Generation-Focused Digital Marketing Mapping

By Dr. Karling Lee

From my previous article on Online characteristics of different generations last Friday, we know that to market to different generations, the digital marketing strategy needs to be very clear and focused and that it is no longer appropriate to use a traditional mass marketing type of strategy for digital marketing.

This is because the different generations have different characteristics and needs and thus, customization is now the way to proceed.

…how can I start to map my digital marketing strategy more effectively? One way is to use the business model canvas, but focusing only on the key areas including the revenue stream and the cost structure to arrive at an informed decision…

Let us now review what strategy digital marketers can adopt to attract and retain the Gen Y and cusper Gen Y consumers as they form the largest group of consumers globally.

To arrive at the above, the following questions are prudent:

What is the purpose of your digital marketing strategy?

What is the main digital marketing strategy?

Who is your target consumer absorbing the content? In this scenario, we are focusing on the Gen Y and Cusper Y

Which platforms to zoom in on? For the Gen Y and Cusper Y, they are in multiple social media platforms, do you have the budget to be present in all the platforms?

How to create an online presence to help them find you? Build community? Gamify? Frequent postings? Many more actions and tools to consider.

How do you measure the effectiveness of your online presence? How to know the effectiveness of each page of your website? How to put your products into the first line of sight for consumers? And many more measurements to think about.

With the above, how can I start to map my digital marketing strategy more effectively?

One way is to use the business model canvas, but focusing only on the key areas including the revenue stream and the cost structure to arrive at an informed decision.

… Once the front part of strategies is clear, then you can proceed to focus on designing the key activities and campaigns to deliver the UVP to the consumers using the right channels and base on the nature and type of relationship that you have built up…

The standard business model canvas includes the following elements:

The triangle will be the overall population and pool of Gen Y and Cusper Y globally.

The customer segments allow you to plan and map which specific Cusper Y and Gen Y consumers you want to focus on so that you can map your relationship and your channels to continuous communicate to engage with them for conversion to sales.

However, before the communication and engagement can be effectively implemented, you need to be very clear, what is your unique value proposition (UVP) to the respective consumers that you are focusing on (Gen Y and Cusper Gen Y groupings).

Many marketers globally have a high tendency to equate UVP with USP (unique selling point).

The UVP differs from USP and is deeper and more sustainable in the hearts and minds of the consumers as compared to the USP.

Furthermore, USP can be easily emulated or copied by larger or even smaller competitors, but the UVP makes you stand out from the crowd and raise above the “noise” of busy digital marketing that is in the market place.

Once the front part of strategies is clear, then you can proceed to focus on designing the key activities and campaigns to deliver the UVP to the consumers using the right channels and base on the nature and type of relationship that you have built up.

The key resources then give you an indication on what critical resources you need to support the entire digital marketing strategy to obtain the highest return with the lowest costs.

However, you must also not forget your key partners such as your campaign agencies, branding partners, image building consultants and so forth who may impact your effectiveness.

Then comes the revenue stream and the structure. Apart from the direct impact of sales from the digital marketing strategy, what other revenue stream is possible, for example from sponsors of accessories that complements your product.

Then, focus on the cost structure, where apart from the traditional costs of a digital marketing strategy, what about sponsoring ads in specific games where the Gen Ys or Cusper Gen Ys play the most, what about the costs of online influencers to help promote the product?

These are all relevant to design a cost structure in order to calculate the return on investment (ROI) from your digital marketing strategy.

The adoption of the business model canvas has helped Amazon, Google, and even traditional companies to grow exponentially, thus, consider it for mapping your digital marketing strategy.

Dr. Karling Lee is an annual favourite at the Malaysian CMO Conference, her groundbreaking studies are highly-sought out by marketers who know what works best for their brands. Her expertise in deciphering the digital generattion is based on real time surveys and reporting.

The 14th Malaysian Media Conference (MMC) is happening on 25 September at the Sime Darby Convention Center and is proud to announce its list of speakers compromising the most influential leaders in Malaysia’s media landscape. Have you registered to join MMC 2020?