Marketo-DG2DA

PART I: WHAT IS DIGITAL ADVERTISING AND WHY IS IT IMPORTANT?
THE NEW DIGITAL BUYER
Meet today’s buyer. She has the upper hand when it comes to making purchase decisions. Tech
savvy and brand sophisticated, she is wise to the ways of marketing, and she expects a lot. She
believes you should inform her and even entertain her, but never bore, or worse, irritate her. And
she’s fickle—you need to keep your communications interesting and to keep her engaged.
There are two major trends that have
emerged out of the recent—and
rapid—evolution of digital buyer
behaviors across all channels. And
these trends have shaped how
marketers need to interact with
buyers through digital ads.
Buyers Are More Informed
Thanks to the abundance of
information, combined with
better search and sharing
technology, product
information is now pervasive.
The internet provides
consumers with instant
gratification, and mobile devices
add a wherever/whenever
dimension to every aspect of
their online experience.
Consumers today can quickly
access information about
products and pricing, and they
do their own research when it
comes to making purchase
decisions. In fact, today’s buyers
often form an opinion of a brand
before they ever interact with
you directly. By the time buyers
come to you, they have already
made the decision to purchase.
So your consumers’ online
perception of you is important,
and your advertising must be
relevant to your buyers’ journey.
1. Consumers Have High
Expectations
Today’s buyers expect
companies to keep seamless
track of their purchase history,
communications preferences,
and desires. If your system isn’t a
well-oiled data machine, you’re
set up to lose brand loyalty fast.
Your buyers look for a unified
and personalized experience
across all of your various touchpoints.
They want to find the
information they need in the
medium that is most convenient
for them in that moment.
Whether they are surfing the web
on their computer at work, or
waiting in line to purchase a pair
of pants at their favorite clothing
store—they expect the experience
to be flawless and consistent.
It’s an exciting—yet challenging—
time to be a marketer. It’s no
longer sufficient to simply push
static information to buyers in a
mass advertising model.
As a marketer, you must
fundamentally shift the way you
engage with customers across
online channels throughout the
customer lifecycle. And to do
this, you must learn to engage
each and every customer
individually and personally with
your digital advertising.