Читать книгу Marketing Strategy In The Digital Age: Applying Kotler's Strategies To Digital Marketing - Milton Kotler - Страница 27

The Internet of Things is probably the most influential technological trend of the era. It means all the objects in the world, including people, upload all the data continuously to the Internet for circulation through the one or more microcomputers or smart sensors everywhere. In the Internet of Things, a network IP can be assigned to any object to exchange information with the Internet. Almost everything including car tires, coffee pots, human body parts and undergarments can be connected to the network. So far, the Internet of Things has realized machine-to-machine (M2M) information linkage in larger industries such as manufacturing and public utilities. Massive data processing is based on the maturity of cloud computing and computing infrastructure.

At the business level, the world of interconnected devices is an important opportunity for companies to extend their business to every corner of the world. To embrace the Internet of Things, the key challenge for corporate marketing executives is that they need to not only create compelling marketing content and social interactions for each potential customer but also interact with the smart devices of those customers. Wearable devices are regarded as an integral part of the IoT ecosystem. From Google Glass to Apple Watch, wearable technology covers everything that humans can wear.

Evrythng, an IoT startup, plans to deploy a large number of sensors to collect data to serve consumers and businesses. Evrythng’s co-founder Andy Hobbsbaum summed up the value of their company in an interview: “Evrythng is a new type of service. We provide a digital identity for products or other items. Through this digital identity, we can help companies or consumers manage everything in the world.”

In order to cope with the new digital environment and better use digital tools, companies need to establish a digital-first paradigm as follows:

• Digital marketing is the first: Enterprises should consider digital marketing first, and then employ traditional marketing with digital marketing methods, in order to adapt to the current digital-first consumption era and output proper marketing information to influence consumers in decision-making process at the right place and at the right time.

• Build a digital marketing path: Enterprises must build a digital-first marketing path to form a digital network-based marketing network. Digital consumers are always online and interact with the digital world through these devices since digital devices such as smartphones and tablets have become popular on a large scale. If companies cannot build a digital marketing path, they cannot attract the attention of the digital consumers.

• Create attractive digital marketing content: Companies also need to build dedicated teams and invest in professional resources to create a compelling digital marketing content. These contents must be practical, gain consumer attention, engage consumers in the online community and encourage them to share their social networks to form a consumer-centric communication network.