Beyond the Web: The Power of Digital Marketing

That’s the scoop on digital marketing. In today’s fast-paced, interconnected world, it’s no secret that the Internet has transformed the way businesses reach and engage with their target audiences.

From social media campaigns to content marketing, online strategies have become indispensable tools for marketers seeking success.

However, as you can see, the internet is not the only place for marketers to gain success, even today.

In this digital age, the synergy of online and offline marketing strategies is a powerful approach to reaching a diverse range of potential customers.

Whether it’s through the utilization of more traditional offline digital marketing methods, promoting your business online, or a carefully crafted blend of both, a well-rounded strategy can lead you to remarkable success.

The importance of offline digital marketing tactics should not be underestimated.

These methods serve as a complementary avenue to diversify your lead generation efforts beyond the digital realm.

In this article, we will explore the untapped potential of offline digital marketing techniques, illustrating how they can enhance your marketing efforts, irrespective of your goals or budget.

It’s time to consider how a holistic digital marketing plan can expand your reach and connect you with new, untapped audiences.

Online and Offline Strategies That Matter

What is digital marketing, and why does it matter? That’s precisely what we aim to delve into today.

Digital marketing, in its broadest sense, encompasses the use of various digital channels and platforms to promote products or services. These channels include search engines, social media, email marketing, mobile apps, websites, and even digital devices such as TV and radio. The ever-expanding spectrum of digital marketing allows businesses to connect with their target audience in innovative and compelling ways.

Online digital marketing comprises a wide range of techniques and strategies, including:

Search Engine Optimization (SEO): SEO involves optimizing a website to enhance its visibility and ranking on search engines like Google. The goal is to increase organic traffic and ensure your website appears in relevant search results.
Pay-Per-Click Advertising (PPC): PPC entails paying for advertisements to appear on search engine results pages or social media platforms. Advertisers are charged only when users click on their ads, making it a cost-effective way to drive targeted traffic.
Social Media Marketing: Marketers create and share content on social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram to boost brand awareness and engagement. This includes everything from posts and stories to paid advertising campaigns.
Content Marketing: Content marketing involves producing and sharing valuable content, such as blog posts, e-books, videos, and more, to attract and retain a specific audience. It’s all about providing valuable information that resonates with your target customers.
Leveraging Traditional Offline Media: In some cases, digital marketing extends to traditional offline media, such as radio and TV marketing, billboard advertising, print ads, and even in-person events. These methods blend the best of both worlds, combining the reach of offline channels with the tracking and targeting capabilities of digital.

As the digital marketing landscape continues to evolve, analysts predict that the global digital advertising and marketing sector will reach a staggering $786.2 billion by 2026, with clicks and display ads standing out as dominant forms of online promotion.

However, digital marketing isn’t confined solely to the virtual world. There’s a realm of offline digital marketing that complements online efforts, including:

Out-of-Home Advertising: This strategy employs billboards, transit ads, and various visual media to promote your brand or product. It’s an excellent way to reach a broad audience and create a strong visual impression in the physical world.
TV Marketing: Utilizing television as a medium to promote your products through adverts, infomercials, or product demonstrations, TV marketing remains a potent offline strategy for capturing attention.
Radio Marketing: Radio advertising includes trailers and commercials that promote your product to listeners, offering a diverse reach for your marketing efforts.

The Evolution of Advertising

Do you remember the days of billboards dominating the advertising landscape? I certainly do.

Billboards, with their larger-than-life messages and occasionally entertaining rivalries, like the infamous face-off between Audi and BMW, once symbolized the pinnacle of brand visibility.

However, the times have changed dramatically.

Not too long ago, my clients invested hundreds of millions of rupees in billboard advertising, but in today’s rapidly evolving marketing landscape, the shift to online, or digital, marketing is undeniable.

In 2024, billboards are used as a marketing stunt by the traditional businesses only.

Several compelling factors drive the seismic shift toward digital marketing.

Firstly, tech giants like Google and Facebook have revolutionized the advertising game, generating more revenue than traditional media companies.

Their reach and targeting capabilities have made digital marketing the go-to choice for businesses looking to connect with their audiences.

Moreover, the ubiquitous presence of mobile devices has played a pivotal role in the rise of digital marketing in Sri Lanka to the world.

