Jigar Agrawal is Digital Marketing Manager at eSparkBiz Technologies. He is passionate about anything related to Digital Marketing. Wants to unlock the world of technology and Social Media where every day there is a chance of new possibility as well as innovation.
LARRY’S INTRODUCTION
Often, as media creators, we focus on just our portion of the media industry. This article, written by Jigar Agrawal, takes a broader view of the forces that are energizing distribution. While I disagree with some of his growth observations, especially regarding the metaverse, VR and AR, I thought he had an interesting perspective to share with you.
(Image courtesy of Rostislav Uzunov. Pexels.com.)
THE TRANSFORMING MEDIA LANDSCAPE
The media sector is growing and expanding more rapidly than the global economy. Today, the media and entertainment industries have taken a massive turn after COVID-19 and have shifted from our living rooms to our pockets. In 2023, the focus will be on opening many new opportunities for the entertainment and media industries, as digital transformation has helped them evolve. The ability to create and deliver multi-channel customer experiences is essential for broadcasting companies. This shift to digital platforms has had a tremendous effect on people’s minds and the way they consume content.
Today, media is thoroughly digital and has undergone a new digital revolution. Digital transformation is the medicine for the media sector, which has boomed in recent years. From growing an online audience to continually developing and updating content, digitalization has become the norm for the media sector. Therefore, there are more opportunities for career in media than ever before.
As media companies migrated online and went digital, they could collect data on campaigns, allowing advertisers to create better ads, get real-time data, and use analytics to design a better user experience through digital transformation.
Market Research on Digital Transformation in the Media Sector
Digital transformation has changed how media is funded, produced, and consumed. Thus, marketers must lean into digital change to stay relevant.
Let’s look at the research on digital transformation in media.
What is Digital Transformation?
‘Digital transformation’ is the amalgamation of technology, creativity, and strategy to create a new road map or modify existing business processes, cultures, and customer experiences to satisfy changing market requirements. Media companies leverage various digital channels and forms after observing consumers’ actions to keep up with their modern, fast, and relevant demands. As we consume and experience content, the digital transformation of traditional media is changing and finding new ways.
Today, many media organizations are turning to digital transformation to save costs, grow revenues, and enhance engagements. In the media industry, quick advancements in technology enable new players to enter the market and build business models to attract audiences in no time.
What is the Importance of Digital Transformation?
Digital transformation is the buzzword in the media sector, and it is crucial as customers now think digitally. Today, digital transformation has immense importance in the entertainment section, as it helps with a better user experience, higher sales, wider audiences, and easier distribution in the media industry. Its rapid growth has replaced the use of physical newspapers with online and mobile apps.
Digital Transformation services have evolved and have become more organized, sustainable, and environment-friendly, becoming the need of the hour for the media and entertainment industries.
Top 10 Digital Transformation Trends that Will Help the Media Sector in 2023
1) D2C Video Streaming
One of the most significant trends in the media industry is video streaming. The move from traditional broadcasting to direct-to-consumer (D2C) video streaming has changed and remodeled the media landscape. Today, viewers have more control over what they watch, when they watch, their choices, and how they access it. Video streaming has gained tremendous traction and has boosted the media sector.
2) The Rise of Subscriptions
Today, more and more media businesses have a monthly, quarterly, or yearly subscription model. The rise of subscriptions is a significant part of digital transformation. The subscription model allows companies to build long-term relationships with their customers, leading to greater customer loyalty and retention. By providing ongoing value and personalized experiences, businesses can create a loyal customer base that is willing to pay a recurring fee for continued access to their products and services. This is one of the emerging trends in the media sector, which is in high demand.
3) Personalization
Personalization of services is the best trend in digital transformation services in 2023. Media companies think about personalizing their approach to draw customers’ attention. That helps reflect the brand to the customer and is crucial to building customer relationships. In 2023, personalization will be the differentiating factor of digital transformation. With personalization, companies can give consumers more control over the content they want to absorb.
