Having pitched effectively in classification mode, Michael Bronsdon went into extra innings to explain Digital Marketing. It was quite apparent that this has revolutionized the advertising/selling arena. Traditional marketing messages via radio, direct mail, newspaper, and magazines yielded slow (if any) response times and were costly. By the e-mail route, the process is cheaper, has a quicker response time, and can be tailored to a smaller, more select group of potential customers or even individuals. Digital Marketing entails knowing something about a targeted person and catering to that person. As any business, this modality has its own jargon, to wit:
- Search Engine Optimization. In this, a marketer may pay for an ad popping up on google. Also, a web page may be tailored, with an ad likely to be captured on the searcher.
- Behavior Analysis. An advertiser ascertains where individuals may spend their time on the web. Their interests can thus be catered to.
- Buyers’ behavior. The vendor can tell when people are abandoning a search avenue and can learn from it. This gives rise to A/B Testing. In this, two offerings are made. Such information can show which works better.
All of this leads to offers being tailored to an individual.
- Big Data. Large amounts of stored data provided by companies to advertisers trying to understand customers.
- Machine learning. This is a technique in identifying and tracing fraud, particularly in credit cards. Knowing the patterns of both the cardholder and the aberrant patters of the illegal user, a company (i.e., bank) can pinpoint this in a much shorter time than previously and can put a hold on the credit card.
During this presentation, a murmured “Orwellian” was heard. The implication was, perhaps, that this may be the beginning of further delving, beyond buying habits, into private lives.
Comment: “He who knows, and knows he knows, he is wise. Follow him.”