Whether you find yourself at the grocery store, a restaurant, or even a banks, there’s one common sight – many individuals with their eyes seemingly glued to their smartphones.

Mobile phones have transformed into miniature billboards, broadcasting advertisements wherever we turn our attention.

Be it a quick search for a nearby gas station or checking out the latest fashion trends, advertisements are seamlessly integrated into the mobile experience and driven towards keeping user privacy a priority.

The statistics on mobile device usage are staggering, and the trend shows no signs of abating.

Global smartphone penetration: 68% of the world’s population owned a smartphone in 2022 (source: Statista)
Number of mobile devices worldwide: 15 billion in 2021, expected to reach 18.22 billion by 2025 (source: Statista)
Time spent on mobile devices: The average person spends 3 hours and 15 minutes on their phone each day (source: Exploding Topics)
Mobile internet users: 5 billion worldwide in 2022, representing 60% of the global internet population (source: Statista)
Mobile app downloads: 250 billion in 2022 (source: Statista)
Mobile advertising spending: $336 billion in 2022 (source: Statista)
M-commerce: $2.8 trillion in 2022, expected to reach $5.4 trillion by 2027 (source: Statista)

As we depend on our mobile devices for information, entertainment, and communication, businesses have recognized the immense potential of reaching consumers through this medium.

Digital marketing is no longer optional for businesses of all sizes. Your customers are online, and you need to be there too.

According to Google, 92% of people who conduct a local search on their smartphone visit a related store within a day. This shows that digital marketing is essential for even the smallest local businesses.

The age of traditional billboards may have given way to the digital era, but the essence of marketing remains unchanged – capturing the attention of your target audience.

Unpacking the Pivotal Advantages of Digital Marketing

The world of digital marketing is an ever-evolving landscape, filled with opportunities and advantages that have transformed the way businesses connect with their audiences.

While we’ve discussed the transition from traditional to digital marketing, there’s a whole world of benefits that digital marketing brings to the table, and it’s time to delve into some of the most compelling reasons why it matters.

Access to Invaluable Data:
Digital marketing opens the door to a wealth of data about your customers.

From their browsing habits and preferences to how they navigate the buying cycle, this information is a goldmine for understanding your target audience.

By harnessing this data, you can gain insights into what’s working, and what isn’t, and adapt your strategy accordingly. In essence, data-driven decisions become your marketing compass.

Expansive Audience Reach:
One of the standout advantages of digital marketing is its unparalleled reach.

Unlike traditional methods, digital marketing allows you to connect with a global audience.

For example, social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter boast billions of active users, and through precise advertising targeting, you can reach the exact demographics that matter most to your business.

It’s worth noting that by 2027, social network users are projected to reach almost six billion, underlining the vast potential of this platform.

Cost-Effectiveness:
Cost efficiency is a hallmark of digital marketing.

It trumps traditional methods like TV or print advertising when it comes to affordability.

With digital marketing, you can create highly targeted campaigns that deliver a superior return on investment (ROI).

Your marketing budget stretches further, allowing you to meet your goals without breaking the bank.

Enhanced Engagement:
Digital marketing excels at fostering engagement with your target audience. You can employ various tactics, such as email marketing, social media engagement, and content marketing, to keep your audience intrigued and invested in your products and services.

For instance, creating a blog filled with valuable content on your website can attract visitors and significantly increase their likelihood of making a purchase.

In fact, according to HubSpot, a staggering 56 percent of people who read a blog post go on to make a purchase, underscoring the power of content.

Measurable Results:
Digital marketing offers transparency like no other. You can track, measure, and analyze the effectiveness of your campaigns.

Tools like Google Analytics provide a comprehensive view of web traffic, conversion rates, and other crucial metrics, enabling you to gauge your campaigns’ performance.

This level of data-driven insight allows you to refine your strategies and ensure they continually align with your objectives.

Competitive Edge:
In today’s digital age, a robust digital marketing strategy is more than just beneficial; it’s essential.

Your competitors are likely harnessing digital marketing to reach their target audiences, and falling behind is not an option.

A prime example of the competitive advantage digital marketing provides is email marketing, known for its high return on investment compared to other digital marketing strategies.

These are just a few of the myriad reasons why digital marketing matters.

