, friendly and effective troubleshooting (also via channels apart from e-mail and phone calls) is essential. Since “customer service is backed by conversational marketing”, AI-based chatbots start to become an attractive solution.
> Why did this article interest you?
The content caught my attention, since it sums up very well how Gen C should be dealt with. It offers practical advice how to outline a well-designed customer journey and clearly states the purposes of a customer journey. The author suggests creating not just one but several customer journey maps for various personas – the tool “Suite CX” is a valuable facilitator in sketching them out.
Finding The Sweet Spot With Traditional and Digital Marketing
https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbescommunicationscouncil/2019/03/07/finding-the-sweet-spot-with-traditional-and-digital-marketing/#26227d768129
Resource: Forbes // Karina Tama – Rutigliano
Date: 27/03/2019
Digital Evolution Phase: 2
As discussed during the lectures, it doesn’t matter where you look: if it’s about marketing, it’s automatically also about digital marketing. It seems as if traditional marketing no longer plays a role, because people can be reached best through social networks or other online channels. The headline of the article “Finding The Sweet Spot With Traditional And Digital Marketing” reflects the content perfectly. Even if nowadays a large number of people clearly prefer convenience in form of online shopping and online advertisement, companies should keep in mind that eye-catching advertisements in magazines or on television still generate a recognizable reach.
However, at the same time it is obvious that traditional marketing has a lot of disadvantages compared to the online versions of advertisement:
1. Traditional print or television advertising reaches a comparably small number of people on the one hand but costs a lot of money on the other hand
2. Traditional advertising does not allow the companies to obtain information about the “users”, which would be of great advantage in regard to the optimization of advertising but also of the product.
Why am I interested in this article? As described at the beginning, everything in the area of marketing revolves around the digital area. However, I like the critical point of view that there is still a large number of people who cannot be reached via the internet due to their age or their basic attitude towards the internet and social media, but who nevertheless represent an important target group for certain industries. Therefore, there must always be an appropriate mix between conventional and modern media.
5 Examples Of Heartland Brands Using Influencer Marketing
Link: https://www.forbes.com/sites/pauljankowski/2019/06/28/5-examples-of-heartland-brands-using-influencer-marketing/#3802186d5aa8
Ressource: Forbes // Paul Jankowski
Date: 28/6/2019
Digital Evolution Phase: 2
Influencer marketing plays a more and more important role in social media marketing. Hereby influencers, which does not only include celebrities, but especially micro-influencers with a high but moderate number of followers, are in the foreground.
Mouth-to-mouth propaganda still plays an important role when it comes to buying products. The good feeling to buy a certain product is especially then existent, when recommended by friends or a family member. In social media, these boundaries are becoming blurred. As discussed during the lecture, strangers, namely the influencers, seem to become friends you trust and believe in.
For me, this article is particularly interesting with regard to the trust aspect. While you normally would not trust a stranger on the street when it is about expensive beauty products or dietary supplements, a lot of people do so on Instagram and other social media channels. This is a further proof that different rules apply in social media than in real life and that our mindset changes as soon as entering the digital world. This type of digital marketing represents a great opportunity, especially for small and/or unknown companies, because with the right correctly chosen influencers you can create a large media penetration.
4 VR Marketing Trends That Are Gaining Traction in 2020
https://www.inc.com/john-hall/4-vr-marketing-trends-that-are-gaining-traction-in-2020.html
Publication date: 01. March 2020
Author: John Hall, published via Inc.com
Phase in Digital Evolution: Phase 3
The article deals with virtual reality marketing trends and embraces the fact that VR is playing a huge role and is apparently a “rapidly growing segment”. The author mentioned that AI, AR and VR is more often merged together e.g. filter on Instagram and Snapchat. He also mentioned that emotional engagement is very important, and VR is getting more immersive and tactile – which could help a company to be closer to customers. Another trend mentioned was gamification – I personally really like that trend because I have already implemented a few games at my work events and so far, it was really successful. Also in class we talked about VR, AI and AR and discussed the relevance of those topics to businesses. We also looked at customer engagement and that it is important to look at the customer and find out what he/she likes. The best would be to have a long-term value to the customer in mind. AR, AI and/or VR could be the facilitator for new opportunities. In general, I think it is quite interesting to see what kind of new trends emerge and how quickly a company should adapt to new marketing trends (in order to not miss out).
Brand Marketing Through the Coronavirus Crisis
https://hbr.org/2020/04/brand-marketing-through-the-coronavirus-crisis?referral=03759&cm_vc=rr_item_page.bottom
Publication date: 06. April 2020
Author: Janet Balis, published via Harvard Business Review
Phase in digital evolution: Phase 2 + 3
The next article I looked at was about brand marketing in times of the coronavirus. It illustrated really good how the crises impacted the way brands communicate with their customers and it also highlighted that customers behavior changed. The author mentioned that brands have to be aware that people will view their brands differently – the goal in such times would be to provide “feel good content”. People will apparently look more closely at brands and “judge” their behavior differently – e.g. SAP offered its Qualtrics Remote Work Pulse platform for free to companies that needed to adjust quite quickly to the new situation – sets a statement to customer that SAP is not willing to exploit companies in need.
I think it is quite interesting to see how fast companies adapted to this new change and I think for me it is also interesting to know how brands and brand awareness can change in such circumstances. Also in the digital marketing course we heard that is important to listen to your customers and to analyze their behavior. In addition, we are living in a VUCA world – vibrant, uncertain, crazy and astounding and therefore we should embrace it. In general, it is important to look ahead and be ready to change ideas or plans – as all of us probably learnt during the last 6 weeks.
B2B Marketing During a Pandemic – Tips, Tactics, and Examples
https://www.business2community.com/b2b-marketing/b2b-marketing-during-a-pandemic-tips-tactics-and-examples-02308003
Publication date: 06 May, 2020
Author: Nouman Ali, via business2community.com
Phase in digital evolution: 2/3
This article is trying to give tips and tricks for B2B companies to help them with their marketing during the corona crisis. The article is giving 5 overall tips with explanations and examples how B2B companies can include these tactics for better marketing during these times.
1. Account Based Marketing for the Win (Micro Marketing for clients that most likely will convert)
2. Build an Online Presence (high quality website, mobile friendly, incl. chat bots, links to social media)
3. Customer is Still your King (focus on retaining existing customers, show business can be done digitally, offer speed and convenience, transparency)
4. Content is Queen (offer valuable content like webinars, ebooks, case studies etc.)
5. Use Video Marketing (with the use of Facebook Live, Instagram TV etc. a company can provide news, tutorials, demo, live questions)
Digital marketing is now because of the corona virus and limited physical access extremely important to still reach customers. It is very interesting and shows that the tools we learn in the course are also relevant for B2B companies, especially in times where digital marketing is (almost) the only way for us to do marketing. I like this article because it shows opportunities and possible actions to remain a market presence and do good marketing, even when there are restrictions. I can imagine that many companies now are investing more in digital marketing because of the crisis and I am looking forward to seeing how digital marketing will develop.
AI is great news for digital marketers who are bored of being data drones
https://thenextweb.com/growth-quarters/2020/05/11/ai-is-great-news-for-digital-marketers-who-are-bored-of-being-data-drones/
Publication date: 10 May, 2020
Author: R. J. Talyor, via TNW
Phase in digital evolution: 3
This article is about the new possibilities which technology offers regarding marketing. It discusses that with AI, marketing methods and practiced will be enhanced and not costing all jobs for marketeers. The example of A/B testing is mentioned and how with technology the results are better than if a human would do it. Therefore, marketeers can focus on the human, emotional side – because this is something an algorithm can’t. Creativity and thinking out of the box will still be necessary and the other things a machine can do, is something a machine should do.
