Marketing underwent a practically complete transformation since online commerce triumphed. The needs of the public have changed, and also the way in which products have to be sold to be successful. Ads on the Internet, on social networks or Google banners, if used wisely, are now more effective than advertising on, say, television. One of the secrets: the Internet offers the possibility of targeting ads to a specific audience profile.
“The fundamental problem with advertising is that it is invasive, it does not discriminate,” Pablo Borrás, CEO of the 2bedigital marketing agency from Compostela, explains to ABC. Now, it has to be “qualitative.” His company is succeeding with Spanish footwear brands. The main Spanish manufacturers work with them, and from 2bedigital they design the marketing plan that the clients need according to the sales objectives.
“You are not going to offer the same shoes to a 25-year-old girl as to a 60-year-old woman,” Borrás exemplifies. They are essentially based on statistics to adapt the ads to their “‘buyer-persona’” or specific target audience. The volume of traffic on a website generates data “that allows us to analytically see which products that particular ‘buyer-person’ is most interested in buying,” she explains. From this information, an advertisement is generated that may interest each one.
When we are browsing social networks or visiting web pages, it is increasingly common for the ads that appear to be related to our latest searches or products that we consult. It is, in essence, what advertisers are now looking for. “We want the publicity that person receives to be appropriate to what they can potentially buy.” The strategy, “almost by chance”, was like a glove with the footwear sector. They move more than 13 million euros in shoes. In the last year, they have helped sell more than 180,000 pairs, avoiding giants like Zalando or Amazon, which in the end, would reduce profitability for their customers. “They are not enemies, but there is a problem with the business margin” and the brand image, explains Borrás. “Really, the investment in branding of the product belongs to the brand, and the fact that you have a digital supplier like Amazon leads you to the fact that all that investment you have made in reputation ends up due to a question of price, it dissolves.” The goal is to jump that bridge.
The paradigm of online commerce has changed. And, in addition, these strategies are not only applied to clothing stores or material products, but in this company they also work with banks, hospitals or soccer teams, such as Celta de Vigo. Any company today seeks to optimize its resources, including investment in marketing. There are no longer ads that reach the public indiscriminately, but now it is easier than ever to reach a very specific target.
“I saw that this was an opportunity in the digital world,” Borrás now tells of the time, 10 years ago, when he opened the agency. “It started with a very small project with a classmate and now we are a team of 23 people” who work directly or indirectly.