By integrating and strategically implementing these tactics, you can enhance your brand’s visibility, foster meaningful connections with your target audience, and ultimately drive revenue for your business.

The Pioneering Journey of Digital Marketing

Digital marketing, a term that gained immense prominence in the early 2000s, is a powerhouse in the modern business world.

However, what might surprise many is that the roots of digital marketing extend back more than a century – a history that predates the internet and digital technologies as we know them today.

Intriguingly, the inaugural digital marketer in history isn’t a name often associated with the marketing field, but rather with pioneering advancements in communication technology.

Meet Guglielmo Marconi, born in 1874, who stands as an unsung hero in the annals of marketing.

Marconi made history in 1896 when he achieved a remarkable feat – the first “public transmission of wireless signals.”

This groundbreaking event marked the invention of the radio, a technological marvel that would go on to revolutionize communication worldwide.

While it took nearly a decade for the radio to become accessible to the general public, marketers were quick to recognize its potential as a platform for selling products and services.

The turning point for digital marketing can be traced to the earliest live broadcast, which took place during an opera performance at the Metropolitan Opera House.

As the final note of the performance echoed through the airwaves, a new era was born as people, inspired by what they had just witnessed, rushed to purchase tickets for upcoming shows.

This pivotal moment marked the birth of digital marketing, where the power of audio and broadcast technology was harnessed to engage and convert audiences.

What makes this historical narrative so remarkable is how it foreshadowed the core principles of modern digital marketing.

In the early 1900s, marketers identified the potential to use emerging technologies to capture audience attention, drive engagement, and facilitate transactions.

This foresight laid the foundation for the evolution of digital marketing over the ensuing decades.

As we embark on this journey through the history of digital marketing, we’ll uncover the various milestones, innovations, and transformative moments that have shaped this dynamic field.

From the radio era to the digital revolution, each chapter in this story will reveal how digital marketing has continuously adapted and thrived, ultimately becoming an indispensable component of the contemporary business landscape.

Navigating the Digital Marketing Landscape

Online digital marketing is a multifaceted realm that encompasses a plethora of strategies and techniques designed to connect, engage, and convert customers in the digital sphere.

Even though we briefly looked at the below points earlier it’s important to be well-versed in various categories to maximize your online presence and impact.

Let’s explore the fundamental categories of web design and digital marketing a little further:

Search Engine Optimization (SEO): SEO is the cornerstone of online visibility. It involves fine-tuning your website and content to secure higher rankings in search engine results pages (SERPs) for relevant keywords. This strategic approach enables you to attract organic traffic from individuals actively seeking what you have to offer. An effective SEO strategy can significantly bolster your online presence and draw in qualified leads.
Search Engine Marketing (SEM): SEM is a potent paid advertising platform that positions your ads prominently at the top of SERPs for selected keywords. This approach is instrumental in driving immediate traffic to your website and generating valuable leads and sales. SEM provides a direct path to target audiences actively engaged in online searches.
Content Marketing: Content is king in the digital realm. Content marketing revolves around creating and disseminating high-quality, audience-relevant content. This content can take various forms, such as blog posts, articles, infographics, videos, and more. By consistently delivering valuable content, you can attract, engage, and retain customers, foster brand recognition, and drive traffic to your website.
Social Media Marketing (SMM): SMM leverages the power of social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn to connect with and engage your target audience. It provides a versatile toolkit for sharing content, conducting contests and giveaways, and promoting products and services. The dynamic and interactive nature of SMM facilitates direct engagement with your audience.
Pay-Per-Click (PPC) Advertising: PPC advertising is a paid promotion method that allows you to display ads on search engines and other websites. What sets PPC apart is the pay-per-click model, where you’re only charged when a user clicks on your ad. This cost-effective approach drives targeted traffic to your website, ensuring you get value for your advertising budget.
Affiliate Marketing: Affiliate marketing is a performance-based strategy where you collaborate with other websites and businesses to promote their products or services. In return, you earn a commission on any sales generated through your efforts. This mutually beneficial approach extends your reach and revenue potential through partnerships.
Email Marketing: Email marketing is a versatile tool for building and nurturing customer relationships. It involves collecting email addresses from potential customers and delivering regular newsletters featuring valuable content and promotional offers. Email marketing excels in nurturing leads and converting them into paying customers, offering a direct and personalized communication channel.