This article relates to the content of the class, because important technologies were introduced with the key message that the human part is not substituted. Furthermore, the article shows that technology like AI can help us in marketing to reach better results for certain task, but other task which include e.g. creativity is something where the human is still superior. Therefore, AI and other technologies need to be introduced and thought to marketeers, so they can use if adequately. Interesting is also that this article reflects on how it is a myth that technology is costing all jobs, because it also creates new job. Throughout human history technology was always replacing jobs that could be replaced, but also create new jobs which were then needed.
Chaffey, D (2020): Global social media research summary 2020,
URL: https://www.smartinsights.com/social-media-marketing/social-media-strategy/new-global-social-media-research/, published on 17 Apr, 2020
This article deals with phase 2 of the digital evolution. It deals with the consumer use of social media platforms. The usage is considered from several perspectives: The path to purchase decision is for example introduced as well as the role of the interaction with different post formats. According to the topic, the digital usage is illustrated with numbers and statistics. On this basis, the interaction of users can be analyzed in detail. Based on these statistics, each company can choose the right channel to create more value to its target customers.
I selected this article because it highlights the various ways and elements to creating value to the customers. This is only possible, if companies know their target customers and their usage behavior. To establish a successful social media channel, a mixture of data generated by the companies as well as a strategy based on theoretical knowledge is fundamental.
Although I grew up with social media, I don´t use it excessively. Therefore, it is very interesting to see numbers and statistics which explain user´s decisions. I really was impressed that the buying decision can be described by age. In addition, it was interesting to see scientifically approved that the post type differ from channel to channel, but also from season to season.
Goldschiein, E. (2020): 4 Reasons Why Social Media Customer Service is Essential for Ecommerce Businesses,
URL: http://digitalmarketingmagazine.co.uk/social-media-marketing/4-reasons-why-social-media-customer-service-is-essential-for-ecommerce-businesses/5091, published on 2. Jan 2020
This article deals with phase 2 of the digital evolution. It deals with the importance of the interaction between the customer service and the e-commerce business. In class, we talked about the digital value model. One element of it is the customer centricity. In this article, the role of a personalized customer service is analyzed. To a company, it is important to focus on the customer instead on the channel. This is what the article highlights.
I was interested in this article because I didn´t work with ecommerce so far. That´s also the reason why ‘customer service’ is not the first thought when I think about the ecommerce business. It is clear, that customers want some level of service when they buy in local stores. Nevertheless, the importance of customer service in combination with the ecommerce was not clear to me yet.
Title: Three Social Media Marketing Trends To Watch In 2020
Link: https://www.forbes.com/sites/theyec/2020/01/23/three-social-media-marketing-trends-to-watch-in-2020/
Author: Stephanie Wells, Publication Date: 23.01.2020, Forbes
This article deals with the three topics: building online communities, humanizing your brand and social purchasing. I like this article, because it gives a short overview of the most important points a company should consider regarding their social media marketing strategy. What I find particularly interesting is that companies still underestimate the impact of creating a positive user experience (UX) in case of revenues.
We also learned about the importance of user experience in class – the product/service has to be “fast, easy & fun” (our examples in class: Google, HelloFresh, Amazon, Airbnb…).
Due to the mentioning of social media I would suggest phase 2 of digital evolution, but at a later stage of the article personalized ads are mentioned which I would see more in phase 3 of digital evolution.
Link: https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-52340651
BBC News, 19th April 2020 by Zoe Thomas
Phase of this article: Phase 3 (Artificial Intelligence)
Comment on the article: This article states that, robots are going to replace many humans in their job. Because of COVID-19 this trend is coming even faster, as consumer preferences changed, which of course opens up new opportunities for automation. Robots are already used for
x Scrubbing floors in Walmart
x Measuring temperature and distributing hand sanitiser
x Sorting, Shipping and Packaging.
Further they are also testing AI in order to replace school tutors, fitness trainers or financial advisers. Again COVID-19 made humans more comfortable with the idea of connecting remotely.
Link the content to the course: As working together with Robots or AI in particular is one main aspect of the digital evolution phase 3, this article is highly relevant to the course. Further within the course our task was adding additional digital value to a company. For my company (Skinfit) the idea of introducing an online fitness trainer or consulting person is highly relevant, which is why I can immediately implement this idea in the digital value model.
Why did this article interest me? First of all the headline: Will Covid-19 speed up the use of robots to replace human workers? catched me, as many people are scared from exactly that. In my opinion however the jobs won’t get lost. So in other words if the robot is able to clean the floors, then it is true that we need a cleaning person less, however we need an IT specialist more, which is able to fix the robot if it is broken. Which is then ultimately also increasing the level of education of our society positively.
Link: https://www.bynder.com/en/blog/marketing-martech-2030-past-present-future/
Bynder, 9th January 2020 by Emily Kolvitz
Phase of the article: Phase 2 (Social Media)
Comment on the article: This article is focusing on the past, present and future of marketing. However I only want to highlight the future, as these trends are basically deciding if a marketing campaign is successful in the future or not.
The trends for 2030 say that social media is evolving rapidly. This means Twitter will be used as a real-time customer service communication platform. Further also the branding approach on social media is changing from brand-owned social media profiles to investing heavily on influencer marketing. Finally especially millenials are getting bored of Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, which is why some brands begin to leverage their influencer network to lesser known apps, such as Whisper > where communities are organized around specific interests and topics.
Link the content to the course: Again I would like to link it to my assessment company Skinfit, as I also suggested to focus on influencer marketing to reach many potential customers. Furthermore we also discussed in class that the media set-up is changing and I think this is also highlighted within this article.
Why did this article interest me? This article is in particular interesting for me as I am not 100% convinced from the influencer marketing. I agree that recommendations from friends and family are worth way more than any advertise campaign. However I think that people are nowadays already so used to social media and earning money with social media, that they also understand that many influencers are just recommending a product because they are paid for doing so.
Therefore I am still surprised how much influencer marketing is still gaining in importance. However I would also agree with the aspect that micro influencer, are probably the better option than focusing on the really big fishes with millions of followers.
Forbes Magazine, 11th February, 2020 by Oganes Vagramovich Barsegyan
Phase of this article: Phase 2 (social Media) & Phase 3 (Voice search)
Comment on the article: It describes the three major trends in digital marketing for 2020 I.e voice search, Videos and livestreaming as well as social media platforms.
Link the content to the course: It is important to identify the major channels used by target customers for target marketing to be effective. Customers preference changes, marketers to keep track on the trend to determine change in users’ behaviour.
Why did this article interest me? Digital marketing landscape is very dynamic and it changes with change in technology. Thus, it is important to gather information from experts and learn about the anticipated trends in digital marketing. It is interesting that experts predict that in 2020 voice search will comprise half of all queries because it is faster. Secondly that more companies are expected to use livestream features to launch product. Lastly, the author writes that the use of social media is going to increase rather than decline.
