Tim Price is currently the digital marketing guy at Yuppiechef, a leading eCommerce company specialising in kitchen appliances. His experience in digital includes working with popular local IT brands such as RSAWEB and Net Prophet among many others. Tim took some time to talk to us at Heavy Chef about brewing up digital marketing success.
Hi Tim, thanks for taking some time to speak with us about your field of expertise. In your opinion, what is the greatest benefit of online marketing that traditional methods cannot offer?
Firstly, we can fail faster – Online marketing affords you the luxury of speedy feedback on what isn’t working and the flexibility to change direction quickly.
Also, it allows for deeper insights – The digital/online world is swimming in data. If harnessed correctly, you can gain deeper insights into your marketing efforts and customer behavior.
And lastly, there is tighter measurement – Measuring ROI in the digital world is far more precise than traditional methods.
What are your most important tips/strategies to remember when conducting digital marketing?
Keep it real – Technology is not a substitute for a bad product or service. No matter how much technology you have in place, make sure that the fundamentals like product quality and customer service are still in good shape.
It is also important to focus on quality. It’s not hard to get traffic (Facebook likes, Twitter followers etc), but if these people are not genuinely interested in what you have to offer, it is unlikely that they’ll translate into sales or loyal customers. Resist the urge to acquire easy or cheap traffic if it means you have to sacrifice long-term business goals (like brand equity). This is simply wasteful.
Which online campaigns have caught your eye that show great innovation?
Campaigns catching my eye at the moment are those that span across both traditional and digital media, or include a rich mix of digital media threaded together.
I really liked (yup, that’s a pun!) a recent campaign by Corona Beer which enabled their Facebook community members to have their Facebook profile picture featured as part of a gigantic digital billboard in New York City through a simple digital mechanism. This campaign bolstered their online community by 6000%. Digital enables old forms of advertising to evolve into something more fun and engaging, and of value to the customers.
How do you think digital marketing is changing in emerging markets?
As Internet users are becoming more mature, marketers are able to use more sophisticated marketing mechanisms to reach them. Access to broadband, social media, media-rich content and the proliferation of smartphones and tablets will probably be the biggest drivers of change in online marketing in the near future.
You can expect to see an increase in the size and number of online communities around brands and common interests. Those that can foster these communities and provide quality content will win.
Who in your field of work do you look up to or admire?
When pondering the digital world, I find it’s useful to draw on perspective people inside and outside of my field itself. Some of the people on my inspirational list include Jason Fried (37 Signals), Malcolm Gladwell (The New Yorker) and Paul Arden (author).
Thanks for your time and valuable knowledge, Tim. Follow Tim on Twitter here.
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