How Digital Marketing is Taking Over the Global Marketing World

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The digital phenomenon has inexorably changed the manner in which consumers interact with the world around them. Today, the world has truly encapsulated into a ball of globalization, with people gaining swift access to myriad services and products sitting within the comforts of their home. It would not be wrong to surmise that digital marketing has taken over the reins of marketing parlance.

Digital ad spend to surge

Prevailing trends suggest that digital marketing is transforming the way consumers receive and interact with ads. PWC (PricewaterhouseCoopers) has forecasted that digital advertising will reach a whopping $240 billion in 2019, increasing from $135 billion in 2014. The revenues from digital marketing reached $15 billion in the U.S. in Q3/2015. This marks a 23 percent increase compared to the same period in 2014, according to figures from PWC and IAB. Magna Global opines that digital advertising will overtake TV advertising in 2016. This is something to take note of since PWC and Magna Global had stated in 2015 that digital marketing would overtake TV marketing only in 2017.

The mobile-focused trend of advertising

As digital marketers heighten their marketing efforts, the focus will shift towards mobile marketing. Today, there are many more consumers using smartphones than those who are using desktops. These consumers have acclimatized to accessing products and services on the go and on-demand. As a result, online marketers are astutely shifting their focus from desktop ads to mobile ads. In fact, for the very first time, marketers spent more on mobile advertisements than desktop advertisements in 2015.

Research shows that an average adult in the U.S. spends anywhere between eight minutes and three hours every day on their mobile, and if trends are to be believed, this duration is set to continue unabated. eMarketer has predicted that the percentage spend on mobile marketing will increase to 63 percent in 2016 and will touch 70 percent or $65 billion in 2019.

Most of these ads target users on social networking platforms like Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook, which claims that it hopes to generate $6.3 billion in the form of mobile revenues in 2016. If it does attain this target, it will be a remarkable feat since this figure will be three times the ad revenues that Google generates from mobile advertising.

Programmatic advertising will be at the helm

As mobile advertising has surged, so has programmatic advertising. In 2014, just half of all the mobile-focused ads were purchased using technology platforms and APIs. However, trends show that in 2016, this number will increase exponentially. Nearly 67 percent of all mobile ads will be bought by eMarketers programmatically. The credit for programmatic ads goes to Google and Facebook as their ad products are intrinsically programmatic.

eMarketer has forecasted that in 2016, revenues from mobile programmatic advertisements will reach $9.3 billion and U.S.-based digital marketers will have maximum opportunities to purchase programmatic mobile ads.

Personalized, cross-channel marketing is leading the way

While digital marketers are focusing on programmatic advertisements, it is important to realize that these ads are not just for mobile users. They focus on ads across different platforms lime desktops, mobile web, and mobile apps. This has made it imperative that marketers look to engage with prospective customers across several channels and offer them personalized ads rather than treating customers as anonymous individuals.

This customized advertising has resulted in digital marketers tailoring their ads to their CRM-based data and leveraging the customization features of various digital platforms, like Google, Twitter, and Facebook. Hence, prospects get to see the ads that they are interested in and not merely random advertisements. This helps marketers in overcoming the hurdle of ad blocking, which has become the norm.

Digital marketing in the Indian context

The current Indian government has given digital marketing a shot in the arm with its Digital India Programme. With more urban and suburban users using mobile phones to search for products and services, small, medium and large businesses are turning to the digital world to engage users and capture a larger chunk of the market share.

In India, digital ads are not viewed as a replacement for TV, radio or print ads. Rather, they are seen as a different advertising channel that allows marketers to focus on a segment that they would otherwise not focus upon. With users in India creating web-based profiles, marketers have access to more data and this is allowing them to customize their digital ads and laser target their audience.

Mobile apps, mobile ads, and web-based ads have become the norm, even in India and this, in turn, has given this nascent industry a foothold. India has 110 million mobile Internet users and 82 million monthly active Facebook users. This vast number implies that corporates and businesses can no longer ignore the relevance of digital marketing.

As more organizations and businesses turn to digital marketing, there is a burgeoning demand for skilled digital marketing professionals. To overcome the gap between talent and demand, we at Internet Marketing School, have created specialized digital marketing courses that go beyond the mundane and actually helps students become empowered digital marketing specialists. These intuitive courses help students master the different nuances of digital marketing to help their respective companies accomplish their digital marketing goals or initiate result-oriented digital marketing endeavors.