Forbes Magazine, 11th February, 2020 by Charles Mazzini
Phase of this article: Phase 2
Comment on the article: The article highlights importance of having a “defined” digital marketing strategy. The solution is having a well-defined, well-analysed and well-performed digital marketing strategy. It entails, researching, understanding and defining a specific target audience. Understanding the company’s marketing goals, competitive landscape, channel performance and budget allocation is also important.
Link the content to the course: Many companies fail to realise ROI when it comes to digital marketing because they failed to identify the channel used by target customers.
Why did this article interest me? Digital marketing is gaining prominence. Unfortunately most firms do not have the know-how and therefore rely on services of the marketing agencies who mostly aim at ensuring quick results at low costs, thus instead of coming up with a defined strategy that suits the customers’ needs, they simply sell anything to customers with a promise of excellent results.
A virtual B2B trade show reports strong online activity
https://www.digitalcommerce360.com/2020/06/13/a-virtual-b2b-trade-show-reports-strong-online-activity/
Digital Commerce 360; Peter Lucas
Publication date: 13.06.2020
Phase of digital evolution: Phase 2 as the article talks about the digital display of information but also the connection of people through request forms
Comment on the article: This article talks about the transformation of offline trade fairs to digital trade fairs. The example is a trade fair for furniture and accessories. Because of Covid-19 the offline trade fair had to be canceled which was the reason to develop a digital trade fair. The tools that were used were the digital display of catalogues, webinars and virtual showrooms. Furthermore, buyers could send requests to the sellers. This trade fair offered the possibility to discover products and novelties virtual and connect to the sellers.
Link content to the course: This article talks about the transformation from offline to online. It shows that also typical offline events like trade fairs need to become digital. It talks about the digital display of information which is part of phase 1 of digital transformation but there were additional features like virtual showrooms, webinars and request forms that classify the example to phase 2. The article mentions virtual showrooms, which can be the future for many companies. Finally, the article showed the success of the digital trade fairs but also pointed out that in the future, trade fairs can’t be completely digital but a digital part may still exist after the covid-19 regulations.
Why is the article interesting: I think this article is interesting as it shows a new potential of digital transformation. This possibility does not only affect the market of furniture but it can be transferred to many different markets and companies. The article shows how trade fairs can be held in the future but this can also be done for single product launches. Combined with the technology of virtual reality, this offers even more potential.
The future of Artificial Intelligence relies solely on empathy
https://uxmag.com/articles/the-future-of-artificial-intelligence-relies-solely-on-empathy
UX Magazine; Louis Byrd
publication date: 27.04.2020
Phase of digital evolution: phase 3: AI
comment on the article: This article seems to be a comment on AI. The article talks about AI and the necessity to include empathy in the development of AI. Artificial intelligence is developed by humans and is depended on the input that is put into the system. There is the possibility of wrong interpretations of data if the AI-system is not trained with empathy. This is shown through some examples.
Link content to the course: The article talks about the technology of AI. Additionally, it shows weaknesses of the technology and highlights features like empathy that need to be considered.
Why is the article interesting: First of all, I am not sure whether the statement that “The future of Artificial Intelligence relies solely on empathy” is correct as there are many aspects besides empathy that need to be considered. But I think that the article puts a focus on aspects of AI that might be underestimated. AI offers a lot of potentials but there is also a huge potential for improvements.
Title: The impact of Digital Transformation on the Food Industry
Link: https://www.doxee.com/blog/digital-marketing/the-impact-of-digital-transformation-on-the-food-industry/
Author: Doxee Marketing Team, Publication Date: February 18, 2020
Comment on the article: The article deals with the influence of digital transformation and consequently the impact of digital marketing on the food and beverage industry. Particularly in the area of digital media, food is one of the most popular and most searched-for topics alongside sport and fashion. If you scroll through the latest posts on your Instagram start page, you’ll quickly realize that the majority of the content developed is about food or in connection with other topics (e.g. relaxation, sports, children, …). Food is an important part of our lives. In addition to the supply of vital nutrients, the topic of food also brings a social aspect with family and friends. As a result, this topic is a magnet for achieving reach and possibly conversion rates and is therefore used by the majority of social media influencers as a content focus or addition to their posts.
Link the content to the course: The article and the topic it addresses can be wonderfully combined with the company I have chosen for the assignment. The ice manufacturer Kolibri is meanwhile very well-known and popular in Vorarlberg. However, this reputation has only developed over the last 4 years. Previously, the company was mainly known in Wolfurt, where it has its headquarters. With a good digital marketing strategy and presence, they changed this situation and are now one of the leading ice cream manufacturers in Vorarlberg and beyond Austrian borders (Liechtenstein, Switzerland). We also discussed the speed of the digital transformation, which can be seen very clearly in the case of Kolibri. Digital transparency & permanent presence is essential for the sustainable success of a company.
Why did this article interest me? I was particularly interested in this article because I work in the marketing department of a beverage company. I am also mainly responsible for the support of the social media channels and therefore also for the creation of the weekly posts. The interesting thing about social media work is how customers react to the various posts. Besides raffles, which generate high conversion rates, funny sayings about the product also manage to achieve equally high numbers. Other contributions that were thought to be super generate only a fraction of what you would have hoped for. For this reason, it is always important to be up to date in order to keep up with the latest trends. This is the only way to stay in the minds of customers.
Title: Fashion’s digital transformation: Now or never
Link: https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/retail/our-insights/fashions-digital-transformation-now-or-never#
Author: Antonio Gonzalo, Holger Harreis, Carlos Sanchez Altable, and Cyrielle Villepelet
Publication Date: May 6th 2020, McKinsey & Company
This article deals with the importance of digitalization and its benefits in the fashion industry. This is also explained in the context of the covid-19 pandemic.
A particularly interesting aspect for me was that constant customer contact in an authentic way is especially important in times when customers consume little or nothing (like during covid-19). Since the company I chose is also active in the fashion industry, the article was of interest to me, although in my eyes most of the mentioned points can only be implemented by larger companies, because they have more resources and money for advanced technologies. However, I think that many companies still underestimate the importance of integrating a perfect omnichannel experience and offering a personalized service. In this aspect, I see inter alia the link to the course where we learned that people still prefer to get in touch with people. This creates value for the end consumer.
As this article also deals with the topic of AI I would situate the article in phase 3 of digital evolution.
Title: The Impact of Digital Marketing and Online Car Sales
Link: https://www.dealermarketing.com/the-impact-of-digital-marketing-and-online-car-sales/
Publication Date: Publication Date: May 12th 2020, Dealer Marketing Magazine
This article is about the importance of online shopping linked to car purchasing and methods how to engage customers for further services and at least how important further data analyzing could be for reaching more customers at all.
Phase of digital evolution: At a first impression I would link the content of the article in phase 2 of digital marketing due to simple content aboout importance of online selling methods, but if a automotive retailer takes a partner for data analyzing and forecasting this could also linked to phase 3 if AI is used.
Link to the course and personal interest on the article: Due to the fact that for further research for the portfolio, it is important to know which digital marketing methods for automotive retail are available and how to implement them, also it is interesting to know in a business and also private context that more than 80 % of car buyers do research online before purchasing a car. The most important method for selling cars online are still online advertisements, as this is still a very traditional way of marketing at all. All in all this article is linked to the course because of the way of transformation from offline to online business with a expensive product.
