Complacency is a dangerous thing. As anyone who used to work in the newspaper industry, rented videos at Blockbuster, or sold camera film will tell you, pride comes before a fall. So, what does this mean for “legacy” Internet brands like Amazon, Google, eBay, Facebook, and YouTube? A new breed of disruptive competitor has them all in their sights.
Disruptive Competition
The problem with trying to become the next big anything by simply replicating what the previous iteration did is that you will always be playing catch up. The big guys will always lead the game and have a bigger audience, bigger budget, and more significant resources.
The only way to challenge them is to completely blindside them by doing something new and taking them by surprise.
TikTok: Reinventing the Social Experience
TikTok is an obvious innovator at the moment. They’ve not only disrupted the entire social media landscape, taking audiences from the likes of Facebook and YouTube, but they’ve completely transformed social commerce, potentially making TikTok shop a viable competitor for Amazon and eBay.
TikTok is particularly strong in ecommerce verticals like health and beauty, home and garden, and entertainment. In the music industry, TikTok is not only a springboard for launching the careers of aspiring artists. It has also introduced heritage acts like Kate Bush and Metallica to a whole new audience. Meanwhile, the #BookTok trend has introduced millions of readers to new authors and classic books. TikTok is also impacting the search landscape, with Gen Z audiences trusting the app to guide their entire customer journey from discovery to advocacy.
Takeaway for Marketers:
When a platform like TikTok has impacted so many channels and continues to build influence across many popular verticals, it presents a thrilling opportunity for marketers. Stop thinking TikTok is just for kids and take a more grown-up approach to the opportunity. That means making products available on the marketplace and investing in content.
Gamification: Play the Game
Shopping should be fun, and one ecommerce brand that has really taken this principle to heart is Temu.
Famous for its low prices for products that can best be described as impulse purchases, Temu hooks customers in with elements of gamification and social commerce. While it might be easy to dismiss Temu as a seller of cheap Chinese goods, things are changing.
Temu is working hard to attract US retailers and manufacturers to its marketplace and is rapidly taking market share from legacy ecommerce brands. Amazon is so worried about the threat from the likes of Temu that they have launched their low-cost mobile shopping service, Haul. Meanwhile, marketplaces like eBay (the world’s largest seller of automotive parts) will undoubtedly be nervously monitoring Temu’s growth in that category. One of Temu’s greatest strengths is its ability to open new product categories quickly.
Takeaway for Marketers:
As new online marketplaces roll out and aggressively take market share from legacy sites, this creates urgent opportunities for retailers to own their categories and dominate the market before competition forces the inevitable race to the bottom. The time to make the move is now.
AI: Owning the Conversation
We’ve written a lot about the opportunities and threats AI tools like ChatGPT present for marketers. We’ve also discussed how these tools will potentially shift the search and SEO industries.
When an AI tool can provide a user with a concise, intelligent response to a search query (taking content from multiple sources before recommending relevant sources), you have to wonder what will happen to the major search engines that rely on users making multiple clicks on multiple ads to pay the bills. This represents the biggest change in the search industry since Google took ownership of it way back in 1998.
Privacy Risks
We love that technology companies are taking more proactive steps to enhance their users’ privacy. But we also can’t ignore that these moves are based more on an increasingly challenging legislative landscape than big techs’ desire to protect their users.
As third-party cookies disappear, many traditional digital advertising platforms will be forced to change how they target users and deliver content. For example, they might use contextual targeting to replace behavioral targeting.
Businesses must carefully monitor their marketing campaigns to ensure they continue to deliver against their objectives. This is a crucial practice that all marketers should be doing. It may also be time to consider, re-consider, or optimize strategies that don’t rely on third-party data.
The Good News: Some Things Never Change
Of course, we don’t expect the likes of Google, Facebook, eBay, or Amazon to go away anytime soon. But that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t be aware of the forces that are changing the market. This is especially true when the big guys themselves are wary enough to quickly roll out products and services in an attempt to compete with the disruptors. However, the good news is that despite co-existing in that ever-changing market, there are some marketing channels that continue to deliver solid opportunities for marketers to drive engagement. These include:
Email Marketing
Reliable and resilient, email marketing continues to deliver results. You’re missing a critical opportunity if you’re not leveraging first-party data from purchases, subscriptions, and surveys to engage your audience.
SMS Marketing
With incredible open and engagement rates, SMS is a powerful tool for time-sensitive offers and mobile-first audiences.
Content Marketing
Every business has a story, but not all tell it well. Quality content marketing, whether blog posts, social media, podcasts, or videos, remains a crucial way to connect with audiences and stand out from competitors.
Social Media
Many businesses are present on social media, but few truly engage. Social media is about conversation, not just promotion. Brands that understand this are thriving, while those clinging to outdated ad-focused strategies struggle to gain traction.
emfluence: Helping You Stay Ahead
Change is inevitable, but with the right strategy, you can stay ahead. emfluence is here to help you navigate and capitalize on emerging opportunities. Contact us today at expert@emfluence.com to learn how we can help you become a more visible, proactive, and successful marketer.
