by Jaimie Siegle | Advertising Systems Inc.
A digital marketing survey conducted earlier this summer compiled answers from 300 digital marketers on which online tactics proved most effective in generating customer acquisition and retention.
- More than 150 marketers surveyed said they planned to increase their marketing budget in 2014, and more plan to allocate funding toward social media marketing than any other digital area. However, some companies are still figuring out how to prove an ROI from such advertising efforts.
- Content marketing was rated as a “particularly useful tool” for customer retention and awareness.
- Referral marketing = a virtually untapped channel for brands. Of the nearly 40 percent of marketers who use this strategy, 43 percent of them said they’ve acquired about 35 percent of their customers through it.
- While email scored to be considerably less effective than referral, it’s still widely across multiple types of companies and channels to raise awareness and drive customer acquisition and conversion. More than half of the survey participants said it was the most effective form for retaining customers.
Unfortunately, there’s no one-size-fits-all prescription to achieving digital marketing success, and it may take some experimenting to determine the ideal formula that works for each business.”Acquiring customers in the digital era is like creating a mosaic,” the executive summary concludes. “To achieve a beautiful outcome, companies need to find the right blend of tactics.”
Bottom line? Make sure you’ve done your research on your client and your market, and tailor a digital marketing program that fits the needs of the brand.
Image via purplegazelle.com
