A report by Gartner has found that digital marketing spend is predicted to increase 17% in 2015 showing just how popular it has become (Gartner, 2015). This blog will explore whether in some cases, companies are going too far with their digital marketing approach and will consumers find it intrusive?
I believe digital marketing should integrate seamlessly into consumer’s lives by understanding them and their behaviours.
Let’s take Dorothy Perkins for example.
I have received a marketing email from them every day for the last 6 days. After reading the first one, the subsequent emails got sent straight to the trash folder.
They have tweeted 8 times within the space of 24 hours with content that doesn’t grab my attention and their Facebook page is no different.
The impact of this is that they’ve clogged up my timeline, newsfeed and inbox and I would definitely describe this as intrusive.
In contrast, let’s look at a success story, Asos. I receive fewer marketing emails but each one seems to have a purpose which encourages me to open it, read it, click through and sometimes purchase. Admittedly they do tweet a lot but this doesn’t interrupt my online activities as the content is interesting, includes media and is relevant to me, their target audience. An example:
So what are the consequences of too much digital marketing? Academic research by (Smith, 2011) has found that messages that interrupt a consumer’s online activity may create ill feeling towards the brand. Although dated, more research by (Hairong, et al., 2002) shows that if consumers have feelings of irritation by a brands online presence this will limit the flow of positive messages. This contradicts directly with the purpose of digital marketing to promote products and services using digital distribution channels.
Also, taking history as an example; look at direct mail, now referred to as ‘junk mail’ and ignored by almost every consumer out there. So by ignoring digital marketing netiquette and becoming intrusive, do companies run the risk of
So how can companies understand digital marketing manners and insure they do not become intrusive? Companies need to evolve to a more thoughtful and creative way of digital marketing and think of quality over quantity.
This blog was inspired by a conclusion drawn from an event hosted by Digital Annexe at DA University (The Drum, 2015). http://www.thedrum.com/news/2015/01/26/too-much-digital-marketing-remains-intrusive-says-havas-medias-amy-kean-da
References
Campaign, 2013. Digital marketing is ‘invasive and annoying’, study claims. [Online]
Available at: http://www.campaignlive.co.uk/news/1185778/digital-marketing-invasive-annoying-finds-adobe-research/
[Accessed 12th February 2015].
Gartner, 2015. Budgeting for 2015? Expect the unexpected.. [Online]
Available at: http://www.gartner.com/marketing/digital/research/digital-marketing-spend/
[Accessed 12th February 2015].
Hairong, L., Edwards, S. & Lee, J.-H., 2002. Measuring the Intrusiveness of Advertisements:Scale Development and Validation. Journal of Advertising, Vol.31(No. 2), pp. Pg. 37-47.
Smith, K., 2011. Digital marketing strategies that Millennials find appealing, motivating,or just annoying. Journal of Strategic Marketing, Vol. 19(No.6), pp. Pg. 489-499.
The Drum, 2015. Too much digital marketing remains intrusive says Havas Media’s Amy Kean at DA University. [Online]
Available at: http://www.thedrum.com/news/2015/01/26/too-much-digital-marketing-remains-intrusive-says-havas-medias-amy-kean-da
[Accessed 12th February 2015].