On 20 and 21 February 2019, the Global Marketing & Digital Summit was held in Lazise (Verona), one of the main events for companies operating in the field of digital marketing dedicated to the business community of Marketing, Digital Communication and E-commerce. In fact, it is here that the experts of the sector meet to exchange advice on the main approaches and on the latest communication strategies to obtain significant performances.
On this occasion, Federico Spada, CEO and co-founder of Spada Media Group, shared his position with the participants of the event: to look at the continuous directional changes that the sector is experiencing with greater awareness and confidence, not only following this current of change but directing it.
Still in the context of the Global Summit, Federico Spada answered some questions about CAFÈ Marketing.
The 2020 goal is approaching and, as happens for all the beginnings of the decade, there are many expectations and expectations for this date. What do you think are the most important trends for marketing towards the end of this decade?
We have recently entered 2019 but this new year already promises to be a year full of challenges! Those who work in marketing and, specifically, in digital marketing cannot in fact ignore increasingly topical issues such as influencer marketing, live streaming and the explosion of stories, social commerce, chatbots and virtual assistants, not to mention then of the irrepressible proliferation of video content. It has been estimated that in 2019 the attraction power of online video ads will be very high. Suffice it to say that today 65% of the impressions obtained from Instagram ads derive from video content.
In 2000, the Cluetrain Manifesto screamed to the world that “markets are conversations”, but many companies continue to prefer the monologue. Were the authors of that manifesto wrong or do those companies continue to be wrong?
Markets are conversations. On the other hand, they are made of human beings! Brands now have the arduous task of rebuilding users’ trust and speaking to them in a completely different way. Humanization was mentioned earlier, but what does it mean in practice? Above all, it means personalization: of contents, strategies, offers. An example: people want to be connected and want to be able to communicate in a simple, direct and fun way. Chats are all about this: they reduce distances and create continuous communication. The numbers of Facebook Messenger on the other hand speak for themselves: its users are about 900 million! Therefore, companies can no longer ignore the data and the potential of instant messaging platforms. These become indispensable tools today thanks to their ability to personalize the interaction with the user, making it increasingly consistent with the company’s tone of voice. The advantage? Direct communication with fans and clearing of distances.
Will you propose any news at # GMSummit19, or a product or service that you will highlight in some way or which you want to mention in these lines?
Also this year at our stand, number 5, the Social Live Printer will be active, capable of printing photos shared on social networks associated with a specific hashtag in real time. All those who post photos with the # GMSummit19 on their Instagram profiles during the event will be able to come to our stand and collect it for free.