The Digital Marketing Paradox
Facebook and Google. When you hear these two names, what do you think of?
The most prestigious tech companies to work for? I agree. Two of the most visited websites across the world? Stats have been showing that for years. The huge moves that the two tech giants are making into the healthcare industry? Less talked about, but also true.
Most recently, the two internet monopolies have been at the center of attention when it comes to the general data protection regulation (GDPR) enforced by the EU earlier in May 2018. The new law targets Facebook and Google’s targeted advertising solutions — which run on demographic big data of their billions of users — and protects EU citizens by limiting how their information can be collected online. As of mid-July, Google was fined $5 billion for violating the EU’s tech antitrust laws — a record high — and despite that, the stocks of its parent company Alphabet have soared as soon as the company announced a 26% revenue increase in Q2. Similarly, despite the Cambridge Analytica data breach scandal, Facebook’s stocks also got a boost ahead of earnings this quarter-end.
Despite malpractices and monopolistic tendencies of these firms, “big tech” still holds tremendous power in the world of digital, especially when it comes to marketing, advertising, and scaling for new ventures and small businesses. With the rising CPC (cost-per-click) on each of these respective platforms (average $1.86 on Facebook and $2 on Google), startups, SMEs, non-profits, and student organizations alike are at the tech oligopolies’ mercy to grow. It is becoming increasingly difficult for anyone and everyone to rank on Google’s SERP (search engine results page) or Facebook’s ever-changing algorithmic feed without spending an enormous amount of spend on digital ads.
Despite the existence of tons of best practices guidelines, third-party digital marketing tools, and full-service growth agencies, everyone is still inevitably reliant on Facebook’s and Google’s policies and algorithms to grow and scale. For startups and small businesses, would the solution be to revert back to traditional media the same way Slack has gone back to TV ads? Is it now time for emerging technologies to take over and introduce us to AR/VR-based mass media? When brands and event planners are utilizing personal and influencer networks via each social media’s “Stories” feature, is there now demand for a more individualized media channel?
In terms of marketing, we’ve gone from mass to personalized, from print to digital, from public feeds to private stories. Facebook and Google have transformed the ways people consume media and the strategies businesses target buyers, and created a digital real estate battlefield for stakeholders in many shapes and forms. The digital marketing world is entering a convoluted paradox; the question is, what’s next? Leave your thoughts in the comments below!
Written By: Naam Srisaard
Emory University | BBA Class of 2019 | EEVM, Co-Director of HackATL 2018
