ImaginativePRO Blog

WHAT IS THE METAVERSE - THE SEVEN LAYERS OF THE METAVERSE AND HOW TO BUILD THE METAVERSE

The term ‘metaverse’ is a portmanteau that combines the worlds ‘meta’ and ‘universe.’ It is used primarily to refer to an anticipated future iteration of the internet that’s often hailed as Web 3.0. This evolution of the internet is expected to see the rise of online 3-D or virtually integrated environments that provide users access to virtual reality and augmented reality experiences.

What Is The Metaverse?

The metaverse refers to both current and future integrated digital platforms focused on virtual and augmented reality. It is widely hyped as the internet’s next frontier and seen as a significant business and financial opportunity for the tech industry and other sectors.

In the vision for the metaverse articulated by social media and technology companies, devices like virtual reality headsets, digital glasses, smartphones, and other devices will allow users access to 3-D virtual or augmented reality environments where they can work, connect with friends, conduct business, visit remote locations, and access educational opportunities, all in an environment mediated by technology in new and immersive ways.

The metaverse is not just one type of experience. Instead, it refers to a continuum of immersive digital experiences that will be available to users in the future and which will allow them to engage in a range of different activities in completely digital spaces. That could mean participating in a massive virtual reality multiplayer game accessed through a VR headset or experiencing integrated digital and physical spaces such as location-specific immersive digital content from business users who are visiting via digital glasses or smartphones.

The metaverse therefore isn’t one digital space but a number of digital spaces and experiences currently being created by companies to offer more realistic and immersive digital experiences. The technology has a range of potential functionalities from augmented reality collaboration platforms that can enable better collaboration and integration to work productivity platforms for remote teams that might, for example, allow real estate agents to host virtual home tours.

Currently, some aspects of the metaverse are integrated into existing internet-enabled video games such as Second Life, Minecraft, and Fortnite. These games offer immersive social and virtual experiences that have a persistent virtual world in which players from around the world can engage simultaneously. While not synonymous with virtual reality, the metaverse will offer more of this type of virtual reality experience.

Many social media and tech companies such as Meta Platforms (formerly Facebook) and Microsoft are investing heavily in Social VR with the goal of creating platforms where people can connect socially or work remotely via platforms like Microsoft Teams.

 

Building the Metaverse from Jon Radoff

Metaverse Terms To Know

1. Virtual World

A virtual world is a simulated environment that can be accessed by many users who can explore the world simultaneously and independently through the use of an avatar. The virtual world presents perceptual data to the user while also including the real time actions and communications of other users along with their movements and gravity.

Massive multiplayer online games use virtual worlds to allow players to do things like build and change the world and travel between spaces within the world. Those behind the metaverse believe virtual worlds can have applications outside gaming including in things like collaboration software and medical care. Virtual worlds are also sometimes called synthetic worlds.

2. Virtual Reality

Virtual reality is a simulated experience that’s usually provided by a virtual reality headset that projects realistic images, sounds and other sensations to a user within a virtual environment. Virtual reality is currently used for video games but could be used for virtual meetings, medical training, or military training. A person who is using virtual reality equipment is able to do things like look around a virtual world, move, and interact with objects and other users.

3. Mixed Reality

Mixed reality is the integration of real and virtual worlds to create new ways to interact with physical and digital spaces and other users. In mixed reality, you are not solely in the virtual world or entirely in the real world but somewhere along the 'virtuality continuum' between the real and virtual environments.

Examples of mixed reality are place-specific simulations such as 3D representations of charts or concepts projected to virtual reality headsets or glasses in a university lecture or the use of augmented reality in Pokemon Go where users could see the Pokemon they found in the real world via their mobile device’s camera. Mixed reality has applications for video games, education, military training, healthcare, and the integration of humans and robotics.

4. Augmented Reality

Augmented reality is similar to mixed reality in that it creates an interactive way to experience real world environments. Augmented reality often enhances the real world through digital sensory additions such as visuals, sounds, sensory data, or olfactory data. Augmented reality features an integration of real and virtual worlds, real-time interaction, and 3D visualizations of both virtual and real objects. An example of how it might be used is to allow shoppers to visualize a product they are considering in an environment that resembles their home.

5. Virtual Economies

The term 'virtual economy' was first used to refer to the exchange or sale of virtual goods within online games, particularly massive multiplayer online games. In some of these games, players can buy things from each other and exchange real money for game-based money. However, virtual economies can also now incorporate crypto currencies and non-fungible tokens. Many believe that social media companies and other corporations might create their own virtual currencies in the future, although regulators might put limitations on their capacity to do so.

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How Is The Metaverse Used Today?

In Fall 2021, Facebook announced that it was changing its name to Meta Platforms (FB) and investing heavily in creating metaverse experiences. In doing so, it will be leveraging its existing ownership of Oculus, a virtual reality equipment company.

Meta Platforms believes that immersive virtual reality experiences are the future way people will interact on social media. However, much of Meta’s vision is speculative and would rely on technologies and server capacity that doesn’t currently exist. It also assumes the wide-spread adoption of hardware such as VR headsets and digital glasses.

Microsoft (MSFT), meanwhile, is focused on adapting technologies it currently has for the metaverse. They have a service called Mesh, a mixed reality platform, that allows users to access augmented reality environments via their smartphone or laptop without having to buy a virtual reality headset. Microsoft also plans to integrate Microsoft Teams into the metaverse, creating a more immersive experience for remote workers and virtual meetings.

Companies like Roblox (RBLX) are creating integrative virtual experiences for gamers. Roblox is an online platform, currently focused on youngsters, where users go to play digital games. The company is hoping to expand to adult gaming.