Title: Why the Automobile Industry Must Use Digital Marketing To Fuel Their Business Prospects
Link: https://www.relevance.com/why-the-automobile-industry-must-use-digital-marketing-to-fuel-their-business-prospects/
Publication Date: Update: May 5th, 2020; Relevance
This article is primarily concerned with showing reasons why digital marketing has become indispensable in the automotive trade and why the automotive sector is lagging behind other industries in terms of digital marketing. The tools are search enginge optimization, mobile marketing social media and content management.
Phase of digital evolution: As the digital evolution of automotive retail itself is really weak in comparison to other industries and the article just show general tools of how digital marketing can be implemented the article may linked to phase 2.
Link to the course and personal interest: Regarding SEO, it is important to know that this is often where the customer journey of the average car buyer starts. Therefore, it is important to be supported on the first pages of the search engine and matching keywords. Also through the everyday use of smartphones will mainly optimize the importance of the mobile implementation of the website / app. Furthermore, information is important for the purchase decision in order to present brand and product details more precisely. An own thought beside SEO, good content etc. is to offer the customer a trustworthy appearance, especially in the used car trade. In general the connection to course is that the digital transformation is not to be imagined without and therefore the marketing strategy of many car dealers has to be changed to survive within the high competitive environment.
Title: The impact of Digital Transformation on the Food Industry
Link: https://www.doxee.com/blog/digital-marketing/the-impact-of-digital-transformation-on-the-food-industry/
Author: Doxee Marketing Team, Publication Date: February 18, 2020
Comment on the article: The article deals with the influence of digital transformation and consequently the impact of digital marketing on the food and beverage industry. Particularly in the area of digital media, food is one of the most popular and most searched-for topics alongside sport and fashion. If you scroll through the latest posts on your Instagram start page, you’ll quickly realize that the majority of the content developed is about food or in connection with other topics (e.g. relaxation, sports, children, …). Food is an important part of our lives. In addition to the supply of vital nutrients, the topic of food also brings a social aspect with family and friends. As a result, this topic is a magnet for achieving reach and possibly conversion rates and is therefore used by the majority of social media influencers as a content focus or addition to their posts.
Link the content to the course: The article and the topic it addresses can be wonderfully combined with the company I have chosen for the assignment. The ice manufacturer Kolibri is meanwhile very well-known and popular in Vorarlberg. However, this reputation has only developed over the last 4 years. Previously, the company was mainly known in Wolfurt, where it has its headquarters. With a good digital marketing strategy and presence, they changed this situation and are now one of the leading ice cream manufacturers in Vorarlberg and beyond Austrian borders (Liechtenstein, Switzerland). We also discussed the speed of the digital transformation, which can be seen very clearly in the case of Kolibri. Digital transparency & permanent presence is essential for the sustainable success of a company.
Why did this article interest me? I was particularly interested in this article because I work in the marketing department of a beverage company. I am also mainly responsible for the support of the social media channels and therefore also for the creation of the weekly posts. The interesting thing about social media work is how customers react to the various posts. Besides raffles, which generate high conversion rates, funny sayings about the product also manage to achieve equally high numbers. Other contributions that were thought to be super generate only a fraction of what you would have hoped for. For this reason, it is always important to be up to date in order to keep up with the latest trends. This is the only way to stay in the minds of customers.
Title: Digital marketing for the food industry: 5 new trends
Link: https://www.doxee.com/blog/digital-marketing/digital-marketing-trends-food-industry/
Author: Doxee Marketing Team, Publication Date: February 10, 2020
Comment on the article: Because food and beverage are the most interesting topics on social media, this article deals with the 5 latest trends regarding this topic in terms of digital marketing. Digitalization has not only completely changed and simplified our lives but also many industries. Examples are ordering via apps or online, delivery services or platforms to share opinions and reviews about restaurants such as TripAdvisor. Basically, it is easy to gain a reputation for food and beverage on social media. As in other areas, it is important to be up to date and follow the latest trends and implement them if necessary. As already mentioned, the article shows a handful of trends for the digital marketing of the food industry.
Link the content to the course: Especially in the field of digital marketing it is easy to create a connection to the course. The main part of the articles online deal with topics we have already covered in class, such as Big Data, SEO, Augmented Reality, Virtual Reality, Influencers and much more. As well as this article. The five trends that are described in more detail and whose statements also agree with those of the course are
1. sustainability & health are the new IT keywords
2. search engine optimization (SEO) is key, since not appearing on Google practically means that you do not exist
3. User Generated Content & Storytelling is crucial for any digitally successful company (important platform: Instagram)
4. more targeted advertising can be made on the basis of collected (big) data about customers. Knowing customers allows you to personalize your advertising and products exactly on their needs, wishes and wants.
5. terms like Virtual/Augmented Reality & Voice Technology are not just concepts of the future, but reality and are increasingly in demand. Therefore, the courage to incorporate these terms into the business model should be taken.
Why did this article interest me? As already mentioned with the first article, the combination of digital media or marketing and the food industry is especially exciting, because I work in this area. The social media feeds on the fast pace of living. This is especially recognizable by the constantly changing or newly emerging trends in every respect. This article was particularly exciting for me because I can take important tips for my profession and will try to implement them. Especially if you are more or less alone responsible for the content creation, new impulses are of great use and help to gain new views.
Title: Older Consumers, Digital Marketing, and Public Policy: A Review and Research Agenda
(published in Journal of Public Policy & Marketing 2019, Vol. 38(4) 469-483)
Link: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0743915619858939
Author: Daniel Nunan and MariaLaura Di Domenico
Phase: 2
This article deals with the effects of the aging population in relation to the increasingly technology-oriented marketing environment. It is interesting that there is a lack of empirical studies on this topic, although the aging population has a major impact on market structures. Thus, when looking at the relationship between ageing and new technologies, the marketing “voice” in terms of customer needs is hardly found in the literature. There is a limited availability of data on age and current usage patterns of digital services.
The article argues for the use of generational cohorts as a research framework, which provides a rich stream of topics that are crucial for understanding the future consumer landscape. The needs of all consumers should be considered. The article also describes that marketing cannot detach itself from the big questions that shape societies. The failure to examine the role of technology-based platforms in the context of an ageing population is to be addressed.
For it is also the case that not only older cohorts are excluded from using the Internet. Internet use is linked to gender, income and educational level. I find this article exciting because it shows that older people per se should not be excluded from marketing because one believes that they are not the users anyway, but that one should think about how to address this cohort in digital marketing. In the lecture we had talked about the generations and came to the conclusion that a narrow limitation or demarcation is not reasonable (Millenials vs. Gen Z) but that they can be summarized in Gen C. One should not forget that older cohorts also have different types of users.
Title: Improvised Marketing Interventions in Social Media
Link: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0022242919899383
Author(s): Abhishek Borah, Sourindra Banerjee, Yu-Ting Lin, Apurv Jain, Andreas B. Eisingerich (published in Journal of Marketing 2020, Vol. 84(2) 69-91)
Phase: 2
This research article is about virality. Online (Social Media) virality has attracted the attention of academics and marketers who want to identify the characteristics of online content that encourage sharing. Here we examine the phenomenon of improvised marketing
(IMIs)-social media actions that are compiled and executed in real time proximally to an external event (including the example of OREO who successfully tweeted after the power outage at the SuperBowl in the USA… “Power out? No problem, You can still dunk in the dark”). The researchers found that IMIs are fostered by humour and timeliness or unpredictability, and that this has implications for virality and goodwill. These results point to the potential of IMIs in social media and to the potential for managers to take action.
