The “credit crunch”

Over the past 12 months we, as consumers have seen staple high street stores such as Woolworths, Currys and a few others hand in their liquidation papers and fall by the way side, limping from the wrath of the credit crunch.

The same degree of downturn doesn’t have to affect online shops, and the simple reason for this is that ecommerce shop owners can be rigorous in their advertising spending, offering their consumer targeted promotions without the need for a large scale PR stunt or expenditure to get the message out there. Online overheads are a lot smaller, once the site is specified and built the only ongoing cost is hosting, and site maintenance – there are no large overheads.

We are in a fast paced economical climate with financial changes affecting us as the consumer weekly. Large brands such as Mini have recognised this and started looking at the benefits of changing the way they sell their products. Last year the Mini advertising theme was based around heritage, adventure, fun and exciting times with the product. However, this year they are looking at how the car can benefit the consumer; lower tax, most economical in its class etc; they have essentially made their product financially viable in the current economic climate. By coupling this approach to social media advertisement they have bought their product to the forefront of consumers’ minds that may have been in the market for a new car but needed the extra persuasion.

There are currently few digital agencies in the UK that can offer anything above the standard SEO and PPC campaigns which simply make a key word hit the top spot in the search engines, there is no justification for this method if people aren’t actively looking for that “t-Shirt” or “Christmas gift”. Awareness needs to be created of a brands, services and products to make search marketing effective for businesses. We are living in a society where shoppers need to be wined and dined rather than shaken upside down for their hard earned cash. Online sellers must change the way they sell by going to the consumer rather than waiting for them to click on their site and buy. Any digital agency worth their salt will deploy a strategy to engage the brand as a whole entirety with potential customers on every level. On top of this it has to be actively monitored and changed to suite the brand and the market reaction and trends.

It is crucial to find a digital agency that can manage cost effective channels such as social media, blogging, online picture and video distribution, as well as SEO & PPC techniques which enable messages to be relayed in a non sales focused way but with the end goal of converting to sales. They must also allow consumers to connect with brands on a social level and by doing so generating a buzz for the brand and further word of mouth advertising which can only increase its popularity and sales. All of this must be deployed strategically by a team that understands the core concept of brand engagement.