Digital Marketing – Critical Success Factors

Track your own behavior in respect to the new marketing reality for the next 2 weeks

A key element to successful marketing is understanding our customers and how to reach them. In the end, it´s always people - no matter whether B2C or B2B - we are marketing to. Yet, let´s face it, we sometimes tend to forget that there are real people behind the screens. Therefore we do things that we would - if we were our own customers - easily identify as, well ... "not the best option“.

Therefore, we ask you to look at the new marketing reality from your perspective as a customer (no matter whether B2C or B2B).

You can use these questions as your guideline and get some inspirations of what to look at:

1. The demise of classic online communication
- (Let´s be honest:) Are you using an ad blocker? And if so, why?
- How often do you feel annoyed by banner ads and/ or click them by accident?
- Are there classic display banners that positively caught your attention and why so?

2. Search vs. social
- When do you turn to search, when do you turn to social? What intent or trigger is behind each use?
- When you have spare time: Do you rather turn to search or social?
- In which context do you use different social networks = is there a pattern why are you there, what do you use it for and in which mood are you while using it?
- Which of these 12 social media types describes you?!

3. Always on and truly mobile
- When you use two screens at once: Is their usages related or unrelated? What exactly do you do?
- Is there a difference when you use search on desktop vs mobile?
- Do you read emails or access websites with your smartphone that are not mobile optimized? If yes, why?

4. The new role of customer service & experience
- Did you have any negative experience with a company? What did they do and how did it change your perception of them?
- Did you you have a great experience with a company? What did they do and how did it change your perception of them?

5. The rise of the external sales force
- Do you rely on any kind of third party information while researching for something you want to buy or consume? If so, why and what is it?

6. The new platform economy
- How much online time do you spend „outside the platform economy“?
- If you bought something "physical", do you buy it through someone else but Amazon or Alibaba? If not, why?

7. Overall shifts
- What caught your attention from a brand you did not know before? How did they do that?
- In case you have not yet figured out what Facebook thinks your interests are, you can do that now!
- In case you have not yet figured out what Google knows about you, you can do that now!