New World Marketing
In a world where personalization and technology is changing the way customers communicate, you need to focus on five different types of data for your marketing campaigns.
I always enjoy watching, analyzing and trying to understand the reasoning behind all forms of marketing.
Not long ago, I was watching television and a wonderful advertisement flashed on the screen. Let me try to retell the brilliant plot:
A couple was walking around a store looking for a certain product. The couple was cute, middle-aged, and probably had a dog and one child the stereotypical American family. In the end, the couple finds the product they were looking for. They buy the product. They both smile and their entire life appears complete.
Allow me to share another wonderful example of marketing:
Recently, I was driving down the freeway and saw a health care billboard with a smiling face and a message that read “We are COMMITTED to our community.” The face was handsome, even stoic. However, the picture was clearly stock photography. I thought: He looks like someone that I would trust with my health he must be committed to me.
But seriously, I digress. The lack of enthusiasm and originality in marketing today makes me sick. We are becoming lazy. We are becoming lazy in how we communicate the service we offer to our consumer. We are marketing to people who are extremely passionate about what WE do. They are walking into your store because they have a need that needs filled! We are disgracing them by becoming lazy in the way we tell the story of our company and product. If you are not about marketing and sharing the story of your product, how are you suppose to convince people to buy and advocate for your brand?
And now we come full circle.
The examples I referenced earlier are written to give an example of the bland advertising that is used on a daily basis to con consumers into buying a product. This is my official call to all marketers, C-level executives, business owners, advertising and marketing firms, and to anyone involved in leading the strategy for their business:
We are using communication strategies that haven’t changed for 45 years. The world is changing. Technology is changing. People are changing. Preferences are changing. And yet, you sit back, completely stupefied, because your brand awareness and sales are dropping even though you’ve invested even more money into marketing your brand.
Real Customer Loyalty
I say, become more loyal to your customers and let them tell the story. You build loyalty and affinity towards a brand or product by knowing what the individual consumer is wanting when purchasing from your business. This information is driven by data.
Understanding certain pieces of data that are taken from interactions with clients is extremely important to the sales and marketing process. Normally, we look at data like transactional and demographic information in order to make marketing decisions. For example, where is the person located, how old, how much do they make, and how much they spent in the store.
However, that is not enough to build a new form of marketing that delivers a higher level of return for your business. People aren’t just households in a segment, but are individuals with unique needs, motivations, interests and passions. They only become committed, loyal advocates and a part of what you do when they see you are committed to knowing them.
Marketing-Worthy Data
In a world where personalization and technology is changing the way customers communicate, you need to focus on five different types of data for your marketing campaigns:
1. Psychological – People view the world differently. A lawyer, auto mechanic, homemaker, artist, student or pilot all have different constructs of their needs as well as those of their family, friends and community. Is the prospect a driver, intuitive, practical, calculative, creative, sympathetic? How do we know and how does that inform the marketing decisions?
2. Generational – People of varying ages interact and communicate differently. The media used to compel a response in 2011 is much different than in 1980. We need to be sure we aren’t trying to further perfect media that was designed for another time and for other people.
3. Aspirational – