Digital Marketing - Study Notes:
Your audience and your competitors
Through your audience research, you should be able to identify many of the brands that your audience is paying attention to. You can use this information to try and figure out who your real competition is and whether they’re serving your desired audience fully.
It’s important to note that your competition won’t be only about the direct competitors that you’re familiar with. The audience is paying attention to all sorts of media outlets, influencers, and other brands and movements.
For example, if you are a company that sells chemical hair straightener to African-American audiences, you won’t only be competing with other hair straighteners, you’ll also be in competition with the natural hair movement which promotes not using chemicals on African-American hair.
The role of apathy and cynicism
Another competitive consideration is how motivated your audience is. Apathy and cynicism in your particular category could also affect your messaging. If your audience feels apathetic or cynical towards your category of product, you may want to speak to that cynicism or apathy in your messaging. For instance, if you were selling a skin cream that truly reduces fine lines, but knowing from your research that your audience is cynical about these claims after many of years of being disappointed with competitor products, you can use this knowledge to address the apathy. As in, “We know you’ve heard this before, but...” You can also offer up an extended trial to overcome the lack of motivation to try a new product.
Competitor insights
In the competitive research section, you’re looking to unearth a number of insights:
- Their strategy: What are they doing to reach their audience? Is it working? What works? This is about researching both what your competition is doing as well as what they’re not doing.
- Their target market: Who’s in their audience? Is it the same as yours? And how well did they connect with this audience? It’s about finding out which audiences your competition serves and doesn’t serve well.
- Their reach: You will be looking for opportunity gaps in order to create a “Blue Ocean Strategy.” One that has less competition and more unique value for your audience.
Tara Hunt
Tara Hunt is an executive-level digital marketing professional with over 20 years of experience. She is the founder of Truly Inc., the author of one of the first books on how the social web is changing business, and a professional public speaker. Tara has created and executed proven digital and social strategies across multiple industries. She specializes in relationship and inbound marketing, with a passion for data-driven strategy.
Clark Boyd
Clark Boyd is CEO and founder of marketing simulations company Novela. He is also a digital strategy consultant, author, and trainer. Over the last 12 years, he has devised and implemented international marketing strategies for brands including American Express, Adidas, and General Motors.
Today, Clark works with business schools at the University of Cambridge, Imperial College London, and Columbia University to design and deliver their executive-education courses on data analytics and digital marketing.
Clark is a certified Google trainer and runs Google workshops across Europe and the Middle East. This year, he has delivered keynote speeches at leadership events in Latin America, Europe, and the US. You can find him on X (formerly Twitter), LinkedIn, and Slideshare. He writes regularly on Medium and you can subscribe to his email newsletter, hi, tech.