Other companies working on metaverse projects are Nvidia Corp (NVDA) which is building an Omniverse platform that can connect 3D virtual words in a shared universe and which is currently used for creating simulations of buildings and factories. Nike (NKE) is also making a metaverse play by filing for digital trademarks of its main logos for the creation of virtual Nike sneakers and gear, and creating Nikeland on the Roblox platform, where players can play sports games.

The metaverse is expected to transform the tech sector, where many companies will be creating the architectures, hardware, and software that will power the metaverse version of Web 3.0. But it will also affect companies outside the technology sphere since the metaverse is proposing to shift things as simple as how people shop for groceries, navigate through a city, tour an apartment, and interact with businesses and ads as a consumer.

While it remains to be seen whether the visions for the metaverse will come to pass or if the health, privacy, and regulatory concerns its already generating will limit the scope of its roll-out, it has the potential to disrupt multiple industries and sectors by requiring that they spend more money on technology or compete with others to provide metaverse experiences to their consumers.

Metaverse Examples

There are a number of companies who currently have metaverse products or services available to consumers or who have announced they are creating them. Here are some examples:

Second Life

Founded in 2003, Second Life, the once popular online massive multiplayer game, allowed players to live another life within a virtual world. The concept was an early metaverse experience created by the San Francisco firm Linden Lab, and was one of the first popular examples of the virtual economy as users bought tokens to buy things in the game.

Snap

Snapchat (SNAP) has been creating augmented reality filters since the app first launched. Their photo filters allow users to manipulate the world via their phone camera. In 2021, they launched augmented reality glasses which can be used to augment users' experience of reality outside their app.

Click To View Snapchat Augmented Reality Glasses

Epic Games

Epic Games is the creator of the popular digital game Fortnight. While the company started with video games, they have now moved to creating virtual social experiences like music concerts or dance parties. These allow users to have an immersive virtual experience.

Medical Learning

Medical learning companies are deploying virtual reality and augmented reality to disrupt medical learning, allowing for the simulation of patient and surgical interactions and allowing students to practice new techniques.

How Does Metaverse Intersect With Investing?

The metaverse offers an opportunity for many companies to disrupt industries by offering more effective or efficient ways to do things like train students or workers, provide services, advertise, and connect with friends or colleagues. Companies that find a way to deploy virtual and augmented reality effectively will likely perform well and deliver gains to their investors. However, not all metaverse visions will be successful or technically possible, and some could face hurdles from the lack of user interest, privacy regulations, security concerns, cost inefficiencies, or the physical and mental health implications of the technology.

Many startups and established companies are making metaverse plays that could offer good investment opportunities, but they are risky investments as the market is likely to overprice metaverse technology that hasn’t yet proven to be possible or to have an audience. That could lead to investment losses when those companies fail to meet their sales and growth projections. Currently, investing in the metaverse contains significant risk and requires investors to make investment choices without enough data to predict how metaverse projects will be received by customers and businesses. Investors should be wary of overinvesting in the sector and choose any metaverse investment positions carefully.

For those interested in investing in the metaverse, companies like Meta Platforms (FB), Microsoft (MSFT), Roblox (RBLX), Nike (NKE), and Nvidia (NVDA) are all investment opportunities that have or are developing metaverse-related products and services. This is not an exhaustive list.

Cryptocurrency’s connection to the metaverse remains unclear outside virtual economies in gaming -- and gaming companies generally create their own tokens and currencies. There are no current crypto players poised to gain metaverse market share or who have a clear vision for how to take advantage of the shift to Web 3.0. In addition, regulatory changes for the cryptocurrency sector are still in the process of rolling out and could impact the size of the metaverse cryptocurrency opportunity significantly.

Bottom Line

While there is a lot of excitement behind the metaverse, much of that excitement seems to be from the hype put out by tech and social media companies themselves. Whether any company’s vision for the metaverse will be technologically possible or gain market share remains to be seen. Investors interested in the metaverse as an investment opportunity will need to be cautious and patient.

COMMENTARY:   The technologies needed to fully operationalize the vision for the metaverse have yet to be created and the willingness of companies and individuals to adopt metaverse technologies remains to be seen.  Many critics are skeptical that there is a demand for an expansion of the internet into VR, a technology that has mostly failed to live up to its hype and revenue expectations thus far, and other critics are concerned about the privacy and health implications of the metaverse vision.

Cryptocurrencies are expected to take advantage of the metaverse with Grayscale CEO, Michael Sonnenshein, saying that the metaverse presents a potential $1 trillion in annual revenue opportunity for the crypto world, first through virtual economies in the digital gaming world and then as the currency that could fuel other metaverse experiences.

Key takeaway: While broad implementation of the metaverse may still be months or years away, expectations surrounding its potential are already causing numerous companies to gear up, either by creating the hardware and software infrastructure to facilitate it, or by adapting their products and services to run on it.

Courtesy of an article dated April 22, 2022 appearing in Seeking Alpha and an article dated April 13, 2021 appearing in Medium.com

CRACKING THE CODE ON MILLENNIAL CONSUMERS AND WHAT THIS MEANS FOR BUSINESSES

Companies that win millennials’ business stand to enjoy robust economic growth for years to come. In 2015, millennials surpassed baby boomers as the largest living generation in the United States. Now more than 75 million strong, this cohort, born between 1981 and 1997, is expected to peak at 81 million in 2036. Millennials already spend $1 trillion, and that spending power will increase as their income reaches $8.3 trillion by 2025 (versus $6.4 trillion for Gen Xers and $1.1 trillion for baby boomers).

