The marketing landscape has drastically changed over the decades. Promotional marketing teams constantly find new and exciting ways to market a product that promptly adapts to the innovations of the technological and creative industries. Many still believe in the classic method of TV commercials and full-page newspaper spreads and there is no doubt that these marketing techniques have a far and wide reach. However, these tactics often have a short shelf life and are eventually seen as tired and repetitive. Constant re-runs of a TV ad may inspire more contempt than engagement and a campaign purely through paper publications will probably end up in the next day’s recycling bin.
That is why marketing campaigns in the digital field are seen as much more efficient and simply more exciting. Modern society has conjured the ability to create a completely virtual space, separate from our physical and often limiting world. In cyberspace, we are creators of universes that are not permissible by the laws of science and real-world logic. This technological entity has fostered a subculture of its own that has an immense and legitimate impact on how we choose to live our lives.
The notion of “chronically online individuals” indicates a growing community that understands a certain perspective of popular culture that may be incomprehensible to those who do not engage with the Internet. However, much of the modern generation find themselves extremely dependent on the Internet for their professional or personal lives. Hence, they are integrated with the nuances of Internet culture in varying degrees.
This age of the Internet has prompted advertising agencies and companies, both multinationals and independent business owners to work with the forces of Internet virality to successfully establish a long-lasting brand identity. Now how does one achieve such feats? Well, marketing experts have noticed that consumer engagement increases when products are angled to popular Internet trends.
Some believe that it is better if these trends arise naturally through pure public interest. However, one can steer interest toward a product by coming up with a fun and relevant way of generating intrigue. Social media challenges are often a go-to strategy to generate interest. The trick is to align the challenge in unusual and often extreme ways to make it more enticing for consumers to participate and post about. For example, the viral Crumble Cookies or Spice tolerance challenges that promote Da Bomb Hot Sauce. Boosting your promotion with Internet slang and understanding the specific nature of Internet humor can earn appreciation from social media users. For example, the social media interactions of companies like Duolingo. However, there’s no way of predicting how the volatile crowds may react to your attempts to assimilate with popular culture.
The Internet is an incredibly vast and unpredictable forum that is swirling with varied opinions and bubbling with the next big thing. To lasso the attention, excitement, and respect of these uncertain audiences is a difficult yet highly rewarding task. There is no real way of knowing how to determine what the Internet masses want. Relying solely on market studies and statistics will not simply present us with the trends that will take the world by storm, one must also be aware of what the average internet user enjoys and market their product accordingly with conviction and tact.