This article shows that many managers have succumbed to the misconception that a company’s marketing message is best planned, organised and 100% under the control of the company well in advance. Of course, this approach has many advantages, but these will not be discussed here. Nevertheless, the latter strategy can also lead to a brand being seen as being remote from the zeitgeist and from the target group and failing to capture the trends, feelings and ideas typical of the time. The results of the study are very interesting and are intended to encourage marketing managers to think carefully not what they say, but above all how and when they say it using social media. Internal marketing teams often lack the responsiveness and scope to take the opportunity to present the company through a current event and link the brand message to the event with maximum impact. This means, of course, finding people who are creative and spontaneous, and most importantly, trust is important, because tweets like Oreo’s would not have been tweeted otherwise. The researchers found that many brands have yet to discover the potential of this marketing method.
Titel: Digital Marketing Trends To Watch In 2021
Published: James Blake, Feb 1, 2021
Link: https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesagencycouncil/2021/02/01/digital-marketing-trends-to-watch-in-2021/?sh=1a6afc574483
This article shows that 2020 is likely to be seen as year zero for renewed interest in equality, cultural inclusion and sustainability by future generations. This means that Fairkom is on a good path by committing to overcome social and environmental issues. Another aspect to consider is how staying at home during the lockdown has changed the digital landscape. Live streaming, podcasts and companies that focus on building communities have seen a huge increase in popularity. However the arguably most important consideration of all is that companies have to be transparent in order to connect with their customers as they want to want to feel that they are spending their money with a business that shares their values. Also here Fairkom is already well prepared for this, as transparency is deeply rooted in their core corporate values.
Digital Evolution Phase 2
Titel: It’s Just Marketing: You Can Stop Using the Word “Digital” Now
Published: Mark de Grasse, May 10, 2021
Link: https://www.digitalmarketer.com/blog/its-just-marketing-stop-using-digital/
As the title suggests, this article argues that digital marketing has become the new way of marketing. It also states that it has less to do with marketing channels and more to do with a holistic approach to marketing, business development, experience and transparency. This has the effect that this new world is perceived as more genuine by customers. Fairkom has the great advantage that they are well versed in the digital world and should take advantage of this by leveraging the possibilities of digital marketing. In this way, a digital presence also supports their core business by offering (fair) software.
Digital Evolution Phase 2 / Phase 3
***ARTICLE 1***
“Why Customer Service Will Reach A New Digital Frontier In 2021”
By Inken Kuhlmann-Rhinow, Published at Forbes, 10.03.2021
https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbescommunicationscouncil/2021/03/10/why-customer-service-will-reach-a-new-digital-frontier-in-2021/?sh=3eef9b25ea45
The first article is about three key trends in marketing, sales and service solutions that are expected to evolve in 2021.
#1 A good customer experience strategy is more important than ever
During the lectures, we have already learned that the customer should always be at the centre of attention, even in the digital world. The author of the Forbes article also states: “In the digital era, the customer is king.” Consequently, the customer should be at the centre of the company’s communication strategies in order to be able to guarantee a holistic and excellent customer experience.
#2 Customers are longing for quick problem solving
As we heard in the course, “we tweet back within the hour” is no longer state-of-the-art. What counts is being able to give quick answers to questions. This fast round-the-clock service can be provided by so-called chatbots. According to the Forbes article, these are becoming increasingly important and are also a win-win situation, because companies also benefit from having work taken off their hands.
#3 Service, marketing and sales must pull together
With this third trend, the author is referring to a CRM system, a kind of “single point of customer truth”, where all data and encounters with customers are recorded. This should ensure that everyone, whether in service, marketing or sales, is on the same level, thus enabling an even better customer experience.
***ARTICLE 2***
“The Power Word-Of-Mouth Has in Marketing, And How To Cultivate It”
By Rafael Schwartz, Published at Forbes, 08.09.2020
https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbescommunicationscouncil/2020/09/08/the-power-word-of-mouth-has-in-marketing-and-how-to-cultivate-it/?sh=58df803c3df0
The second article is about the power of the word of mouth in marketing. Especially in the digital world, we are confronted with tons of content every day. Accordingly, positive word-of-mouth is more important than ever, as it generates trust among consumers.
The article is also about six basic principles on how a company can maximise its Word of Mouth potential:
#1 Social Currency (Statements on WOM recommendations have a direct influence on customer’s own image)
#2 Triggers (Recommendations are top of mind)
#3 Emotion (Recommendations are based on own interests)
#4 Public (Customers look for recommendations, so product must be visible to boost WOM)
#5 Practical Value (It is more likely to recommend products that help others)
#6 Stories (It is more likely that good stories will be shared, because people love stories!)
***CONCLUSION FOR THE FAIRKOM CASE***
As the first article shows, it is important that customers have a good user experience. This means that Fairkom must also put the customer at the centre of its communication strategy. Furthermore, the customer expects a quick solution to problems, which can be guaranteed, for example, through the use of chatbots. The article also addresses the use of a CRM system, which should also contribute to an improved customer experience (as long as the company’s privacy principles allow it).
In conclusion, Word of Mouth has become an extremely valuable medium in the digital age, as customers can rely on the authentic experiences of others. This is something Fairkom can also benefit from.
Title: Adapting customer experience in the time of coronavirus
Link: https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/marketing-and-sales/our-insights/adapting-customer-experience-in-the-time-of-coronavirus
Publication date: 2. April 2020 by Rachel Diebner, Elizabeth Silliman, Kelly Ungerman and Maxence Vancauwenberghe; McKinsey & Company
Situate the phase of this article in the digital evolution: Phase 2
Comment on the article:
Companies need to be truly adaptable, respond quickly to trends, and keep an eye on their customers and their rapidly changing needs. Environmental conditions can change fast, and so the shift towards the need for digitized processes is a given – now and in the future. One should not lose too much time to still be able to interact with the customer, with speed being a crucial factor. In addition, it’s important to address the issues customers face in this COVID19 pandemic: they are isolated and need digital options that work from home without real face-to-face interaction. Companies that jump on the bandwagon and offer efficient solutions for customers clearly win and build a strong sustainable advantage. Even after the pandemic, buying behavior will change and online presence will become more important in daily life.
Link the content to the course:
This article describes how certain external influences can affect familiar processes. With regard to the COVID 19 pandemic, it looks at how the customer journey and the customer experience are changing and how they can be maintained through digitization, among other things. Digital models had to appear to do business according to strict regulations of not having to meet in store. Marketing had to focus more on customer needs and concerns, and commerce shifted to digital operations. Everyone had to adapt, whether they were digital natives or digitally resistant. In regard to the course’s case study, fairkom made it possible to interact without being physically present. Their solution makes it possible to still take care of customers without meeting them in person, in a simple, understandable, and data-secure way. Moreover, fairkom is also based on online interaction with their customers, so they do not face huge issues due to COVID in that case.
Why did this article interest me?
Over the last 1.5 years, COVID19 has basically taken over and disrupted most of the processes we were used to in our daily business. We were used to shopping in the store, we were used to having constant access to all kinds of goods. But as the virus spread out, more and more goods became unavailable or extended the delivery time immensely. Companies then started realizing and adapting to the circumstances. People started to value other things, due to the isolation. I am curious on how companies really tackled this issue, how they implemented digital strategies in such a short time to be able to fulfil customers’ needs and wants.
