Digital marketers need to take a more long term view, and adopt an “always-on” approach rather than focusing on advertising campaigns, according to Bellinda Carreira, executive head of interactive marketing at Standard Bank.
Carreira told the Enterprise Technology Show yesterday, in Johannesburg, South Africa, that digital marketers needed to think more long-term than tactical campaigns.
“You are not creating something that is beneficial to you because you are leaving gaps in your story,” she said. “Think about your role as being a much longer term strategic tool.”
Carreira recommended an “always-on” approach, whereby digital marketing teams used social media and their own websites and apps to build up a lasting relationship with customers.
“Mobile is not just an advertising platform, it can enable a sale, you can create experiences,” she said. “Social media is not just a marketing platform. If you have a myopic view of that then your content is going to become more like spam than engagement.”
She said platforms owned by companies are their most valuable assets.
“If your site and your apps and your mobile experience are great, then you don’t need to spend as much on digital marketing,” Carreira said.
She said digital teams needed a good content strategy and to answer complaints, while it is important to understand the full digital value chain and look at opportunities to integrate.
“Managing a reputation is one of the cornerstones of our social media presence. We use it more to manage reputation,” she said. “Only 30 per cent of our time is spent doing digital marketing. The rest of our time is spent working out how the ecosystems work and talk to each other.”
Carreira said digital marketers needed to measure conversion more, and take note of what media a company’s market consumers.
“I believe as digital marketers we have got to think very differently,” she said. “At the end of the day if your vision is clear then big data should not be as scary as it seems.”
