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Gangnam Style: What It Can Teach Us About Digital

Going from obscurity to the spotlight used to take years, no matter the industry or the stage involved. No-name acts don’t just get thrown into the spotlight, and yet, we’ve all heard of Gangnam Style – if you haven’t, you’ve been living under a rock. This South Korean music video achieved worldwide recognition and status as the most-viewed Youtube video in about three months. Three months. Compare that to the next most popular video, by a certain young Canadian pop star, which took years to accumulate enough views to reach the top of the Youtube chart, and that was with support from mainstream media channels.

But enough about K-pop’s digital footprint – we’re here to talk about yours. What does your digital footprint look like? During my presentation at the Insurance-Canada.ca Technology Conference, I’ll be taking a look at building your digital footprint beyond the current buzzword of “social media.” It’s easy to feel like you’re wasting time, but by strategically examining the platforms, as well as your content and your audience, you can create a digital footprint that directly addresses your business goals – in a measurable, quantifiable way. Digital can show value at all levels of the insurance industry, and I’ll be discussing how, as well as looking at applying these concepts to current issues faced by practitioners.

It’s possible for digital channels to take you from obscurity to the spotlight just as quickly as they did for Gangnam Style, but on a stage that makes the most sense for the insurance industry. Your audiences are on certain platforms more than others, and they prefer different types of content and engagement. Recognizing this and identifying how your audience is engaging with you is the first step to a solid digital footprint.

Next, you need to realize that traditional timeframes and techniques are being disrupted by digital technology every day, in every industry, from music to insurance.  What has “always worked” in a given industry isn’t necessarily what will lead to the best results in the future, now more so than ever. That’s where digital comes in: You can become the sought-after provider of services in your niche by using new tactics to connect with your audience more effectively.

Whenever you’re engaging in a new platform or trying a new digital technique, you should always know your goals. Are you trying to generate more awareness? Drive sales? Qualify more leads? Once you know your goals, you can set related key performance indicators and measure them using appropriate metrics. In the case of Gangnam Style, one of the major goals was awareness, which judging by the related number of views metric, is a goal they handily achieved. What are your metrics? How are your efforts performing?

These are the questions I’ll be tackling in my presentation during the Social Boot Camp at the 2013 Insurance-Canada.ca Technology Conference, March 18, in Toronto. If you’d like to connect beforehand to discuss your company’s digital footprint, let me know. Can’t wait to start the conversation.

 

Editor’s Note: Andrew Milne ([email protected]) is CEO, Founder & Lead Strategist, bv02.   Andrew has spent over a decade creating innovative strategy, eMarketing, communication, design and web development solutions as the lead strategist and founder of bv02. He has worked with notable clients, including Canadian insurers and brokers.

Andrew will be presenting  “What is Your Digital Footprint?” during the Social Boot Camp at the 2013 Insurance-Canada.ca Technology Conference.   He just might dance as well.