Virtual and augmented reality: Advancing research in consumer marketing
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0167811620300380?via%3Dihub
Publication date: 16. June 2020 by Michel Wedel, Enrique Bigné and Jie Zhang; International Journal of Research in Marketing 37 (2020)
Situate the phase of this article in the digital evolution: Phase 3
Comment on the article:
This article deals with the possibilities in marketing regarding virtual and augmented reality. VR and AR make it possible to enable people to perceive objects and have a significant impact on the customer experience. They provide an overview of how VR is used in the various steps of the customer journey, how and what data is collected. As an example, the technology can be used to guide customers through their journey, from awareness to decision making to testing and assessing. Most often, it is used for promotional and sales purposes, as IKEA has done with the ability to place furniture directly in a room by downloading a smartphone app. Interactivity, information provision and trackable interactions are a key benefit of implementing VR or AR. When customers shop, VR steps in to provide a personalized shopping trip optimized to the customer’s needs, increasing efficiency. In addition, virtual product demonstrations and store tours are possible – making it easier to truly match products to purpose (e.g., placing furniture in the room) through the use of technology alone.
Link the content to the course: Marketing efforts evolve, transform and modernize. In the course, we also looked at how marketing efforts have changed over time and have become more interactive through the use of smart technology. Also, the digital marketing funnel shows that user experience is becoming more important in terms of digital processes, as the information level in the content delivered matters and availability is no longer as limited. In this area, VR and AR actually deliver the experience needed to bring customers virtually into contact with products along the customer journey and also provide convenience, for example, by allowing them to try out furniture in a virtual but real room. Fairkom could use AI to have a more automated process in terms of customer service, especially when requests become repetitive. As our solution is based on AI, so that they implement an intelligent real time assistant (chatbot) there is a clear connection that this helps to improve fairkom’s customer experience.
Why did this article interest you?
We have already discussed the influence of VR on business processes in another course. I find it fascinating how real an experience can be portrayed and how the technology manages to influence marketing processes and so have such a huge impact on the customer experience. The article provides a good overview of how those technologies that are applied along the customer journey to improve and make the customer experience more attractive. Also, I was already curious about where VR can take place along the buying process, for example, at Mr. Spex you can also try on sunglasses, which is much more convenient than going to a store just for that. This article clearly shows what is already possible and what is needed to be up to date with your customer marketing efforts.
Title of the article: 2020 Trends In Digital Marketing
Hyperlink: https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesagencycouncil/2020/02/03/2020-trends-in-digital-marketing/?sh=14e4cc5f2f03
Author: Jason Hall in Forbes Magazine
Publication date: Feb 3, 2020
Situate the phase of this article in the digital evolution: phase 3 (Sematic Web – AR/AI/VR)
Link the content to the course:
In class, we talked about the current trends in digital marketing. In addition, the further development of marketing over the years and the changes in the core elements were also discussed. Furthermore, we take a look at the existing technologies (AR/VR/AI) and the opportunities and advantages they offer. Moreover, it was also clarified how the technology determines our everyday life, respectively which role they have already taken and will still take in the future. The course also clearly showed the evolution of the various technologies and how they have developed over the years. Furthermore, the importance of data was pointed out.
Why did this article interested you?
It was also very exciting for me to learn how much money flows into marketing worldwide, which clearly shows how much power and what an essential role marketing has acquired over the years. The article also dealt with the digital trends in digital marketing as the associated consequences, such as data protection. It was interesting that interactive content, which includes technologies such as AR, VR and AI, can be controlled and customized by the user. Particularly interesting for me was that AI can be applied to analyze user behavior and this knowledge is used to subsequently adapt the video content to the users.
Connection to the case
Our case takes a closer look at the company Fairkom, which offers sustainable software that is open source. The company also attaches great importance to data protection and the environment. The article also highlights the importance of consumer data protection, which is also the link to Fairkom. After all, with the new trends in digital marketing, consumer data protection is taking on an increasingly important role, because more and more data is collected about the users. According to the article, there should be clear communication to customers about what happens to the data and what rights they are entitled to. Furthermore, the use of a so-called privacy disclaimer can build a trustworthy relationship between the company and the customer. If Fairkom implements such a clear communication strategy, the company can stand out from the competition and has also created a marketing advantage. Another tip in the article, which can be applied to Fairkom, represents the creation of interactive content on the website so that customers can interact with the brand and build a connection right away. In our project, the Green Party from Vorarlberg represents the persona. This party attaches importance to a sustainable and fair image. Furthermore, data protection as well as the security of data within Austria is a top priority, as this is very confidential data.
Title of the article: 3 Digital Marketing Trends You Can’t Ignore In 2020
Hyperlink: https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesagencycouncil/2020/02/11/3-digital-marketing-trends-you-cant-ignore-in-2020/?sh=65a66fd27f55
Author: Oganes Vagramovich Barsegyan in Forbes Magazine
Publication date: Feb 11, 2020
Situate the phase of this article in the digital evolution: phase 3 (Sematic Web – AR/AI/VR)
Link the content to the course:
In the course, we focused on the current technological trends and the associated changes that will affect marketing in the future. In addition, we also dealt with the consumers, for whom the technologies have already become a fixed part of everyday life. The article once again highlights the importance of voice assistants, which can provide consumers with an immediate answer to a question. Furthermore, in the course we found out, that customers are looking for experiences, are already familiar with technology (gen C) and are used to get the information quickly through the smartphone or the Internet. Using these technologies not only puts the consumer at the center, but also gives them a certain customer experience when they interact with the voice assistant. Through the possibilities mentioned in the article where the voice request can be used for the optimization of the website, the customer receives the desired information in the shortest possible time. According to the article, this can also fulfill the urgency that consumers demand in terms of technology, because the information is delivered to the customer in the shortest possible time.
Why did this article interested you?
It was exciting for me to learn about the possibilities offered by the use of voice assistants and what adaptations these entail. Because according to experts, half of all search queries will be made via voice searches in 2020. As a result, key words will change, because customers will now start question-based searches instead of strung together terms, and as a result, the website should also be adapted in the direction of voice queries. Furthermore, I was interested in how far the provision of videos instead of texts affects users behavior. The results of a survey clearly show that half of the users would like to see more content in the form of videos, which gives companies the opportunity to interact with customers. If customers are offered such an experience, they are the focus of attention and automatically stay longer on the website.
Connection to the case
In our project, the IT company Fairkom was analyzed in more detail, which offers customer-specific and sustainable IT solutions. The article illustrates that the company can benefit from new technologies such as voice assistants or the integration of video content. The findings make it clear that the Fairkom website should also be reviewed with regards to voice queries. In addition, adjustments should be made if necessary, so that Fairkom appears among the top search results. Furthermore, the article makes clear that the existing website can be improved by integrating product memos and instruction videos. Through this customization and the use of simple and understandable language, a customer experience is provided on the website. Fairkom thus achieves a more customer-oriented website design and can also benefit from users spending more time on the website.
Article #1
Title of the article: Information wants to be free*
Hyperlink: https://seths.blog/2020/02/information-wants-to-be-free/
Author: Seth Godin
Publication date: Feb 9th, 2020
Situate the phase of this article in the digital evolution: phase 3 (Sematic Web – AR/AI/VR)
Link the content to the course:
In the course we talked about the network effect in the context of social media. The network effect transports information fast through the social media channels. Sometimes even faster than the public media and for free. Seth Godin in his blog article talks about how, depending on the value and type of content, you may want to use the network effect to spread the information to everyone for free. This is especially the case when the information is meant to attract attention, such as advertisements or songs on the radio. On the other hand there is information which creates a specific value such as knowledge, scarcity, or solving a problem. This kind of information has a higher purpose and is more valuable if it costs something. In the context of social media, this could be, for example, a special group of like minded people in a channel where I have to pay for membership to be invited and receive the information.