4) Leveraging Metaverse
The Metaverse is expected to have an impact on the media sector, transforming the way people consume and interact with digital content. Media and entertainment companies are adopting and integrating emerging technologies and want to offer their audiences meaningful viewing experiences. Companies use the metaverse to create immersive experiences that allow customers to interact with their products and services in new and exciting ways. Metaverse will impact the media sector through the creation of new content formats. The metaverse provides a new canvas for creators to experiment with new formats and storytelling techniques, such as interactive narratives and virtual reality experiences.
5) Artificial Intelligence
As artificial intelligence (AI) technologies advance, media companies use them to develop content. They use AI programming languages & algorithms to write news stories, produce videos, or even create music. To attract more buyers, media companies are embracing new technologies such as Blockchain and AI. It is one of the best trends, helping a lot in the media sector to create better and more personalized content.
6) Blockchain-based solutions
Today, media companies are using blockchain-based solutions to address issues related to distribution and other functions. Blockchain is used to track ownership, create new revenue streams, or even for content distribution. Payment transactions with blockchain can be less expensive, and the allocation of profits can be automated.
7) Multi-cloud Utilization
Multi-cloud utilization is the most essential trend and also plays an important role in the digital transformation of the media industry. Multi-cloud strategies allow media companies to select the right cloud providers for their specific needs based on factors such as cost, performance, and features. This flexibility can help media companies optimize their IT infrastructure and operations. They can help companies manage their data more efficiently by enabling them to store and process data across multiple clouds. This can also help with disaster recovery and backup.
8) Partner Ecosystem
A successful business creates a collective ecosystem of partners, including stakeholders, content creators, distributors, advertisers, and industry experts. Engaging in strategic partnerships becomes essential for any organization as the business expands. Thus, partner ecosystems can play an important role in the media industry by enabling media companies to collaborate with a network of partners to deliver high-quality content marketing strategies, improve their operations, and achieve their business goals.
9) Virtual and Augmented Reality
Today, VR/AR technology is booming in digital technology, and it continues to improve media companies. The media industry is using these technologies to create immersive content experiences. They make virtual concerts and augmented reality VR/AR experiences for events.
10) 5G
The fifth generation of mobile network technology is 5G. It brings a better user experience, adequate connectivity, availability, and increased network bandwidth, which are critical traits. The 5G network reduces the cost of mobile data and it is the trend that is allowing media to reach every corner of the world.
What are the Benefits of Digital Transformation?
Let’s explore some of the benefits of Digital Transformation that media companies will receive:
1) Real-time Booking
Real-time booking allows media companies to book advertising and other media placements quickly and efficiently, using automated processes that can save time and reduce errors. By leveraging technology and data-driven decision-making, media companies can optimize their operations, increase their revenue, and deliver high-quality content and advertising to their audiences.
2) Collaboration
For the best results from their campaigns, brands want to be able to collaborate with media companies. Brands are interested in working with companies that use self-serving platforms and digital technologies, have minimal manual processes, and are easy to communicate with to set up campaigns without delay.
3) Personalization
Media can deliver tailored content for specific target audiences depending on their audience profiles via programmatic advertising. Because of the digital transformation of media companies, they can offer content to the right people at the right time. It improves the experience and targets people for the offer.
4) Automation replacing manual tasks
Today, media companies utilize the time they save to help their advertisers optimize campaigns and build relationships with them. Manual tasks are replaced by automated workflows because of digital transformation. It results in a more efficient process for media companies, allowing them to spend more time nurturing their customers.
5) Access to real-time data and analytics
As media companies migrated online, they now can collect data on campaigns and compile them in one place in one go, which was earlier difficult. That means advertisers can spend wisely on advertising dollars and continue to optimize their campaigns.
LARRY’S CONCLUSION
Though threatened by AI, changing technology and financial challenges, digital media continues to grow. Audiences continue to demand more. Distributors continue to explore new options for media. The key for media creators is to focus on partnerships, leverage technology where it benefits them, and continually look for ways to promote the unique services you provide.