Many forward-looking consumer companies and investment firms are wondering about the true marketplace potential of millennials and the appropriate influence of this cohort on their strategies. Because millennials are critical to future growth and value creation for consumer-facing businesses, we investigated this generation to understand their marketplace potential better. We surveyed 11,000 people in May 2016, including 7,000 millennials, 2,000 Gen Xers, and 2,000 baby boomers about their attitudes, buying preferences, and category behaviors. Our research showed that millennials are a complex cohort with diverse preferences. The seemingly conflicting press on these consumers reflects seven distinct segments. Consumer companies and investment firms should take this complexity into account as they shape their strategies, as capturing a meaningful share of millennials’ potential will not be a one-size-fits-all proposition.

Aligning to the right millennial segments

We found that millennials fall into seven distinct segments along a spectrum of three behavioral clusters: value, quality, and image. Within each cluster, we see two or three segments that behave quite differently from one another (Exhibit 1).

Value-driven consumers: 40 percent of millennials

These consumers fall into two segments, both of which are conservative in their purchase decisions and care less than other segments about brands. Economizers are relatively unengaged, budget-conscious consumers who go after deals and are brand agnostic. Risk avoiders rely heavily on recommendations and advice before trying new products or brands. They want to know that they have made good decisions and will emphasize advice and recommendations from others when they make decisions.

Quality-driven consumers: 22 percent of millennials

These consumers have definite preferences and consider brand selection a mark of their ability to make thoughtful decisions. Diligent loyalists show a distinct need for control and routine in many aspects of their lives (for example, diet and finances). They care about being informed and are largely content with their current products. Premium enthusiasts are highly educated consumers who see products and brands as extensions of themselves. They are willing to pay more to obtain the quality they care about. This cluster has the greatest affinity with health and wellness activities and brands.

Image-driven consumers: 38 percent of millennials

This cluster consists of three different segments. Experience-driven “you only live once” millennials (YOLO-ers) focus on enjoying life today, even if that means living beyond their means. Higher-income showcasers follow the latest trends, think newer brands are more innovative, and show off their purchases on social media. Explorers are willing to pay a premium to be the first to try new products or brands in order to set themselves apart.

Understanding millennial behaviors and preferences

Despite current lower incomes and concerns about the financial future, millennials as a whole spend money. Our research found that millennials are willing to pay premium prices for both goods and services, suggesting that “premiumization” trends will continue. In our survey, just over half of millennials indicate that they don’t mind paying more for quality products that will last for years. Even for value-conscious millennials on a budget, one-third admit that they spend more than they should, compared with 29 percent for Gen Xers and 14 percent for baby boomers.

This willingness to pay (for quality) extends across multiple product categories, especially food and beverages at home, where half of millennials report that they always or often pay premium prices. Other categories where we see greater willingness than other cohorts to pay a premium include tech devices (44 percent), apparel (39 percent), footwear (37 percent), and, surprisingly, automobiles (31 percent). But willingness to pay a premium differs by segment. YOLO-ers are especially willing to pay a premium for exclusive products and services. Explorers will pay more to get exactly what they want, while premium enthusiasts favor products made by companies that share their values. Marketers will need to communicate differently to win each segment’s consideration and loyalty.

Millennials spend on material things, not just experiences. They do spend more than older generations on experiences—for example, millennials report spending $164 per month on average on entertainment versus $101 for Gen Xers and $134 for baby boomers. What they do not do, however, is curb spending on other material goods to afford memorable experiences. Just as millennials are willing to pay a premium for quality, our research showed this cohort is outspending other generations on several major product categories, especially apparel and footwear. Millennials spend $524 per year on apparel versus $355 for Gen Xers and $439 for baby boomers. For footwear, those numbers are $264, $185, and $134, respectively (Exhibit 2).

By and large, millennials are also outspending either or both of the Generation X and baby-boomer cohorts on categories where we expect to see moderate to high growth (Exhibit 3). Consumer-facing companies should ensure they are well positioned to capture growth from categories where millennials outspend others. They may also need to convince their millennial customers to spend in other categories to deliver on their long-term growth aspirations.

Millennial segments differ sharply in their preferences for healthy products. Not every millennial is deeply health conscious. Some segments (diligent loyalists, premium enthusiasts, YOLO-ers, and showcasers) care deeply about health and wellness. In fact, they care more deeply than older consumers in the same segments. These millennials want to know exactly what is in the food they eat and prefer organic, nonprocessed ingredients. But other millennial segments (economizers, risk avoiders, and explorers) find processed foods and nonorganic ingredients quite acceptable. We foresee plenty of growth in better-for-you and healthy categories, but the growth is coming from a portion of millennials and the influence they are having on their parents and children.

Influencing millennials

Millennials are thoughtful buyers. They look (and can find) a lot of information before making purchase decisions. More than half of millennials say that they “almost always research before buying,” which is sharply higher than other cohorts. Yet millennials are less persuaded than older generations by brand-directed marketing. They are more likely to rely on brand and product recommendations obtained via word of mouth, online reviews, and social media. Nearly half get most of their apparel inspiration from social media (versus 28 percent for Gen Xers and 7 percent for baby boomers). Millennials are also far more likely to share their opinions of products and brands, both on- and offline. Once millennials have children, they are far more likely to advocate for products and brands online.

