It’s time for bold digital innovation in South Africa

The digital marketing world is moving forward at a rapid pace and South Africa risks falling behind if we don’t focus more on user-centered innovation. For me, this was one of the key insights to emerge from Google’s All Star Summit in San Francisco, attended by 500-plus representatives from Google business partners from more than 50 countries.

During the presentations and workshops, we heard a great deal from Google about what it is doing in an effort to amaze its users. The bar is high these days, and it’s getting harder to impress people with new digital offerings. But across a number of areas, Google is finding ways to create services that are ever more personalised, engaging and exciting.

Here are a few of the trends Google’s speakers see playing out over the next year or two, and my take on what they mean for South African marketers.

Trend 1: Micro Moments

Mobile phones have radically changed people’s behaviour, allowing individuals to resolve their needs moment to moment on a device that is immediate and personal. This means that marketers today have unprecedented opportunities to speak to people in the “micro moments” that are important stepping stones in the customer journey.

By understanding their intent and their context, marketers can deliver them with services and messages that address their immediate needs. By addressing customers in the moment they have a requirement and question, brands can forge a personal connection with them and advance their marketing objectives.

Rather than sitting at our PCs for long sessions, we are instead snatching info and making decisions on the go. One outcome of this trend is that mobile conversion rates have shot up 29% in the last year, according to Google. Though mobile is driving the change, micro moments affect the entire consumer journey across screens, devices, and channels.

For marketers, one important consideration is that people care more about their need in the moment than their loyalty to any particular brand. Some 65% of smartphone users agree that when conducting a search on their smartphones, they look for the most relevant information regardless of the company providing the information.

Implication for South Africa: Many brands need to do more work on making their sites more mobile-friendly. Some South African brands are missing valuable opportunities to drive conversions because their sites aren’t built with a responsive design and because they are pushing out generic marketing messages to mobile users. On a personal device such as the smartphone, marketers need to be using the behavioural, contextual and location data available to them to offer customers more relevant and compelling content and services.

Trend 2: Customers for life

Digital marketing has been too obsessed with short-term metrics. As the speakers at the Summit noted, clickthrough rates and the other metrics that we care about so deeply are more about the history of the customer’s behaviour, rather than the customer’s value to you.

For example, are marketers allocating enough value to how much time customers spend on their site or app, how many articles they read, social media advocacy and other metrics that point to engagement and value? It makes sense to take a step back and look at the bigger picture of customers’ life-time journey and life-time value. Building customer loyalty through allocating value to other conversion points are important.

Implication for South Africa: Many South African digital marketers are focused on immediate ROI in terms of clickthroughs and conversions. But since we live in a relationship-based society, SA marketers need to embrace a longer-term view by tracking user behaviour holistically and determining insights beyond the click. Personalisation is crucial.

Trend 3: Brave new world of video

According to a Variety.com survey US teenagers are more enamored with YouTube stars than they are the biggest celebrities in film, TV and music. Top celebrity YouTubers include: the comedy duo known as the Fine Bros, Swedish video gamer, PewDiePie, and KSI. Though you might not have heard of them if you are older than 25 and don’t have a millennial living in your home, they’re bigger attractions on YouTube than most big-name musicians, models, and actors.

This is the new world of the social media celebrity, where fame starts from the grassroots. People are looking for content that they can connect with – and they’re enthusiastic about other people who share their passions. Professionally produced content from traditional agencies and publishers needs to have that same human touch to succeed.

Implication for South Africa: The same trends are unfolding here, with the teenager who runs the most subscribed YouTube channel Kruger Sightings and Suzelle’s DIY videos reaching growing audiences. Marketers need to look at what sort of content is popular with their target audiences and be creative in their video strategies.

Because YouTube is so huge, brands should put their television ads up to reach people who don’t watch much television. But they should also develop creative content that is short, punchy and human if they want to get the right kind of response from the audience.

Creativity and authenticity are paramount – for example, one of our clients got great results from a video produced with Suzelle. We have found that how-to videos are really popular, so they are a great option for a lot of brands. Costs don’t need to be high – it’s the heart and soul that matters more than the production value.

Trend 4: A toothpaste test for mobile apps

Google highlighted just how competitive the mobile app space is becoming. More than 9 out of 10 downloaded apps end up abandoned on the average users’ phone; some barely get downloaded at all. It’s easier to build apps than to get them noticed.

You need tracking in the app to determine what is driving people to download your app, so that you can optimise. Most successful apps have passed the toothpaste test, which poses the following questions: Will I use this more than once or twice a day and will it change my life? One example of such an app is Waze, acquired by Google.

Implication for South Africa: Apps are on many brands’ roadmaps, but marketers who want a good ROI must focus on how these apps can make customers’ lives better. Apps must be tailored for a mobile lifestyle and become indispensable to customers. People cannot live without Waze and MyFitnessPal. On the local front, the Discovery app, banking apps, the load shedding apps, and the Zapper mobile payments app fit the bill.

Closing words

Like Google and other Silicon Valley disruptors, South African marketers need to consider how they can be more innovative in their approach to a more connected and demanding customer. We need to look at the entire customer journey and think about imaginative ways of talking to people at every touch point along the way. It is time to break out of our traditional processes and thinking so that we can conceive new ideas that engage our customers. That means empowering employees to be creative, really listening to our customers, and adapting to new trends as they unfold.