Influence of digitisation will continue in post-pandemic era – Oti Ukubehinje
By Ibidunni Banjoko
For some time now, the world has been in a new stage of transformation where businesses and governments are focused on equipping themselves with advanced technologies and new models in order to stay relevant and competitive. Apart from being a wake-up call for various organisations to have a plan to deal with disruptions, the Covid-19 pandemic has also marked a watershed moment that accelerated the process for digitisation throughout the world.
Fielding questions from MARKETING EDGE in a recent interview, Oti Ukubehinje, VP, Product Marketing and Growth, Terragon and President, Association of Digital Marketing Professionals (ADMARP) Nigeria, said that the pandemic created a digital bubble that led to the emergence and growth of new platforms like House Party, Zoom, etc.
According to him, the influence of digitisation will still continue in the post-pandemic era, but brand and business owners must not lose sight of things returning to the usual as the world learns to cope with the new normal.
“Employees now demand for hybrid work patterns instead of full in-office or full remote work. Companies are spending more on cloud computing and storage than ever before and this will continue to grow.
“Most banks are doubling down on their digital offerings, from mobile apps to USSD, and experiencing constant drop in in-branch transactions. I think in general, some industries like finance and business services will see continuous digitisation, while physically experienced services like hospitality and travel will return to normal as the pandemic fades away,” Mr. Ukubehinje said.
Speaking on digital marketing accelerating sales in uncertain times, the digital expert noted that the rise and rise of Instagram vendors cannot be ignored. “In fact, Facebook is working with partners like Terragon to double down on its small business solutions to power the rising demand for e-commerce in Africa. Financial services have seen digital marketing prove itself over and again as the ideal channel for scalable customer acquisition. Investment in app-related campaigns for banks increased 2x over in the last 12 months according to AppsFlyer.”
He argued that with the erosion of third party cookies happening soon, the importance of first party data cannot be over-emphasised.
“Any business that is not investing in owning a system or technology to manage the proper collection, enrichment and activation of first party data is setting up for failure.
“Third party audience providers will be restricted, and having the largest pool for first party data for your ideal customers will become a competitive advantage. Some companies are already investing heavily and playing a loss-leading game in short term to acquire customer data that would become valuable in the long term,” he concluded.
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