Consumer-facing companies must adapt to having less direct control over the information that consumers get about their products. Leveraging different modes across a customer’s decision journey and tapping into customer advocacy is essential. Hispanic millennials, for instance, identify more with generation than ethnicity. To understand the relative importance of generation and ethnicity in the attitudes and behavior of Hispanic millennials, we compared their survey responses with those of non-Hispanic millennials and Hispanic Gen Xers and baby boomers in the same segments. What we found was that there was a much stronger correlation with generation than ethnicity among Hispanic millennials in all seven segments (Exhibit 4). There was a distinct difference between male and female Hispanic millennials, particularly around where and how they like to splurge. This suggests that there is more upside in targeting older Hispanics with more unique products and considering millennial segments rather than homing in on a narrower demographic-based segment.

Implications for consumer companies and investment firms

As consumer companies and investment firms consider portfolio-growth opportunities and new assets, they would do well to factor millennials into the equation. This cohort already has real marketplace potential, which will increase significantly over a relatively short investment horizon. Many Generation X– and baby-boomer-rooted businesses are struggling. Reaching a meaningful share of the millennial potential requires having different capabilities. Marketers, operators, and merchants need to take the following steps: one, penetrate the right segment; two, unlock what motivates that segment to spend money; and three, act on strategies that build loyalty through ongoing consumer engagement. When vetting organizations that claim to have a millennial opportunity, consumer companies and investment firms should probe and measure the extent to which they have done all three actions.

Courtesy of an article dated March 18, 2017 appearing in McKinsey & Company Blog

 

MARKETING STRATEGY VS MARKETING PLAN: THE DIFFERENCE AND TIPS FOR BOTH

What Is a Marketing Strategy?

A marketing strategy is a document that answers the big questions—what you offer, who your audience is, what your company stands for, brand guidelines, what niche or industry you play in, and who your main competitors are. It can include less or more information than that, but its purpose is to be a sort of lighthouse, helping you keep your marketing focused on the bigger picture.

Marketing strategies are always rooted in what your overarching business goals are. If your business needs to increase revenue by 25%, then your marketing strategy would explain how marketing will help achieve those goals from a high-level point of view.

When writing a marketing strategy, do not—I repeat—DO NOT go into uber-specific marketing tactics. That’s for later. On the flip side, you should be asking the right kinds of questions.

What Is a Marketing Plan?

Your marketing plan, based on your marketing strategy, dives into the specifics—what channels and tactics you’re using, which segment of the audience you’re targeting, when initiatives are occurring, and how you’ll measure success.

Compared to your marketing strategy, your marketing plan is more about which tactics, campaigns, initiatives, and promotions you’ll run in a certain amount of time. Marketing plans can range from three months to a year, and should remain semi-flexible in case marketing needs to shift priorities.

MARKETING STRATEGY VS. MARKETING PLAN

To help visualize all of this, we’ve created a graphic that explains the core differences between a marketing strategy and a marketing plan.

In our experience, the marketing strategy shouldn’t change as much as your marketing plan. If it does, it’s almost impossible to gain any real traction or measure the impact of your marketing on the business. That said, you’ll probably need to revisit your marketing strategy each year, whereas you’ll be executing against your marketing plan regularly.

At this point, you might be thinking, “this seems like A LOT.” It is, which is why strategies and plans are often broken down into smaller disciplines within marketing (think: content, customer acquisition, customer retention, and more). Let’s look at an example.

An Example in Action: Content Marketing

Most marketers are familiar with content marketing, so let’s use it as an example. Like I mentioned earlier, strategies address high-level issues whereas plans show how you’re going to execute.

CONTENT MARKETING STRATEGY

In this case, your content marketing strategy would answer those big questions discussed above. Questions like:

• Who should we be writing to?
• How will content marketing support our business goals?
• How much money can we spend on creating content?
• Who are our content competitors?
• What tone do we want to come across in our content?

The role of the content marketing strategy isn’t to point out every single topic you’re going to write about or even what your specific KPIs for the upcoming year are going to be. Instead, it’s supposed to give context to why you’re investing in content marketing, who you’re targeting, what content mediums you’re going to use (generally), and more.

CONTENT MARKETING PLAN

Once you have your strategy set, your content marketing plan should explain how you’re going to attack the problem. This is where you’ll document content marketing goals and KPIs, what resources you plan on creating, when you plan on creating them, who will be involved in the process, how you’ll be promoting each piece of content, and more.

There’s more to content marketing plans than an editorial calendar, but your editorial calendar is a huge part of your plan. It tells everyone what topics your content is addressing, where it’s being published, when it’s being published, which channels you’ll promote it through, and the goals it should be aiming to hit.

Tips for Creating a Stellar Marketing Strategy or Plan

Whether you’re focusing on the overarching strategy or getting into the fine details, there are a few things you need to keep in mind throughout the journey that will help produce something of real value for your organization or team.

TIP #1: DOCUMENT YOUR PLAN/STRATEGY

This sounds obvious, but it is oh-so important. Enter impactful stat—marketers who document strategy are 538% more likely to report success than those who don’t. That’s a real number. Write your plan down. Even if you don’t think it’s 100% correct.

As marketers, we want so desperately to get everything right that it often has the opposite effect—we’re paralyzed. You can go back and adjust your plan or strategy as necessary, but it starts with actually having a plan or strategy. Plus, without a documented vision for the future, it’s much harder to gain buy-in from your co-workers and miscommunication ensues.

TIP #2: COLLABORATE WITH OTHERS

You don’t have to do this alone. Nor should you. Even if you’re legitimately the only person in your marketing department, you can ask your marketing friends at different companies for some insight. If all your friends sadly work in sales (jk, jk) you can even gain some perspective from co-workers in different departments. They might not give you the best “marketing” ideas, but they might ask good questions and prove to be good sounding boards.

