Marketing is the lifeline of any form of business. The popularity of social media platforms like Instagram, Facebook, YouTube and TikTok drives brand owners, influencers, and marketers to leverage the power of digital marketing.
Every day, 3.2 billion users, or 42% of the world population, log in to their social media accounts to find information, entertain themselves or buy products or services. Undeniably, the digital revolution has influenced the way we live, shop, spend, and interact with brands.
In the perspective of marketers, there’s unlimited potential to sell products and services digitally and COVID-19 has just pushed business owners to aggressively invest in digital marketing. According to Oberlo, by 2024, digital advertising spend will reach $524.17 billion.
If you’re a business owner who’s ready to invest more money into digital marketing this year, you have to carefully identify the gaps in your digital marketing strategy so that you can grow your business further.
What exactly is a digital marketing gap?
A digital marketing gap is the difference between the business marketing goals and the actual results of your current marketing efforts. It is influenced by the rapid digital evolution, new technologies, type of marketing approach, and consumer behavior. Among these factors, the changing behavior of consumers that is propelled by technological growth is the biggest reason for the gap.
Why is it essential to understand the digital marketing gap?
Every day, existing and new players are introducing innovative products, services, concepts, and apps to enhance the experience of consumers. If you do not keep up with your competitors, you will be left behind and lose ground.
To stay on top of the competition, it is crucial to analyze how your brand is performing and how it measures against your rivals. Whether you are selling services or products via direct consumers or distribution channels, initiating a gap analysis is important so that you can gauge where you are and determine your growth stage, current online visibility, sales process, and other key performance indicators (KPIs).
How to spot the gaps in your digital marketing campaigns?
A digital marketing campaign is the building block in your marketing plan. It helps you move to your end goals. If your existing marketing campaigns are not generating the results you want, you need to evaluate your digital channels and strategies. If your business revenue is not the same as before or if you observe that several of your best-selling products are not selling like before, you need to identify the gap that slows down sales or revenue growth.
Some of the key questions your gap analysis can answer are:
- Are you reaching your target audience?
- Is your sales funnel effective?
- Are you giving your audience and target market relevant and useful information, product, or service?
- Are you consistently engaging with your target audience?
- Are your marketing tools and strategies still relevant to the current trends and consumers’ preferences?
- Are your media campaigns connecting with the emotions of the buying public?
- Is your brand reflecting the beliefs or aligning with the consumers’ personal values?
- Is your campaign mobile-supported or accessible to mobile devices?
- Are you using the right eCommerce platform or CRM that allows people to buy your products easily?
In general, a gap exists when some areas of the marketing plan are neglected. Areas of concern include the 7 Ps of marketing – people, product, price, process, physical evidence, place, and promotion.
It also happens when:
- You are not targeting the potential customers
- You are not leveraging multiple platforms
- You are not listening to your customers’ feedback about your products or services
How to determine if there is a void or gap?
There are lots of indicators that will help you determine if there is a gap in your digital marketing strategies. By performing a gap analysis, you can check the performance of your business to find the difference between where it is now in terms of growth and where you want it to be. The gap analysis also helps you identify new audiences and untapped markets.
Follow this 3-step process to perform a gap analysis in your marketing campaign:
Step 1: Review your historical performance data. If you use other analytics tools apart from Google Analytics, you can also utilize those to find out the amount or organic and paid traffic you’re getting as well as your sales.
You can choose to use the 30 to 90-day data and compare it with the data from the previous year.
Step 2: Know your top-performing products/services during the given period.
Step 3: Compare the current and the past performance of your business or brand.
The Digital Marketing Gap Analysis should also answer the following questions:
- Do your customers need to engage in conversation with a marketing representative or go through complex sales cycles?
- Do you offer a free trial period, self-diagnostic, online demo, or quality images of the product or service?
- Can consumers buy your products or services without the need to speak with a representative?
- Are your target consumers proactive in seeking your offering (products/services)?
- Do they click sponsored ads via social, search, or retargeting?
- Are they looking for local brand providers?
- Do you offer a call to action, value proposition, or other competitive options to your buyers?
- On a 1-10 scale, how do you perceive your brand recognition?
What is the best way to bridge the gap?
Based on the data you have and the answers to the questions above, you can easily modify your existing marketing plan or create new marketing campaigns to ramp up your sales performance. To ensure continuous business, running a regular audit or assessment of your business performance and marketing plan is a must. It will help you fill the void and select a mix of new marketing strategies to quickly bridge the gap and regain your competitive power.
Takeaway
The digital world is constantly evolving, and so is the interest of consumers in the latest devices, products, and services. This changing landscape and technology make it easy for buyers to access their preferred brands. As a result, businesses and brands need to keep up through digital transformation and fresh marketing campaigns to bridge the gap that will slow down their growth opportunities.
