Digital Transformation in 2017 and beyond

Kevin Cogill, SEM Campaign Manager at Salmat Digital and the brainchild behind Kevin-cogill.com, gives us some insight into the evolution of digital and how it’s survival depends on both its response towards change and how humans respond to said change.

Back in biology class, there is one quote I have always stood by to this day, from the great biologist named Charles Darwin, “It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change.” We as humans, change is a scary, fearful, uncomfortable, which places us in a fight or flight situation. However, embracing change leads to opening your mind to new things and grants you a different aspect of life. Technology has been at the forefront of change, from the early days to the dialler phone to a now fully capable PC in your pocket (smartphone). It is an ever-evolving revolution and will continue to improve and get better over time.

Embracing Technology

Technology introduced the adoption of the intranet (aka the internet). Originally created by NATO to communicate within their organisation, since then it has been opened to the public and connects to millions of networks and computers today. The online space is an ever-evolving and rapidly developing year or year.

Since Google introduced AdWords in 2004. This gave ‘Marketing’ a new window of opportunity and improved measuring capabilities on multiple touchpoints. It is projected by 2020, ad spend will rise to $20B. Which is quite a staggering number, since online marketing has been introduced a few years ago compared to traditional above the line mediums.

Future of Digital Marketing

Google machine learning technology has improved overtime. The introduction of smart search and display campaigns is one step forward in Google’s attempt of campaign automation and shifting the work load of campaign management from human to computer. This won’t make us redundant though. It is just another evolutionary change towards our job title.

Client/human interaction and creating strategic processes will be key. In the age of Virtual Reality and AR, innovation is in its prime, which opens up more doors to marketing opportunities. As marketers, we need to embrace modern technologies and find gaps in the market to future proof ourselves and deliver the best results to your clients.

Kevin Cogill SEM Campaign Manager at Salmat DigitalMore about Kevin

About the author

Kevin is a major Arsenal fan and a coffee enthusiast - he swears that Cape Town Coffee Collective, Haas, is by far the best!. A true jack of all trades, Kevin has over 6 years in the Organic and Paid Search marketing space with a background in web development (front-end). In his spare time he finds himself reading up on the latest industry news and attending networking events. His weekends are reserved for binge watching Netflix with the fiancé and unplugging from tech. If you really want to find him try the beach or popular picnic spots around Cape Town.

Tags: guest post, digital , trends, psychology