There are tons of positives when it comes to collaborating with others. A few I like are gaining new perspectives, considering other ways to solve the problem at hand, gaining feedback, and the efficiencies that come with asking people that may have done something similar in the past.

TIP #3: MAKE IT CLEAR. MAKE IT REALISTIC.

There’s no problem shooting for the moon. But if you create a marketing plan or strategy that requires 10 people to execute and you only have two sad interns, then it’s not all that helpful. You’ll just end up with a ton of ideas but no idea which ones to work through.

A wise person once said, “The essence of strategy is choosing what not to do.” Try your best to paint a clear picture that’s based in reality.

Don’t Let the Scary Marketing “Strategies” Overwhelm You

To play on even more cliches, “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” Try your best to avoid paralysis by analysis, and instead tackle your strategy or plan one step at a time.

And if you don’t think documenting your marketing plan or strategy is important, think again. Remember: marketers who document strategy are 538%(!) more likely to report success than those who don’t.

Finally, one last reminder that for those who can't wait to dig in and start planning, we created a marketing toolkit that allows you to work through building your very own marketing strategy. Happy planning!

Courtesy of an article dated September 21, 2020 appearing in Element Three Blog

 

 

DIGITAL BRANDING STRATEGIES REQUIRE MESSAGES AND MARKETING THAT IS RELEVANT AND RESONATES WITH YOUR AUDIENCE

The necessity of branding in the digital age is as important as branding itself.  We have already seen what branding is in “Brand Guidelines and Why Your Business Needs Them?”   In short, a brand comprises of all the elements such as the logo, color palette, typography, taglines, symbols, etc. that help you differentiate your brand from the others.  It could be a product, service or even just a concept that can be communicated to the public to make you stand out from the competitors in the 
marketplace. 

The methodology of creating a unique and distinctive personality of any product with the help of various elements is known as Branding.  Similarly, branding in the digital age, which is also called as Digital Branding, is a brand communication strategy that is implemented with the use of the internet and digital marketing to enhance a brand’s attributes, establish their presence and promote the brand.  It gets its roots from direct marketing and is done via certain digital platforms such as the internet itself, mobile applications, social media and most importantly, digital media content.  It also comprises of all the elements such as the logo, color palette, typography, taglines, symbols, etc.  The content is in reference to blogs, organic videos, e-mailers, website content, etc. with its overall appearance as well, that appeals to your target group.

Developing your brand strategy involves two phases:  brand development and brand management. (Click Image To Enlarge) 

Whether it is traditional branding, or digital, successful branding can only be reflected on the target consumer’s perception about your brand. This successful branding will help you enhance your brand positioning in the minds of the consumers.  Hence, on the digital platforms, it is important to strategize your communication in a manner that resonates with the positioning that you wish to have. Due to digital marketing and social media, it has become easier to connect and interact with the consumer online, but it has also become easier for the consumer to change his perception about you as well. To avoid this, it is important to stick to the brand guidelines, that defines the tone, color, typography and the overall appearance of your brand, even it if is to be done digitally. There cannot be any kind of inconsistency with reference to the branding tools that are used even traditionally. Your brand should have utmost consistency on all of the digital platforms, which increases your credibility and appeal, and also increases consumer loyalty.

Importance of Digital Branding:

• Autonomous Consumers: With oceans of information flowing everyday on the digital platform, the consumer is often left in dilemmatic situations, especially in case of products and services. The consumers are often “spoilt for choice”, which essentially means that you have to make your brand stand out in terms of your product and service offerings as compared to your competition. The average consumer is smarter now, due to the information about all products and services available at his/her fingertips.
• Change in Consumer Behaviors: The digital age has eradicated all kinds of geographical barriers in the world today. Due to this, social trends change almost every day, which directly affect the consumer’s behavior as well. The average consumer will still desire new products and services, but their social circles, perception, psychology and research will change their decisions very quickly, which means that your brand’s communication approach has to change with the trends as well, to stay ahead of the competition.
• Lesser Importance to the Funnel Model: The funnel model is a consumer’s purchase journey that follows the sequence of awareness, opinion, consideration, preference and finally the purchase. Traditionally, a consumer follows this journey and brands integrate their communication in such a manner that this funnel model is smooth. But in the digital era, the interactivity with a brand is extremely high and directly affects the purchase decision.
• Engagement: Digital branding’s greatest factors are the levels of engagement and interactivity that it allows between the brand and the consumers. A consumer will definitely prefer a brand that “connects”. This requires the brand to socially engage and provide interactive content through blogs, infographics, videos, etc. regularly, as it appeals to the consumer very well.

Digital Branding, just like offline branding, has a process that is followed. This process is in such a way that the brand establishes its distinct presence and personality on the digital platforms, and makes itself stand out from the rest.