Why did this article interested you?
For me, this article is interesting as it looks from two sides on the topic of spreading information. Until I read the article, I was not so aware that there are two sides to the issue and when to use what. I found it particular interesting that information can lose its value when it is free. Especially in today´s social media world there are many things being spread that are not of value. These days, anyone can spread information, whether that information is true or not. Additionally, it is getting more and more difficult to separate the truth from the lies. Thus, groups with specific and valuable content that tells the truth for a specific topic can be of particular interest to people who are fed up with the worthless and/or fake flood of information.
Connection to the case:
For Fairkom, this approach to information that should be disseminated and information that should be scarce is also of value. The company should create two different types of information. The first type can be simple content about the software, how to use it and about the vision and mission of the company. This type of information is free, should be distributed through the various social media channels and link to the company’s blog. The second type of information should be free on the surface, but to get access to the full content you should be a member (someone who has purchased the software). So this type of information should be of value. Such as tips and tricks, a guide on how to best use the software and a closed forum for members to share and ask questions. This would then create curiosity for those who are not members and a special group feeling for those who are.
Article 1
Title: Content Is Dead and We Killed It
From: https://www.cmswire.com/digital-marketing/content-is-dead-and-we-killed-it/
Author: Christine Crandell
Published by: CMS WiRE
Date: January 6, 2020
The article definitely catches your eyes with its title. I immediately wanted to find out what the author meant. In fact, the article does not say, that the content is not present any more or that it is not required. Quite opposite it says it is highly important to have the valuable and inspiring content to attract and retain the customer. However, the problem is that the content is often of low quality or irrelevant. The author claims the content “burned out”. Three reasons of this burnout are defined: inside-out strategy, involvement of too many channels and content-centric lead generation. The author than describes the ways how to repair the content so it again becomes the powerful customer enabler.
The article as well as our course points out the importance of the very thought-out content strategy. The Persona level content strategy should define how each channel and its content satisfies the need of the customer and how the success will be measured. Also, it is important to use AI in the creation of content, for example it can help propose the right format of the content, for example the use of the statistics charts instead of plain text. Once the content strategy is developed or aligned, it needs to be constantly updated following ever-evolving customer needs. Machine learning platforms and AI need to be used to help organise the content and to automatically create new content suitable for specific customers and journey steps. The fact that the author refers so much to the AI indicates that the article can be situated in the transition to the 3rd phase of the digital evolution.
The article appears to be quite relevant to the Fairkom case. The Fairkom content strategy probably does exist but it is not thought through: the content on the Internet site is not clear and not quite suited to the targeted personas, the power of channels is not utilised in full, the appropriateness of the content format needs to be validated with the help of AI, so it is satisfying for the customers. All this is important not only for Fairkom but for any company that wants to succeed. Those will win the customer preference who can quickly adapt its content and choose it from the set of information elements that the customers identified as important at the particular moment of time. And also, those who use the journey maps to put together the information elements which help customers achieve their micro-moment targets.
Article 2
Title: How To Turn Your Business Goals Into A Strong Social Media Strategy
From: https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesagencycouncil/2020/01/03/how-to-turn-your-business-goals-into-a-strong-social-media-strategy/?sh=fd8b6f847bb6
Author: Elissa Liu, Forbes Councils Member
Published by: Forbes Agency Council
Date: January 3, 2020
The author of the article speaks about the importance of having not just a business strategy but also a social media strategy. Surprisingly, many companies perform various social media activity without a strategy, hoping and thinking that the content they put in the social media will be liked by their customers. In the end, the efforts and budgets are invested while the results are questionable. The article attracted me as I do think that the strategy in general is the corner stone of every success. That is why I wanted to read about the social media strategy in more details. We did not discuss the strategy per se during the course, however it was implied that having a thought through strategy is a prerequisite for success for every company. The article can be situated in the second phase of the digital evolution as it describes the basic element of the social media, not mentioning for example the use of AI.
The article gives some examples and hints. In order to create the good social media strategy a company needs to start with the overall business strategy and translate the goals into social media goals. Some of the goals will be easily translated, like for example the goal to grow sales or revenues can mean in the social media strategy increasing repeat sales and the lifetime value of existing customers with the further drill down to more specific goals. However, some goals are not that easy to translate, or they may not have a connection to the social media program. Despite that a closer look needs to be taken into those goals. Probably social media can help achieve those goals as well. For example, the launch of the sustainability program can be supported by a social media campaign specially developed for this. Obviously after the social media strategy is developed a set of KPIs and specific targets needs to be established to be able to track the success of the chosen strategy.
The concept discussed in the article is relevant to the Fairkom case. Both the business strategy and the social media strategy need to be more clearly worded by Fairkom. In case the social media strategy does not exist, it needs to be developed. As Fairkom promotes the fair and sustainable conferencing services, the social media can help to support this idea with a specially designed campaign, as suggested by the article.
Title of Article:
Consumers to brands: Be informative and funny on social to woo us – oh, and respond to our every whim
Hyperlink:
https://marketingtechnews.net/news/2020/feb/06/consumers-brands-be-informative-and-funny-social-woo-us-oh-and-respond-our-every-whim/
Resource & Publication date:
Published on MarketingTech / marketingtechnews.com on 6th February 2020, written by James Bourne
Digital evolution phase:
Phase 2 – Social Web
Link the content to the course:
As the course has dealt a lot with social media strategies and influencers, the content of the article matches with what has been said about social media best practices. The article contains study results from the study “How Brands’ Social Media Impacts Consumers” from 554 respondents and gives insights about what influences purchase intentions of social media users. The study showed that consumers are more likely to buy from companies with which they’ve been already socially connected and the majority considers social channels of companies while researching for a product. Relevance of brand’s social media content and social presence also with regard to customer service are important points to consider as well. Hence, social media can be used by companies to create awareness and attract new customers by relevant and interesting content and increase customer loyalty by staying connected and thus being always accessible for customers.
Why did this article interest you:
Since the article contains actual survey results from a relatively big sample, I found it interesting to get my assumptions confirmed that a lot of people actually consider social media profiles of companies when they intend to buy a product. As the survey results also mainly match my own experiences and opinions, it was interesting to read that still a lot of brands have not adjusted their social media presence and use their social channels rather as a one-way street than and interactive tool for themselves and their customers.
