DIGITAL DISRUPTION IN MARKETING
How continuous evolution is reshaping the relationship between industries and brands
The term ‘Digital’ is defined as a technology enabled combination of resources which ranges from tools, instruments, bots, teams, networks, protocols, processes and methodologies) which enables and helps with the availability of content/data for the customer to make the different processes more productive.
Digital tools and platforms combined with data analytics are equipping brands to be more direct while engaging with customers, improving the experience of review and purchase and gaining valuable data at every point during the customer purchase journey. The emergence of data analytics has led to major disruptions to the business model of various organizations.
Some of the major factors involved in this change are-
1. Customer centric approach- Traditional techniques are being dismantled to make the business model more focused on customer needs.
2. Co-Opetition- Unlike old times, suppliers and retailers are not competing with each other directly, rather they are collaborating and working together to gain profit from better customer service.
3. Continuous Learning- Marketing automation and cognitive modelling has enabled tracing the response and feedback from experiences that helps in better shopping experience for customers, hence enhancing loyalty.
Digital platforms have created new opportunities for brands to establish themselves in the market by leveraging the technology to its best. The comparative difference between traditional marketing methods and digital marketing methods are illustrated below-
“Either Disrupt or Stay Disrupted” — is the new digital mantra for marketers. Moving out of traditional business models, organizations are adopting hyper-disruptive business models like-
1. Subscription Model- (Netflix, Amazon Prime, Apple Music)
Customers are tied with a product or service which is purchased in an ad-hoc manner and a subscription fee is charged for continued access.
2. Freemium Model- (LinkedIn, Hotstar, YouTube)
In this kind of business model, customers are provided with both, free and premium offerings. Based on customer interest and need, a customer can access the premium contents by upgrading to full offer.
3. Marketplace Model- (Uber, Ola, AirBnB)
A digital marketplace model is offered to both buyer and seller directly, where a transaction fee is incurred if the negotiation is reached.
4. Ecosystem Model- (Google, Apple, Mi)
The seller intends to create an ecosystem for the customer by introducing interdependent and interlocking range of products which meet the demand of the customers.
5. Hypermarket Model- (Amazon, Reliance, Walmart)
By selling at a price below most of the competitors and using sheer marketing power backed with huge capital investment, the seller bombs the marketplace by crushing the competition
Apart from the new age business models, few trends will reshape digital marketing and will develop a new Brand-Customer equation. Some of the most influencing trends are-
1. Voice as the primary tool for social media
2. Rise of visual search over traditional texts
3. Emergence of Augmented chats
4. AI powered Web Accessibility Solution
This is a challenging new world for brands and retailers to create a mutual understanding and those who understand the value of data and have the willingness to participate in co-opetition will see remarkable results. Retailers that share these insights with brands will realize better sales from those brands and thus can create more highly satisfying and beneficial shopping experiences.
On the other hand, brands that bring these platforms to retailers will hit a gamut of interesting insights that will change how they market their products/services and in return, retailers can earn more customers by providing the customers exactly what they need.
This creates a new set of value as increased adoption of digital methods and sharing of customer insights justify major investment into retails.
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Sources:
https://customerthink.com/how-digital-marketing-can-build-disruptive-business/