Following is the process:

• Target Group: In the digital era, identifying your target group has a somewhat different approach to it. As the consumer is present on roughly 250 digital platforms today, it is important to understand and map the consumer’s journey, to understand their behavior and segment them accordingly to match the category your offering fall into. This includes specific and detailed research that help you indentify certain factors such as the consumer’s demographics, income, behavior, age, gender, etc.
• Brand Values: Your brand values are the factors that drive you to excellence in product and service offerings. Clearly defining your core values and mission for your brand help you remain consistent in your communication processes and implement those values in it. Having a definitive mission and core values help consumers feel connected to your brand and it appeals to them, especially if the values resonate with their own. It has also become easier to reflect the same values in your digital communication through blogs, videos, social media, etc.
• Brand Positioning: Brand positioning is the influence and impact of your brand in the minds of the consumers. It helps them make a perception of your brand, and gives you a competitive edge in an already established market. If your brand has been successfully positioned, especially on the digital platforms, it gains certain popularity through word of mouth and the most important factor of digital media — virality. Due to this, it becomes much easier to add new products to your offerings if the consumer already trusts your brand.
• Brand Identity: Your identity entails your message, personality, name, logo, etc. and anything that will help the consumer recognize your product first in the digital market. Consumers today tend to buy products that enhance and uplift their own personality. Integrating a strong brand identity gives your brand very high recognition in a market that already has products that are similar to yours. For a consumer that sees thousands of brands on his screen, your brand identity is what will make him consider you first. Brand names and logos are also equally important as they increase the brand’s recall level. Your brand name should resonate with your personality and identity, and also the kind of products and services that you are offering. Your logo is your greatest persona. With successful branding, consumers can identify your product on any digital platform by just looking at the logo, and it also gives certain credibility to it.
• Brand Objectives: Now that you are on digital platforms, what is it that you want to do? What are your goals and what are you promising to your target group? Your brand must have a tagline that is extremely crisp, memorable and that resonates with your personality. This same slogan can deliver or showcase your brand’s promise, and this is where you as a brand position yourself in the market. If the consumers are clear with your objectives, you will most likely be the go-to brand for them.
• Color Palette: Your color palette distinctly represents your brand’s visual identity. There are certain combinations of colors that help you position yourself and abstractly talk about your brand values, and also attract a certain niche group of people. This color palette helps you remain consistent on any digital platform and provides authenticity. Colors themselves hold meaning and carry a message.

All these factors help you successfully build a brand in the digital age today. Consumers are always looking for engaging content to interact with, and the digital era has changed the way the consumers think and behave, and also the way the brand approaches them. It has become extremely vital to have a digital presence, regardless of the brand’s offerings.  

Courtesy of an article dated September 30, 2019 appearing in Interics Designs

HOW TO USE AI TO CREATE A DATA-DRIVEN DIGITAL MARKETING STRATEGY FOR YOUR STARTUP

When you’re growing your startup, there are countless things to consider – from product design to hiring your team. One of the most crucial aspects, though, is digital marketing.

No matter how amazing your product, you’ve got to get the word out to create an audience for it. This is where digital marketing comes in. And AI is rapidly gaining ground here. 

It’s an open secret that AI is transforming almost every aspect of our lives. This includes marketing strategies. In today’s business world, harnessing AI is essential to keep up with competitors or even get a step ahead. 

This article is for you if you’re working on setting up a digital marketing strategy for your startup. It outlines what data-driven digital marketing is, where AI comes into play, and how you can make the best use of this technology’s potential. With what you’ll learn here, your startup’s digital marketing strategy can excel from the beginning. 

What is a Data-Driven Digital Marketing Strategy? 

The biggest mistake you can make in digital marketing is to base your strategy solely on assumptions. Assumptions about your product, your performance, or your target audience can end in disaster. 

With a data-driven strategy, you gather and analyze as much information as possible. Then, you base your decisions on these quantitative insights. 

Building a digital marketing strategy from scratch involves four steps, with or without AI involvement.

1. Market Research 

First off, thoroughly investigate your audience and your competitors. 

Find out who your customers are and where their interests lie.           

Then, learn what you can from your competitors. Which audiences do they target? What                        are their marketing strategies? Which messages of theirs resonate with customers?

2. Drawing Up a Buyer Journey 

When a potential customer first sees your product, they won’t instantly buy it. Not even if you have the world’s best marketing strategy. 

Broadly, customers go through three phases in their buyer journey. First, they become aware of your product and its advantages. How does it benefit them? What problems could it solve? Then, in the consideration stage, they compare alternative solutions. Finally, they decide to go with your solution – or not. 

When you draft a digital marketing strategy, figure out how to optimize this journey.

3 – Choose the Right Digital Marketing Channels 

Next, you have to decide which marketing channels to use. Typically, this includes content, email, and social media marketing. Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and Search Engine Marketing (SEM) also factor into it. 

4 – Launch, Analyze, and Refine 

Finally, you can launch your digital marketing strategy. Consider having a try-out phase. When you do put your finished digital marketing plan into action, keep a close eye on performance and make adjustments as you go along. 

How Does AI Factor Into It? 

Artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) have massive potential for data-driven digital marketing. They excel at rapidly gathering and processing vast amounts of data. This means they can offer almost instant insights into complex realities. 

Another bonus: You can use AI and ML to automate processes. Tedious tasks like content research no longer need to bog down your marketing team. Algorithms can take care of these tasks faster and with more in-depth results. 

Here’s a detailed guide on how to leverage AI and ML during every step of creating a data-driven digital marketing strategy.  

Get to Know Your Customers With AI 

First, figure out who your customers are and what they want. AI can help you by finding patterns at macro-scales and providing actionable insights. 

You can use AI pattern recognition to analyze the data you’ve bought from market research providers. 

Alternatively, you can deploy algorithms to pull enormous amounts of data from social media or discussion forums. Using natural language processing, algorithms can sift through countless posts, reviews, and articles.

The goal is to run a sentiment analysis. With this AI tool, you’ll be able to identify the major questions, trends, and gaps related to products like yours. It will also make it easier to pinpoint your audience’s demographic details. 

Suppose you’re running surveys or focus groups to get a more in-depth understanding of your potential customers. In that case, AI and ML will help you make sense of feedback. Using voice recognition, it can even transcribe and analyze the results of oral discussions. 