Each of these categories plays a unique role in your online marketing toolkit. You need to use these in harmony to achieve your objectives.

The Power of Offline Digital Marketing Strategies

Offline digital marketing, a concept that might initially sound contradictory, actually represents a fusion of traditional marketing techniques with the influence of digital innovations.

This blend opens up numerous avenues to engage and connect with your audience.

Here are five primary categories of offline digital marketing, each offering its unique approach and advantages:

Enhanced Offline Marketing: Enhanced offline marketing seamlessly combines traditional offline methods with digital elements. This multifaceted approach integrates direct mail, TV advertising, radio spots, billboards, and event marketing to create a holistic marketing strategy. For instance, consider a restaurant that employs iPads for customers to place orders. This enhances the offline dining experience by infusing it with the convenience and interactivity of digital technology.
Radio Marketing: Radio marketing stands as a timeless yet powerful tool to reach broad audiences. From the charismatic car dealer energetically extolling the virtues of a new vehicle to the soulful sounds of a local jazz station, radio remains a valuable platform for marketing. The enduring appeal of radio marketing is a testament to its enduring influence on consumer behavior and brand awareness.
Television Marketing: While streaming services have surged in popularity, traditional TV advertising retains its significance. TV marketing is a dynamic medium for showcasing products and services to a wide-ranging audience. In 2022, statistics indicate that revenues from TV advertising reached a staggering $171 billion, underscoring the continued relevance of television as an advertising channel.
Phone Marketing: Phone marketing, despite its perception as old-fashioned, still thrives in the modern business landscape. Call centers, for example, are a pivotal aspect of phone marketing. In 2021, the United States saw the opening of 102 new call centers, generating an annual revenue of $21.2 million. This demonstrates that phone marketing continues to be a lucrative avenue for connecting with customers.
QR Codes: QR codes are a bridge between the physical and digital worlds. By scanning these codes with their smartphones, consumers can access digital content, promotions, or product information instantaneously. QR codes have gained traction in various industries, from retail to restaurants, making them a versatile offline marketing tool.

Offline digital marketing’s enduring appeal lies in its ability to blend traditional and contemporary marketing techniques.

By integrating these strategies, businesses can create a well-rounded marketing approach that resonates with diverse audiences, fosters brand recognition and drives engagement.

Embracing the synergy between offline and digital elements opens up a world of possibilities to captivate customers in an increasingly digitalized age.

Amplifying Your Reach with Radio Advertising in Sri Lanka

Radio emerged as a ubiquitous and influential medium, captivating the attention of over 80% of the population on a regular basis, and with Digital Marketing it has become a must-have supplementary medium for advertising.

For businesses, both large and small, this widespread listenership transforms radio into a formidable tool for connecting with their target audience and delivering impactful messages.

Let’s look at the importance of radio advertising in Sri Lanka, exploring key statistics, benefits, and the dynamic opportunities it presents.

Key Statistics about Radio Advertising in Sri Lanka:

Radio Listenership: An impressive 82% of the Sri Lankan population tunes into the radio on a weekly basis, as per data from Nielsen. This extensive reach provides businesses with a powerful avenue to engage with a substantial portion of the population.
Average Listening Time: Sri Lankans spend an average of 2.5 hours per day immersed in radio content, according to Nielsen. This prolonged exposure enhances the effectiveness of radio advertising campaigns and allows messages to resonate deeply.
Popular Radio Stations: Sri Lanka boasts a diverse radio landscape, with stations such as Sirasa FM, SLBC Sinhala, Yes FM, and Gold FM enjoying substantial listenership, as reported by Nielsen. This diversity enables businesses to select stations that align best with their target audience.
Radio Advertising Spend: The significance of radio advertising is evident in the substantial financial investment made by businesses. In 2022, radio advertising spending in Sri Lanka reached an impressive Rs. 5 billion, underscoring its status as a pivotal marketing medium, as reported by Nielsen.

