Ninety-one per cent of Canadians used the internet in 2019, according to the World Bank, a figure that has remained stable since 2016 and is unlikely to decline. That means that Canadians of every age are online and, as time passes, a growing proportion will be digital natives.
For digital marketing agencies, these facts come as both good and bad news. Digital has never been more critical to the overall marketing and advertising mix; it has also never been more competitive. Brands understand that their clients, regardless of age, can be found online, and are adjusting their budgets appropriately. Costs-per-click are rising, advertising has flooded social media feeds, and SEO has become a ruthless game of content competition and metadata one-upmanship. It’s no longer enough to attract an impressive budget; digital marketing agencies must understand their prospective audiences and tailor their strategies to meet consumers where they spend their time online.
In a recent article, Forbes Communications Council member Julie Meredith described the importance of meeting influential demographics (specifically ‘the future spenders of tomorrow – Gen Z – and the … consumers with the highest household spending in 2019 – Baby Boomers and Gen X’) in their digital hometowns. That means investing in social commerce strategies for the former and adjusting existing marketing mixes and targeting approaches for the latter.
“Building a social media strategy that speaks to each generation could pay dividends for brands seeking long-term business growth,” Meredith writes.
As a Google Partner digital marketing agency, it is our job to adjust our strategies in accordance with shifting user behaviour and generational trends. There was a time not so long ago that the primary predictor of digital success was budget: if you were willing to spend, you’d achieve a positive ROI. Today, digital marketing requires more finesse, more channels, and more content; the challenges are greater, but so are the potential rewards.
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