Use AI Tools for Competitor Research 

In parallel, you can use AI-driven tools to give you an edge in competitor market research.  Checkout:  SproutSocial's "13 Competitor Analysis Tools To Spy On Your Competition."

Use these tools to track competitors on social media and find out what their strategies are. Get statistics on posting frequencies, types of posts, and identify high-performing content. Gather insights into their followers’ demographics. Figure out how these followers interact with the brand through comments, shares, and likes. 

AI-based platforms can also help you reverse-engineer your competitors’ website analytics. Once you launch your own website, keeping a close eye on page traffic and bounce rates will be crucial. Before you get there, though, check out what your rivals are up to. Think of it like peeking over your friends’ shoulders during a math test. Analyze what they’re doing, then do it better. 

Also, AI and ML can mine your competitors’ link profiles. Having links to your website on other pages is a crucial factor for high rankings. That’s because search engines see such links as proof of trustworthiness and authority. By understanding which pages link your chief rivals, you can draft a strategy to stay competitive.

Set Up an AI-Optimized Buyer Journey 

When you envision your customers’ buyer journey, know that you can use AI at every turn to improve their experience. 

In fact, an outstanding user experience (UX) largely depends on AI. Machine learning algorithms can provide every customer with a personalized experience. From the first time someone comes in touch with your brand, your AI will keep tabs on them. It will identify which stage of the buyer journey they are at. Which aspects of your product interest them? What problems are they aiming to solve? 

These insights will then curate website content, adjust paid ads, or send personalized recommendations. If you use AI for nothing else, use it for personalization. Statistics show that 91% of customers are more likely to shop with brands that tailor content and communication to their interests. 

AI can also improve customer service, another critical element of the buyer journey. Especially during the comparison and decision phase, swift customer support can be the clinch. AI can help in the form of chatbots that answer routine questions and auto-generated email responses. This will free up your team to respond to complex or urgent queries. 

Harness AI for Content Marketing

Creating the right content has become crucial to digital marketing. Search engines reward comprehensiveness and high information value and penalize superficial, spammy posts and articles. 

AI can help you to produce high-quality content that will drive organic traffic to your website. 

Based on your target audience’s interests and your competitor’s performance, AI tools can generate content ideas. They will tell exactly which topics resonate with potential customers. 

To go further, deploy AI-driven tools to create content profiles. When writing any piece of content, research is the most tedious part. It can take hours to go through similar blog posts and analyze how they performed. 

AI will take this load off your back. The right tools can scan through all existing articles and posts on any subject. They will then tell you how to approach the topic, structure your content, and which gaps other articles left for you to improve on. 

More directly, AI can improve the quality of your writing. Deep-learning algorithms will polish your grammar and improve your vocabulary. 

Leverage AI Tools for Social Media 

Tools based on AI and ML can boost your social media performance. 

They will help you analyze past performance to pinpoint the right content to post. On a larger scale, they can help you draft a messaging strategy. One size does not fit all: You have to tailor your brand voice to different platforms. Overall, this will help you develop a social media strategy for maximum effect and reach on each channel.

Also, you can automate processes like analytics. Gain cross-platform insights by having your AI assistant regularly deliver comprehensive reports. 

Take Email Marketing to the Next Level With AI  

When you’re starting out with email marketing, you might be tempted to default to Mailchimp and then focus exclusively on building an email list. Instead, carefully check out the various AI and ML tools that Mailchimp alternatives (appsumodotcom) offer. These tools can reduce the time and money you have to invest and increase your ROI. Building an email list is important, but no longer everything. 

The right email marketing platform will offer AI and ML tools to increase email personalization for every single sub-group in your target audience. They will also offer analytical insights for data-driven email marketing. You’ll be able to check the effectiveness of different subject lines, and A/B test different newsletter layouts. Solid AI tools also help you increase your campaigns’ deliverability by optimizing send times and making sure your email list is clean.

Boost Your SEO Using AI 

When you think of digital marketing, chances are that Search Engine Optimization – SEO – tops your list of priorities. SEO has been key for years, and it should be an integral part of drawing up your digital strategy. 

Luckily, AI can give you a serious leg up. 

It’s important to know that search engines themselves use AI and ML algorithms. RankBrain, for example, is Google’s AI search algorithm. To get these algorithms to rank your site highly, using AI yourself is a must. 

To begin with, use AI to optimize your keyword research process. Deciding on the right keywords to target is fundamental for your SEO strategy. In 2020, trends like Latent Semantic Indexing (LSI) have gained momentum. AI-driven keyword research tools are an asset in harnessing these trends. 

You can also use AI to optimize your content for voice search. It’s estimated that 50% of searches this year will be voice-based. These voice searches use a natural language processing AI. Making sure that your content is compatible with them will improve your rankings.

Further AI applications in SEO are having an algorithm check how you appear in local searches, using it for A/B testing, and to optimize your site’s technical SEO. 

Optimize Paid Marketing with AI 

Finally, using the right AI tools can give a major boost to your SEM performance. As in other areas of marketing, AI helps you target the right audience and personalize content. In terms of analytics, it can show you the bigger picture. 

To be more specific, AI will also keep track of all your SEM metrics for you – from CTR (Click-Through-Rate) and CPA (Cost Per Action) to CPC (Cost Per Click). You can have periodic summary reports delivered and keep an overview of the success of different marketing campaigns. 

Conclusion 

Integrating artificial intelligence and machine learning into your digital marketing strategy from the get-go will give you a valuable advantage. It will help you base your marketing approach on data insights, rather than assumptions. 

