The Heart of Digital Marketing
Is it just me or the cold in Nairobi is feeling a bit too personal? Also, I bet I’m not the only one feeling a bit hesitant on washing my hands every now and then? Don’t get me wrong, I prefer the old school water and soap but have you seen the outside? Sanitizers are coming through, seriously! ….yes? no? Ok.
Other than the overwhelming low temperatures in this city, something else made my week! The Head of Instagram; Adam Mosseri gave an update that Instagram will give more priority to content creators as opposed to photo sharing. Stating that TikTok is a competitor, they look to being more relevant and having more of an organic reach. I don’t know if this is good news but I am pretty sure Digital Marketers are ecstatic about it (or maybe not). However, today let’s focus on Digital Marketing and what it really is.
I am a Digital Marketer who’s job revolves around constantly trying to create content most of the time and I know you probably think it is not a hard job as such but maybe after this, you’ll have an appreciation and respect for Digital Marketers; maybe even pursue it.
“Inspiration is the most important part of our digital strategy.” — Paull Young
Whenever I ask around What Digital Marketing is, I get such responses; “It’s just a fancy word for a social media manager or ni mtu huwa anapost vitu facebook, twitter, instagram” (some one who only posts across social media platforms)or they don’t really do much it’s just posting something which everyone can do. If you are a Digital Marketer in Kenya I bet you struggle in helping a client or employer maybe see the value, work and importance of it.
Google says Digital marketing, also called online marketing, is the promotion of brands to connect with potential customers using the internet and other forms of digital communication. This includes not only email, social media, and web-based advertising, but also text and multimedia messages as a marketing channel. The latter is true yet bland. My definition of Digital marketing is; it is the process of creatively communicating a piece of information and sharing it digitally. A Digital Marketer’s seal is their creativity. So many people can simply go and post something without thought or effort, promote it and get the traffic they desire. Digital Marketing is more engagement between a brand and potential clients than traffic. Digital Marketing is getting the message home, Digital Marketing is strategy. All these cannot be achieved without creativity and understanding.
God is the G.O.A.T of inspiration and creation. He had a goal and oudid Himself in achieving it. If you still don’t see it go to the next reflective surface and look at what you see or peep out the window. There is no denying there is beauty, inspiration and an abundance of creativity. From the colour palletes, the lighting, landscape etc. Inspiration and creativity was God’s first language and He knows the significance of it.
Even in Digital Marketing the most integral part is the inspiration behind the strategy. You can’t work without a strategy and above all else inspiration. Inspiration breeds creativity and that is the heart of Digital Marketing. A Digital Marketer is like a make-up artist, we bring life to a brand. A make-up artist will assess your face, skin tone, features and all other nitty gritties; once he or she figures it out it is up to them to bring out the best version of the subject’s face while maintaining authenticity and achieving the goal set. Digital Marketers do the same, we come up with strategies and creatively communicate who and what the brand is with the purpose of achieving a goal.
Now that we have established the heart of Digital Marketing, the next is (drum rolls) content creation. It is the holy grail of all this. Brands are investing in equipment, software and people that will improve their content online and if you are not, you need to invest too. Think of why you enjoy a Coca Cola advert or a campaign by Guinness or Safaricom? The content is clear, well edited and articulated. When I think of Coca Cola I see red and feel happiness, when I think of Safaricom I see green and the tag line “Twende Tukiuke”, when I think of Guinness I see black and something in the line of greatness. It is evident these people have gotten the message home thanks to the quality of content they share. People respond well to great content and it is undoubtedly worth investing in. Another reason to invest is that the audience is evolving and so are the social media platforms. As pointed out earlier Instagram is giving more priority to creators. Why? The audience is evolving too and to stay relevant they have to adapt and you as a Digital Marketer have no other option but to adapt too.
Digital Marketers plan campaigns, analyse data, research on competitors to keep up, manage brands, copywriting, blogging, create content among so many other things. When you meet a Digital Marketer appreciate their work. They are the minds behind many campaigns you see and I hope by now you see it is not just about posting.
Here at Lloyd Constellations we identify with what the Heart of Digital Marketing really is. We respect strategy, setting goals, inspiration and creativity. As a brand we are making a difference in the tech digital space and helping our clients too stand out digitally. Digital Marketing is among the services we provide, check us out on https://lloydconstellations.co.ke
“Content is the atomic particle of all digital marketing.” — Rebecca Lieb, author, strategic advisor