Here are some of the benefits of Radio Advertising in Sri Lanka:

Reach a Large Audience: Radio’s extensive reach, with over 80% of the population as regular listeners, offers businesses a potent means to swiftly and efficiently connect with a vast number of potential customers. It facilitates wide-scale exposure for your brand or message.
Target Specific Demographics: Radio advertising is remarkably flexible and can be tailored to specific demographics, encompassing age groups, gender, and geographic locations. This precision enables businesses to engage directly with individuals who are most likely to express interest in their products or services.
Create Emotional Connections: Radio’s intimate and personal nature lends itself to forging emotional connections with listeners. The medium provides a unique opportunity for businesses to establish genuine and personal connections with their audience, a quality that often leads to long-lasting customer loyalty.
Effective with the masses: Radio advertising stands out as an economical and highly effective means of reaching a broad audience. Its versatility allows advertisers to customize ads to align with specific demographics and interests, ensuring the efficient use of advertising resources.
Concise and Memorable: Given the brevity of radio ads, typically 30 seconds or less, clarity and memorability are paramount. Employ straightforward language and a clear call to action to deliver your message succinctly.
Creative Use of Sound: Since visual elements are absent in radio, leverage sound creatively to captivate the listener’s attention and evoke emotional connections. Incorporate elements like music, sound effects, or voiceovers to create atmosphere or reinforce your message.
Repetition: Repetition is a linchpin in radio advertising. Reiterate your brand name and message multiple times to etch it into the listener’s memory.
Measurement: Employ tools such as unique landing pages or promo codes to gauge the effectiveness of your radio ads. This data-driven approach enables adjustments to your strategy as needed.
Audience-Centric: Tailor your message to cater to your target audience’s specific needs and interests. Utilize language and tones that resonate with them while emphasizing the advantages of your product or service.

For businesses in Sri Lanka seeking an avenue to engage with a substantial audience, radio advertising represents an exceptional choice.

This medium not only offers cost-effective access to the masses but also the potential to establish emotional bonds with potential customers.

To find local radio stations that match your target demographic, simply do a quick Google search.

Many radio stations provide data on their audience demographics, so you can choose the station that best aligns with your target market.

The compelling combination of extensive reach, precise targeting, and emotional resonance makes radio advertising a valuable asset in any marketing strategy, with the power to enhance brand recognition and drive business success.

The Potential of Mobile Marketing in Sri Lanka

The trajectory of mobile marketing in Sri Lanka is on an upward surge, as evidenced by key statistics that underscore its growing importance as a channel for engaging with the nation’s consumers.

Mobile devices have become the predominant means through which many Sri Lankans access the internet and consume media.

Consequently, mobile marketing emerges as an exceptionally effective strategy to connect with audiences where they are already investing a significant portion of their time.

The Benefits of Mobile Marketing in Sri Lanka:

Reach a Vast Audience: Mobile devices are ubiquitous in Sri Lanka, boasting a mobile penetration rate of over 165%. This exceptional level of mobile device adoption equates to an extensive potential audience that can be engaged through mobile marketing campaigns.
Precise Demographic Targeting: Mobile marketing provides the capacity to fine-tune campaigns to address specific demographics, including age groups, gender, and geographical locations. This precision ensures that your message reaches individuals who are most likely to exhibit an interest in your products or services.
Efficient Measurement of Results: Mobile marketing campaigns offer the advantage of being easily tracked and measured, affording businesses insights into what is effective and what is not. This data-driven approach empowers marketers to optimize their strategies for superior outcomes.

For those seeking a means to access a substantial and well-targeted audience in Sri Lanka, mobile marketing presents an attractive and cost-effective solution.

It offers a direct path to engaging your target market, generating leads, and driving sales but it also can be annoying to users if you are bulk sending messages.

Text Marketing in Sri Lanka

Engaging Customers Through Text Messages

Text message marketing is a powerful strategy for reaching and engaging customers in Sri Lanka. Businesses can utilize this approach in various ways to connect with their target audience effectively.

Special Deals, Coupons, and Discounts

Restaurants can leverage text marketing to offer special deals, coupons, and discounts, attracting additional customers and converting walk-ins into loyal patrons.

Text Reminders for Customer Service

Pharmacies can use text marketing to enhance customer service by sending alerts to customers when their prescriptions are ready for pickup.

Loyalty Programs

Businesses can create loyalty programs where they send special deals and giveaways via text messages to participating customers.

The Convenience of QR Codes

QR codes, short for Quick Response codes, are a prevalent part of the Sri Lankan marketing landscape. These scannable codes take users to specific web pages or apps, making interactions easier and more efficient.