AI now permeates every aspect of digital marketing. Setting up data-driven strategies and feedback loops is something to do sooner rather than later. 

Use AI-driven tools to gather and analyze data for market research. Make them part of your buyer journey. Harness them for content, social media, and email marketing, as well as SEO and SEM. 

Altogether, this integration of AI and ML will give your startup an edge from the start – and set you up on the path to success. 

Courtesy of an article dated October 26, 2020 appearing in ReadWrite

9 STEPS TO BUILD A GREAT DIGITAL MARKETING STRATEGY

I bet this is not the first time someone suggested you integrate an effective digital marketing strategy to your business. Stepping into the digital marketing is pretty much fine, but why does one need a strategy for that?

Because a strategy helps you in “setting the direction to the destination you want to reach.”

Whether you just started your startup or in business for years, it is never late to create a plan that creates a real impact on your bottom line. Any Digital Marketing Services provider basically follows this pipeline for the best possible chance of success.

1. Goals and Objective

Okay! Do not raise your eyebrows. This suggestion or advice might seem certain that does not need any special mention. However, we have seen many marketers who are eager to get into the nuts and bolts of postings and campaigns without any prior plan which is necessary for a productive outcome. As a business holder, you should be clear of what your goal is. Whether you want to mark your presence in the neighboring state or rank higher in the Search Engine Results Page? The end objective can be determined by your current business standards and how you want it to be in the long run.

2. Identify “your” customers

One of the vital things to be contemplated during any digital marketing strategy is that you need to identify your customers. See, if you do not know who you are marketing to, what is the point of discussing a “great strategy?” Isn’t it? With the available digital channels, you sure can REACH people, but the question is WHICH people? Identifying the target audience is not rocket science if you could create the fleshed-out persona. And a persona is something that gives a detailed description of your audience. Get started with their gender, age, and location. Then dig deeper to identify their hobbies, interests, occupation, emotional desires, goals, etcetera. Google Analytics can help you determine such factors and whom you should actually target.

You can also identify your customers by :

• Analyzing the competition in the market.
• Using social media.
• Creating customer surveys to understand their needs exactly.

Try to modify digital marketing campaigns for recognizing your ideal customer by creating content and images so that it captivates the customer. Then, ask yourself whether the correct results are generated with these things. If not, try a different approach to appeal the consumer.

3. Competitor Research

It is essential to get the current online landscape in terms of competitiveness. Analyze what the competitors are doing. It could help you in discovering the areas you need to hone up. Create a spreadsheet and note their every single activity on every single channel. With the help of SEO services companies and tools, you can discover the keywords which are driving the high volume of traffic to their site.                                               

• Note: You are studying your competitor’s way of marketing not duplicating their strategy. 

4. Search Engine Marketing

Search Engine Marketing (SEM) is a way of internet marketing which is basically the promotion of your website. It improves the site visibility in search engines by bidding on search terms. SEM enables businesses to get precise success tracking and in-depth campaign analysis too. You can get to know how much value you are generating which further helps in making educated decisions. 

On the other hand, Search Engine Optimization(SEO) is a component of Search Engine Marketing. SEO’s ultimate aim is to increase the number of visitors to your website. It includes on-page and off-page optimization that helps in maximizing the visitor count.

5. Social Media Marketing

Social Media Marketing(SMM) is a form of internet marketing that includes composing and sharing content on social media channels or networks. The primary activities involve in SMM are posting any kind of media such as text, image, videos, memes, and updates that drive user engagement. Social Media Marketing is mostly executed on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, and YouTube.

It needs an evolving strategy with more significant objectives, and it includes :

• Posting videos, stories, live videos, and pictures to showcase your brand to attract a specific audience.
• Responding to the shares, likes, comments, and then monitor your business popularity.
• Engaging with the customers, influencers, and followers to build a community across your brand to create brand awareness.

6. Email Marketing

You might be wondering why we set down Email Marketing as a separate tile amidst the resounding cry that email marketing is dead. But, it is not. It is still one of the effective ways of sending a commercial message for a group of people that actually matters. As a matter of fact, 72% of people still prefer email communication instead of chat. Besides email marketing, you can also integrate the best Instant Messaging software into your website to convert visitors into business clients. 

7. Content Marketing

Content Marketing is a form of marketing that primarily focused on creating, publishing, and distributing content for the target audience through online medium. It is implemented to increase brand awareness and credibility through constant blogging, press releases, guest blogging, webinars, ebooks, articles etcetera. 

8. Mobile Marketing

Mobile marketing is a route in which technology is used to promote products and services to the end-user who is constantly connected to the network. It involves promotions sent through downloaded applications through push notifications, SMS text messaging, and MMS Multimedia messaging.

It utilizes modern mobile technology features that incorporate location services for tailoring marketing-based campaigns on an individual location. Mobile marketing is better and more affordable than marketing your products or services on radio and television.

A business owner can measure the mobile marketing campaign's success through mobile marketing. Furthermore, it is cost-effective as there are various choices to pick from any budget, and the influence it can produce when compared with the cost is essential.

9. Measure Results

It is essential to measure the results or outcomes of using a digital marketing strategy in your business. First, you need to observe the total website traffic to know if there's a rise. Also, try your best to monitor returning traffic, mobile traffic and analyze the traffic resources to understand in what ways your customers are visiting your website.

Another critical aspect is to learn the average time a particular user is spending on your website. These things will offer depth insights to show how digital marketing in your company is successfully operating.

Great that you have made up till here. Now let us explore how you can implement this digital marketing strategy below:

Courtesy of a blog post by GeeksChip