Title of Article:
Joining the dots: How to keep your brand consistent—online and offline
Hyperlink:
https://marketingtechnews.net/news/2020/may/14/joining-the-dots-how-to-keep-your-brand-consistent-online-and-offline/
Resource & Publication date:
Published on MarketingTech / marketingtechnews.com on 14th May 2020, written by Daniel Andrews
Digital evolution phase:
Phase 2 – 3 – Social web up to usage of AI to get insights into customer demographics
Link the content to the course:
Due to the global Covid-19 pandemic, consumer preferences have been shifting for more than one year and thus, force businesses to rethink their operating as well as brand and marketing strategies in order to cope with the current challenges. To tackle the crisis and in order to not lose a lot of revenue and customers, businesses have to enforce brand consistency more than ever and think future-oriented, consequently meaning to focus on their online brand presence and business and on how to link and manage their online and offline brand consistency. To foster this, intelligent technology tools help to understand social target demographics and customers needs. Afterwards, companies can streamline their offering as well as offline and online customer service approaches by relying on intelligent technology which provides valuable customer insights. As the crisis visualizes the importance of a proper online presence even more, businesses and brands can take advantages out of the crisis dynamics and re-shape their brand in a consistent way to adapt to the changing society’s needs. Also, the course content made clear that investing into augmented intelligence and tools to get proper customer insights can help companies and brands to grow their customer base and thus revenue. Especially the Fairkom case could be used as a real-life example to form brand consistency by building up a proper digital marketing strategy.
Why did this article interest you:
This article was of interest to me since I often noticed real-life examples of inconsistent brand presentations, especially when it comes to own homepages of websites. In addition to that, the article talks about how important it is for companies to realize that they can actually gain something from the global crisis if they used the chance to adjust their brand consistency as it is the perfect time since globally not even economic and social circumstances are changing but also attitudes of people have been changing quickly throughout the past year.
Article #2
Title of the article: Gary Vaynerchuk: Now, more than ever, is the time for businesses to think about innovation
Hyperlink: https://www.cnbc.com/2020/03/31/gary-vaynerchuk-now-is-the-time-for-businesses-to-think-about-innovation.html
Author: CNBC
Publication date: Mar 31st, 2020
Situate the phase of this article in the digital evolution: phase 3 (Sematic Web – AR/AI/VR)
Link the content to the course:
In the article, Gary Vaynerchuk, a successful serial entrepreneur deep in digital marketing, talks about two elements we discussed in our class. First, he talks about how now is the time to start innovating, especially on the marketing side. During the pandemic, many people turned to social media and streaming subscriptions, where no ads are displayed. Therefore, Gary recommends that companies start doing social media marketing to stay visible in the marketplace and attract attention.The second thing Gary talks about, which we also talked about in class, was storytelling. He believes that storytelling is an important concept, and even more so during the pandemic. He suggests that companies should tell people entertaining stories within the company that they wouldn’t normally hear about. This then creates a deeper relationship between the brand and them. Especially since there is no direct contact during a shutdown.
Why did this article interested you?
Gary V. talks a lot about being open and looking for opportunities with digital tools and the power of social media. In my opinion, there is a lot of value in being positive and looking for opportunities, even in bad situations. Burying your head in the sand and complaining is the wrong way to go for me. His how-to examples were especially interesting as they were really actionable and help understand what can be done to innovate awareness in marketing.
Connection to the case:
In my opinion, this is also the right way for Fairkom. The company should launch its social media presence as soon as possible to attract more attention. Since Fairkom is very strong on sustainability and transparency, I would suggest that they should focus on these segments and topics in the social media channels. To build a deeper relationship, I would also suggest that in addition to posting valuable content about their product, sustainability, and transparency, they also post funny stories about their work, problems they’ve had, and other entertaining insights about the company.
Article 1:
Title: How to Use Online AI – Artificial Intelligence for eCommerce
Link: https://www.optimonk.com/5-ways-artificial-intelligence-is-taking-e-commerce-to-the-next-level/
Published: Feb 4th, 2021 on OptiMonk
Author: David Kosmayer
Phase 3
This article lists a few ways that most companies can/should implement AI into their businesses. As we discussed in our fairkom case, chatbots are listed here and will soon be essential. AI will allow businesses to customize their offer, layout, and marketing strategies to fit the needs of the exact person who is looking at them at that specific time. In a world where personalization is highly valued and privacy equally so, utilizing AI to create unique experiences for customers is a great tool. It is highly likely that all of us will interact with AI on a daily basis whether on our own smartphones or when we digitally interact with a company. I think the two easiest AI technologies to implement will be the chatbot and customer relations. These tools are already provided for free by Facebook and there are other options for installing such tools on your website.
Article 2:
Title: The Ultimate Guide to B2B Digital Marketing
Link: https://www.ronsela.com/b2b-digital-marketing/
Published: May 7th, 2021 on Ron Sela
Author: Ron Sela
Phase 2
This article is a very comprehensive coverage of B2B digital marketing, as the title would suggest. It is a great foundation for new businesses getting started or existing businesses that have not yet taken the full plunge into digital marketing. He does a good job of showing how marketing used to be and how traditional marketing plays a role in today’s digital world. fairkom could benefit from reading up on this article and diving deeper into the area they find to be the most realistic starting points for their B2B efforts in selling services to offices, schools, etc…
I like this article because it really showed the wide variety of inputs that digital marketing can have. Working in a B2C marketing environment it was very educational to read an article from a professional in the B2B sector regarding the same topics I manage every day.
Article 1:
Title: Most Effective Digital Marketing Tactics to Increase Brand Awareness in 2021
Link: https://hvtimes.com/most-effective-digital-marketing-tactics-to-increase-brand-awareness-in-2021/
Published: June 3th, 2021
Author: kashif
Phase 2
During the class, we talked about how brand awareness is the first phase of any successful digital marketing conversion funnel. In this article, the author has highlighted some of the most effective digital marketing tactics to increase brand awareness in 2021. The hallmark of any good digital marketing strategy is that it takes into account all the latest marketing trends and implements them together. The author is confident that increasing brand awareness is associated with understanding what your target audience is looking for. In the case of Faircom, they implement only little part of listed activities to increase brand awareness.
Such articles are always interesting to me, because knowing what is happening now and in the future is a key element in creating a marketing strategy. It is necessary to understand the importance of new trends, as well as the importance of their timely implementation.
Article 2:
Title: 5 Ways Your Business Can Build Trust on Social Media
Link: https://www.mainstreetnation.com/2021/05/5-ways-your-business-can-build-trust-on-social-media/
Published: May 25th, 2021
Author: Andrew
Phase 2
Nowadays, it can be challenging for a business to gain the trust of customers. According to the article, 39% of people are unlikely to build an emotional relationship with a brand if they don’t engage with it on social media. Fortunately, social media makes it easy to reach audiences in meaningful ways at any scale. The author notes the importance of storytelling, and also emphasizes the transparency of the company’s work. Before it can increase customer engagement and loyalty, a company needs their trust. Faircom also adheres to this strategy and tries to gain customer trust in a variety of ways, for example using the prefix “fair”. However, the company can explain in more detail what they do, post behind-the-scenes shots of the office, or tell employee stories. All these activities allow Faircom to remind users that the company is made up of people who face similar problems and experiences on a daily basis as everyone else.
Title: Customer Journey Mapping And Its Essential Place For Today’s Modern Marketer
Link: https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesagencycouncil/2021/02/02/customer-journey-mapping-and-its-essential-place-for-todays-modern-marketer/?sh=5e82161b4a4e
Published: February 2nd, 2021
Author: Simms Jenkins
The article emphasized how important is the customer journey in modern marketing. The marketers focus on delivering the best customer experience, so they compete not just within their industry, but across industries. According to the article, the communication is no longer enough to attract and retain customers and build brand loyalty, and many companies are using customer journey mapping to identify opportunities and deliver better customer experiences on a large scale. Customer journey describes the steps and various touchpoints at which customers interact with a brand, be it for a service, a product or an experience. In addition, this article includes interesting survey findings regarding the increasingly complex barriers to success of the customer journeys.