If you’ve been running an online business for a while, you know the importance of technology in marketing it. After all, the introduction of technology can make it easy for you to connect with your customers. Think about it: Your customers now have better access to you than they ever did before.
This is bound to make them more curious about your company and the products you have to offer them. They’re also more likely to receive good customer support from you thanks to technology. If you use technology the right way, you can even improve the demand generation for your online leads.
But knowing the benefits of technology for marketing is just one part of it. Sure, recognizing that you need to use technology for your online business is essential. But, what’s more, important is knowing how to use technology to your advantage. We’re here to discuss how you can use it to improve your demand generation and much more.
Use It For Appointment Setting
One of the best ways to use technology for marketing is to use it for appointment setting. If you don’t know what appointment setting is, we’re here to help. So, do you know how companies chase online leads and follow up with them often? They do this so the leads continue to show an interest in their products.
After all, this isn’t a bad strategy for most companies, considering the competition out there. Well, appointment setting takes chasing your leads one step further. It focuses on bringing you new leads during scheduled times. This helps you organize your demand generation better than you could before.
You can seek out appointment-setting services to help you with the same. They take on the responsibility of contacting your leads regularly. You’ll find this technique of demand generation useful with established leads.
You could always use different methods to get in touch with new leads and generate demand. However, scheduling appointments will keep your regular customers interested in your products.
Those who work with appointment-setting services are familiar with how to handle leads. They spend their time and efforts on leads that are most likely to convert. It can be difficult for you to determine which leads are likely to convert. So, it may be better if you leave this analysis to the experts.
After they identify your leads, they set appointments to discuss your products. They interact with your leads to help them understand how your products benefit them. The good thing about this process is that these experts don’t waste time on leads that aren’t likely to convert.
Instead, they bring you customers that will convert and boost your sales.
Use Display Advertising
You’re sure to have come across display ads at some point if you’ve spent time on the internet. After all, you’ll see them everywhere, from social media channels to news websites. Display ads include both static and video advertisements that are intended to educate your viewers about your products.
You can choose to display your ads on the channels of your choice if you’re willing to pay for them. Yes, you heard that right, some channels are cheaper than others for advertising. Often, social media platforms like Instagram don’t charge you to post your ads on them. So, if you’re a small business looking to break through, this may be the best option for you.
But, if you’re willing to shell out, you can display your ads on popular YouTube channels and more. The more traffic you attract to your ads, the more likely your leads is to convert. This is why display ads are such an important part of demand generation. It’s often the first step in making customers aware of what your products are all about.
You must consider the best type of display ads for your demand-side lead generation efforts. There’s no one-size-fits-all answer to which kind of display ad would be best for you. Video ads may be a good option if you want detailed descriptions of your products to reach viewers.
But if you’re an established brand, static images should more than do the trick for demand generation. Make sure you enlist a list of PPC and SEO experts to help you craft these ads. You’d also need graphic designers to create eye-catching display ads for you. This is sure to help you entice new and existing customers alike.
Use Virtual and Augmented Reality
These technologies are truly the future of all online marketing efforts. They want to take regular digital marketing to the next level, and they want to show you how. Augmented Reality (AR) uses a unique approach to help customers try out your products.
Both your prospective leads and existing customers are sure to enjoy this experience. With AR, you can project a product over a physical object in your vicinity. This allows you to gain a three-dimensional sense of how the product will appear in your home. The easiest way to understand this is to think of trying on dresses.
You could use AR to project dresses on customers, which allows them to try them on virtually. The concept is similar to that of a fitting room, only it’s virtual. Can you imagine the limitless possibilities such technology opens up for digital marketers? Think of all the demand generation efforts that would pay off if you used this technology.
Of course, as you can imagine, this technology doesn’t exactly come cheap. You’ll need considerable investment to use AR and VR for your marketing efforts. Still, statistics show the market size for this tech will increase by at least ten times in the next four years.
So, it may be a wise idea for you to invest in AR and VR before they become too commonplace. They will be especially useful if you have exhausted all other demand-generation strategies. Your customers would be pleased to see you experiment with something new.
And think about it: it would give you an edge over competitors that stick to traditional display ads. Think of it as pushing your leads to convert harder than your competitors are.
Use Artificial Intelligence (AI) to Your Advantage
Studies show that over 70% of customers want brands like yours to offer them unique experiences. These customers value a hint or more of personalization in the ads that they come across online. And why wouldn’t they value personalization? There are thousands of brands out there competing for their attention.
So why wouldn’t they want to opt for a brand that understands their needs better than most? You can embody this brand by utilizing artificial intelligence (AI) to ascertain what your customers desire. AI can allow you to predict how your customers will change their buying patterns.
In many cases, customers tend to stick with the same kinds of purchases for a long time. You can use AI to determine their future buying decisions pretty easily if this is the case. The right AI software will give you an idea of how customers will react to your display ads as well.
This in turn would make it simpler for you to understand which display ads would be the most effective. So, you can steer all your demand generation efforts in the right direction. You could even use machine learning if you want to take your marketing efforts up a notch.
Machine learning can help you identify which images customers will respond best to. So, in a way, it helps you focus on the kind of content that lets you increase your click-through rate (CTR). A higher CTR will also allow you to improve your conversion rate in the long run. After all, leads that click on your ads are more likely to buy your products.
But don’t just blindly follow marketing trends and buy AI software. Do your research and invest in it if you think it’ll be useful for your business.
Conclusion
There’s no shortage of methods through which you can use technology to market your products. You have the pick of the litter when it comes to digital advertising mediums today. So, it’s up to you to invest your money and other resources wisely. Remember, what may work for another business isn’t guaranteed to work for you.
Demand generation is about understanding your customers and how to cater to them. So, you’d be hard-pressed to get it right without a good amount of research and analysis. Don’t be afraid to fail, as trial and error is often the best way to improve demand generation.
At the same time, don’t be in a hurry to try out new technologies just because everyone else is doing it. Sure, it can be useful to stay ahead of the curve when it comes to technology. But that doesn’t mean that you jump on the bandwagon without proper research.
Try to focus on how unique the wants and needs of your target audience are. This will do more for demand generation than using generic technologies. Once you find out what they want, think about how you can present it to them in the best way. If you think AI is the way to go, by all means, use it.
But if you think traditional display ads are better, don’t hesitate to use them. What matters here is finding a unique voice to appeal to your leads better than your competitors can.
Further Reading:
Check out this blog on how Cloud Computing and IoT are related to each other.
If you want to kickstart your career in IT, you need to check out this blog.
