Florian Heinemann on The State of Digital Marketing & How to Succeed

With dmexco 2017 behind us, normality is returning and we’re able to digest the great insights offered in last week’s workshop with Project A’s Florian Heinemann.

While the focus of the workshop was on marketing tools, Florian’s in-depth talk impelled us to cover a broad range of subject matter as he shared his views on the latest developments in digital marketing, along with key pathways to success. We’ve summed up the key highlights below.

Firstly, as the distinction between online and offline marketing becomes more obscure, a change in mindset is needed. Many online marketing principles can be adopted in overall marketing strategies. In order to stay relevant, today's retailers must reflect on the following:

Personalize your content

• Users demand a personalized experience
• Every advertiser should be able to produce authentic content that sells
• Personalized content is straightforward with the right tool
• Most ecommerce players still aren’t considering producing content at scale
• Amazon has an even higher content budget than Netflix this year

Mastering direct customer relationships is key

• Orchestrating the customer journey, owning your customer, and maintaining a direct relationship with them is key to staying relevant as an advertiser
• Building these direct relationships provides you with a “margin haven”

We need more innovative advertising formats

• People are tired of blunt, boring creatives in medium rectangle format!
• Format innovation should be driven by advertisers

Loyalty is a fickle foundation

• Don’t rely too heavily on brand image, this can disappear sooner than you think
• The possibility that you’ll be replaced by a white label solution is huge
• That’s why you need to invest in content, in addition to managing your brand’s reputation

Data competence is crucial

• You *need* dedicated tech resources in your marketing team
• There shouldn’t be a trade-off between qualitative and quantitative marketing - You need people who are strong in storytelling *and* have analytical expertise
• Don’t mistake being process-driven for being truly data-driven
• A key premise for the next decade: __It’s easier for software to enter other industries than for other industries to hire software experts__

If you'd like to watch the full talk, you can do so here. 

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