Digital Marketing: Challenges and Solutions
Digital marketing offers vast opportunities for increasing the customer base but comes with a set of challenges. The barriers may be purely technical, such as the difficulties in managing the interfaces between the digital marketing department and the other ones (Chaffey and Smith, 2017). When taken as a whole, the digital market is enormous, which makes the risk of not identifying the targeted demographics for the company’s products properly yet another challenge. Even when the demographic is properly identified, the chosen marketing strategy can alienate rather than attract it (Smith, 2011). Finally, the digital marketing strategy may fail at customer retention.
The solutions to each of these challenges are rooted in their nature. Overcoming the technical difficulties requires organizational adaptation and staff training. The risk of not identifying and reaching target customers should be addressed through market segmentation, most notably based on “age, race, gender, education, employment, income, and economic status” (Kingsnorth, 2016, p. 23). Overcoming the third challenge requires studying the target population group to identify digital marketing strategies that attract or annoy them. For example, Smith (2011) posits that millennials dislike op-up ads while perceiving side-panel ads more positively. A campaign by skincare manufacturer Clinique, relying on side-panel ads rather than pop-ups as well as using millennial influencers, resulted in success, making it a good organizational example (“Social Media Marketing,” n. d.). The way to meet the challenge of customer retention is by providing after-sales service (Garcia et al., 2019). For example, User Training, an online training platform, offers courses that are both specialized and free after providing the service agreed upon (Ranjhaa, 2021). Thus, for each of the challenges of embracing digital marketing, there is a corresponding strategy.
Reference List
Chaffey, D. and Smith, P. R. (2017). Digital marketing excellence: Planning, optimizing, and integrating online marketing. 5th edn. London: Routledge.
Garcia, J. J. L. (2019). ‘Digital marketing actions that achieve a better attraction and loyalty of users: An analytical study.’ Future Internet, 11(6), 130.
Kingsnorth, S. (2016). Digital marketing strategy: An integrated approach to online marketing. 2nd edn. London: Kogan Page.
Ranjhaa, A. (2021). After-sales service – definition, types & examples.
Smith, K. T. (2011). ‘Digital marketing strategies that millennials find appealing, motivating, or just annoying.’ Journal of Strategic Management, 19(6), pp. 489-499.