Ease of Use

Scanning QR codes is now simple, requiring only the camera on your smartphone to access a webpage or an app. This makes QR codes accessible to nearly everyone.

Versatility in Advertising

Brands in Sri Lanka effectively use QR codes to deliver advertisements, direct users to videos, or integrate them with other forms of enhanced offline marketing. QR codes offer a dynamic way to engage audiences.

Steps to Develop an Offline Digital Marketing Strategy in Sri Lanka

To embark on a successful offline digital marketing strategy in Sri Lanka, follow these four key steps:

1. Enhanced Offline Marketing Strategy

Create ads optimized for platforms like digital billboards, offer product demos, and provide digital product samples.

2. Radio Marketing Strategy

Partner with local radio stations for ad sponsorships, and create engaging traditional ads featuring quirky voices, local celebrities, or trendy topics.

3. Television Marketing

Achieve a favorable return on investment in TV advertising by purchasing ad time during popular live events, crafting ads with the potential to go viral, or creating content that can be reused across multiple ad channels.

4. SMS Marketing

Use text messages to deliver special deals and offers to a broader customer base.

Creating Your Digital Marketing Strategy in Sri Lanka

This is where you might need the assistance of an experienced digital marketing agency in Sri Lanka.

Establishing a successful digital marketing strategy requires four fundamental steps.

Let’s look at the basis and if you need help our team at HypeX Digital Marketing company in here for you.

1. Research and Understand Your Audience in Sri Lanka

Thoroughly examine your target audience’s demographics, preferences, and behavior. Understand the Sri Lankan market, competition, and effective content strategies.

2. Set Digital Marketing Strategy Goals and KPIs

Define clear, measurable goals and key performance indicators (KPIs) to monitor and optimize your strategy effectively. Emphasize quantitative goals for better measurability.

3. Create Your Digital Marketing Strategy

Focus on experimenting with various digital marketing channels to determine the most effective options. Start with small, targeted campaigns to gather data and make data-driven decisions.

4. Content Creation

Tailor your content to resonate with your audience, whether by entertaining or educating them. In Sri Lanka, catering to specific consumer needs and pain points can be a powerful strategy.

Adapting to Seasonal Trends

Harnessing the Power of Seasonal Marketing

Adjusting your digital marketing strategy in Sri Lanka to align with major holidays and occasions can maximize your sales throughout the year.

Consider these tips to enhance holiday sales:

Begin early with a well-planned strategy.
Host online contests to engage your audience.
Implement awareness-based campaigns on platforms like Google, Facebook, and Instagram.
Utilize promotions wisely to offer value beyond discounts.
Bundle products into holiday gift sets to increase conversions and average order value.
Create laser-targeted email campaigns and explore new marketing channels.
Establish a plan for long-term success by retaining brand awareness and visitor retargeting beyond the holiday season.

Driving Growth with Your Digital Marketing Strategy

Effective data collection and clear goal-setting are essential for ensuring the longevity of your digital marketing strategy.

Collect and analyze data from multiple channels to identify what works and what doesn’t.

Implement and fine-tune your strategy over time to achieve sustained growth.

Partnering With a Digital Marketing Agency

Expertise at Your Fingertips when you work with HypeX!

Working with a digital marketing agency in Sri Lanka can provide numerous advantages.

These agencies offer specialized expertise, scalability, and dedicated partnerships to help you achieve your marketing goals.

Selecting the Best Digital Marketing Agency

When choosing a digital marketing agency in Sri Lanka, consider these tips:

Define your goals and desired outcomes.
Review the agency’s portfolio and past client list.
Ensure the agency has experienced and specialized team members.
Look for social proof and a strong industry reputation.
Align your core values and company culture.
Assess the agency’s website design.
Beware of outlandish promises that sound too good to be true.

Optimizing Collaboration for Success

To maximize your partnership with a digital marketing agency, take the following steps:

Prepare your team and do your homework.
Clearly understand the scope, process, and timeline.
Be ready to collaborate and offer your insights.
Allow the agency control in areas of their expertise.
Don’t hesitate to ask questions to enhance understanding.

In conclusion, whether you focus on offline or online digital marketing in Sri Lanka, a well-structured strategy can help you reach new audiences, achieve your marketing goals, and drive success.

Digital marketing provides a versatile path to building your brand and connecting with potential customers.