A brief description on how today's consumers use technology to connect, evaluate and make purchasing decisions.

1. THE EVOLUTION OF DIGITAL MARKETING –
ASSIGNMENT 2 TASK 1
HOW CONSUMERS USE TECHNOLOGY
NIAMH DOHERTY

2. INTRODUCTION
• We are more innovative, intelligent and connected now than ever.
• We rely on technological advancements to make our world what is is.
• “Technology is the application of scientific knowledge for practical purpose.” (Oxford
Dictionary)

3. ACCESS TO THE INTERNET
ACCESS TO THE INTERNET

4. DIGITAL DEVICES USED BY AUDIENCES
COMPUTERS
1960s
• Around 10,000 computers in the world
• Cost hundreds of thousands of dollars
• A few thousand words of magnetic core memory
1990s
• The internet has one million hosts
• Computers are 9x faster
• Network bandwidth is 20 million times greater
2000s
• Apple introduce the first MacBook Air in 2008
• Most people now use laptops or tablets
(“Tim Berners Lee”, 1994)
(“Apple MacBook”, 2014)

5. DIGITAL DEVICES USED BY AUDIENCES
TABLETS
2000
• Bill Gates introduces the first tablet
• He predicts that tablets will be extremely popular by 2005
2010
• Apple release the first iPad
(“Microsoft Tablet PC” 2014) (“First Apple iPad”, 2010)

6. DIGITAL DEVICES USED BY AUDIENCES
SMARTPHONES
• Early phones had limited capabilities in
terms of internet browsing.
• We can thank iOS and Android for the
mobile browsing experience we know
today. (Piejko, 2015)
• We can now access the internet from anywhere in the world.
• In 2017, over half the world had a smartphone.
• In 2016, there were 26 million people were using Facebook and a quarter
of these people were only using their smartphone to access the site.
(“Nokia 3310”, 2016)
(“iPhone: A Visual History”, 2014)

7. HOW DO CUSTOMERS SEARCH FOR INFORMATION?
• The internet offers convenience to consumers and allows them to search and
evaluate more effectively. (Moon, 2004)
• 89% of customers begin their buying process with a search engine. Companies must
utliise correct marketing techniques such as appearing near the top of search lists,
creating well designed websites, converting the visitor to a customer and impressing
the customer after closing the sale.
SEARCH ENGINES

8. HOW DO CUSTOMERS SEARCH FOR INFORMATION?
SOCIAL MEDIA ADVERTISING
Traditional
advertising relied
heavily on
newspapers, TV and
billboards, however
nowadays social
media is one of the
largest markets.
• A study by ODM Group showed that 74% of
customers use social networks to help with
their purchasing decisions. (Gervin, 2019)
• Forbes reported that 78% of consumers
make purchases based on companies’ posts
on social platforms. (Olenski, 2012)
(“Consumer shopping habits”, 2018)

9. HOW DO CUSTOMERS SEARCH FOR INFORMATION?
INFLUENCER MARKETING
• Influencer marketing has had a huge impact on
consumers’ buying habits.
• Another term for an influencer is a ‘prosumer’.
According to Kent Business Matters (2017), a
prosumer refers to someone who not only
reads and watches online content, but also
creates their own. They post or share content
based on their personal experiences.
• Influencer marketing generated 11 times the
return on investment of traditional marketing
methods. (TapInfluence, Nielsen, 2016)
• Almost 40% of Twitter users say they’ve bought
something as a result of an influencer tweet.
(Influencer Marketing Hub, 2020)
• Campaigns incorporating user generated content
help engagement to rise by 50%. (Salesforce,
2016)

10. HOW DO CUSTOMERS SEARCH FOR INFORMATION?
ONLINE REVIEWS
Online reviews have a significant impact on customers purchasing decisions.
• A BrightLocal survey showed that
86% of customers read online
reviews before purchasing.
(BrightLocal, 2019)
• Only 31% of shoppers read grocery
store reviews while 60% of
customers are likely to read
restaurant reviews and 70% will
read technology and gadget
reviews. (The Chat Shop, 2018)
(“Local consumer review survey”, 2019)

11. WHAT DO CONSUMERS BUY?
• Ecommerce refers to any transaction carried out
over the internet.
• The rise of companies such as Amazon and eBay
changed the way retail works. 99 Firms’ Ecommerce
Statistics for 2020 show that ecommerce is
constantly growing worldwide.
• They suggest that by 2040, 95% of all purchases are
expected to be via ecommerce. (99 Firms, 2020)
(“Consumer shopping habits”, 2018)

12. ONLINE VIDEO CONSUMPTION
• Online video consumption has increased staggeringly
in the last 5-10 years.
• YouTube was launched 15 years ago and now has over
2 billion monthly users.
• Google bought the company in November 2006.
• When Apple released the first iPhone in 2007,
YouTube released their mobile site, making it more
accessible to users anywhere in the world.

13. (“Online video consumption statistics”, 2019)

14. CONSUMER TRENDS
• The IoT (Internet of Things) refers to everything connected to the internet. Burgess (2018) explains that it is
increasingly being used to describe objects that “talk” to each other. (Burgess, 2018)
• Morgan (2014) suggests that a new rule for the future will be “anything that can be connected, will be
connected,” meaning that all devices will have access to and be connected to one another.
• Consumers today look for experiences and not just the physical product. The growth of the internet has
changed the way consumers interact and they are constantly on the lookout for content they can relate to.
• Dunwiddle (2020) suggests that all businesses should optimise for mobile, ensuring that mobile websites are
user friendly. He says businesses should put more spend on digital marketing in order to keep up with the
Generation Z demographic. (Dunwiddle, 2020)

15. SUMMARY
• We are in the midst of the Digital Age.
• Technology has become our best friend and we use social media, videos, online reviews and websites to
make decisions.
• Businesses have also had to adapt to the new age.
• Consumers will continue to evolve and in the not-so-distant future, everything and everyone will be
connected through the power of the internet.
THANK YOU