Drugi jezik na kojem je dostupan ovaj članak: Bosnian
By: Adnan Arnautlija
The seminar titled It’s Time for Digital Marketing will be held in Sarajevo on Saturday, 18 March, where participants will have the opportunity to learn some useful things related to the tools of digital advertising.
Most of the global trends come to Bosnia and Herzegovina with a delay, and that’s why the Sarajevo-based marketing agency Paradox decided to organize this seminar, to help marketing professionals but also students in Bosnia and Herzegovina to catch up with the rapidly evolving market.
On this occasion we spoke with Faris Biogradlić, young co-founder and director of the agency Paradox which has tested their knowledge of digital marketing already in 24 industries.
Media Marketing: It’s been said countless times so far that Bosnia and Herzegovina lags behind developed markets in many things, including digital marketing. As a young digital expert and CEO of an agency that is growing in the digital world, can you tell us something about the awareness of opportunities and benefits of digital marketing in BiH?
Faris Biogradlić: To be honest, unfortunately, awareness is little developed. From the very beginning of our business we have been making efforts to educate the market about the extraordinary opportunities in digital marketing. The organization of this seminar is one way to do it.
Media Marketing: What are the current trends in the world that are absent or underrepresented in BiH?
Faris Biogradlić: There are many, but on this occasion I would mention two. The first is the so-called lead generation, where companies have realized that they have to give a significant amount of valuable information and advice free of charge, in order to get the attention of the target audience that is swamped by the messages from the competition. The second is A/B testing, where companies realize that the first version of created content may not always be the best, so they consistently perform controlled tests in order to improve the text on the website, advertising, and even the font color.
Media Marketing: A great advantage of digital marketing is targeting. However, P&G recently said they would cut back on targeting of their campaigns in favor of reach. Is there such a thing as “too much targeting” and which industries could benefit the most from it?
Faris Biogradlić: The advantage of digital marketing, among other things, is precisely the possibility of targeting in combination with monitoring the success of the campaign. The first thing we do is the deployment of marketing budgets to 20-50 different target groups. We show everyone the same ads, we follow which groups respond best and optimize campaigns by transferring most of the budget to the places where we have the most profitable results. All industries can benefit from the tremendous targeting possibilities, if they exploit it in the right way.
Media Marketing: Big companies have their marketing strategies that cover digital. The situation is however completely different in SMEs. Is digital marketing actually the best chance for them?
Faris Biogradlić: Absolutely. You can invest $5 on Facebook and see what will happen, which isn’t something you can do with traditional ways of advertising. In the US, even much larger companies have transferred up to 70% of their marketing budgets in favor of digital. For me it’s a simple thing – you cannot improve what you cannot measure. Digital marketing is interesting because we can track the performance of every cent of the budget that we invested and what we got from it. Based on this information, we can make much better decisions.
Media Marketing: You are a young entrepreneur in the field of advertising, and perhaps the best interlocutor to tell us whether there’s enthusiasm among young people for this industry? Does BiH have talents for the world of marketing?
Faris Biogradlić: Of course there are talents for the world of marketing. However, enthusiasm comes only when people realize the fact that as an expert in digital marketing you are helping other businesses to grow, and therefore have a certain respect, you make good money, and what’s best – you can work where you want, as long as you have internet access. :)
Media Marketing: Which topics will the seminar on digital marketing cover, and is there a message you would send to those for whom the seminar is intended, especially young people?
Faris Biogradlić: We will process a total of 8 of the most pressing issues. We would like participants to leave the room with a bunch of good ideas that they will be able to immediately implement in their business. A large number of invested hours, courses, training and time spent in the digital world will be summarized in one day of training. I advise young people to pursue education on the topic of digital marketing, because believe me, there’s money and resources for all of us. And of course, if you are able, come over on Saturday to the Radon Plaza hotel and learn something. More about the seminar can be found at: paradox.ba/seminar