There is no digital strategy anymore, just strategy in a digital world.

cranberry panda recently attended a digital focused event at Google HQ in London. We are coming to the end of Q3 and with Christmas coming up quicker than we would like, it is time for retailers to look at their sales and online presence.

Firstly, we are going to look at digital innovation and the progression we have made into a digital world. Companies such as Google and Push can now confirm that digital advertising is the number one method buyers use to fulfil their shopping needs, and the UK is the leading economy for shopping online. For the UK especially, now is a better time than ever to target those thirsty buyers and advertise, advertise, advertise.

Not only is digital advertising the leading queen (or king), in hitting those revenue targets, but digital ad spending is currently raising a whopping number. In 2016 for example, the UK spent €14.2 billion on ad spending - that is the same amount as all the other top 9 countries combined. Innovation is coming in faster waves and data has taken over, in what we as a world consider to be the most valuable commodity. In the 1980’s it was oil and the motor trade that governed where we saw investment and profit. Now, from 2000 onwards it is technology. Data truly is the new oil and the pace of change is rapidly growing.

Do you know that it took 60 years from the worlds industries of iron, water power and textiles to grow, but in the past 2 years we have created the entire world data? Just 2 years to create data that is accessible to the entire world!

Digital innovation is striving from strength to expansion to world domination and looking back to the 1990’s where just 15% of the worlds households had a computer, to 2005 where 51% of the developed world had access to the internet. Reaching 2014 there were more active mobile phones in the world than the world’s population. That are more mobile phones than human beings! I do not know about you, but sci-fi films of technology takeovers and the world being so reliant on devices that we cannot function don’t seem so outrageous anymore does it?

Top brands compared to what used to be EXXON Mobil, General motors, Mobil and Ford has been moved aside by Apple (ranked number one), Google, Microsoft, Facebook, Coca Cola and Amazon.

"There is no digital strategy anymore, just strategy in a digital world.”

Looking more closely at our digital strategies and what retailers should be considering when creating campaigns, is that the worlds media consumption habits have changed. In 2011 it ranked highest with TV watchers, then digital users, radio following print. 2016 saw a shift with digital taking the running start followed by TV, radio and print. As much as statistics show what is happening in our digital world, money follows success. Currently, the money is following digital ad investment which is currently sitting at 182, 38 billion dollars. With 2.54 billion adult users being exposed to these advertisements, ultimately influencing their purchasing results!

For Ecommerce professionals established and new, you can all appreciate this fact, digital marketing eras:

• 2000 = website
• 2005 = search
• 2010 = social
• 2015 = mobile
• 2020 = AI

It is getting harder to predict with an ever-decreasing timeline on what the next trend or ‘digital marketing era’ will be. What used to take 60 years to progress as an industry is now taking a couple of years for the entire world. We cannot stress to brands and businesses how important it is to keep up with your competitors, and what will ultimately decide if you will succeed or fail is if you are adapting your brand purpose to what customers expect from you. Customers expect for you to know exactly what they want to purchase, and they expect you to be ahead of the times yesterday and already planning the next biggest trend. It is easy to shout ‘authenticity’ and ‘old school style’, but unfortunately that will not cut it anymore. Consumers do not want the original way of accessing information, they want it delivered to them with a big red bow on and tailored to their specific individual requirements. Whether you are in the race to be amongst some of the best brands in the digital market world is down to you.

Stay tuned for insights into preparations for black Friday, Christmas rush and an insight into the age of digital assistance! Whether you own your own business, brand or are part of the team these events are insightful, passionate, knowledgeable and exceptionally interesting! The insights given there could change the direction of your yearly revenue from 'acceptable' to outstanding. Next event is the 4th October AM!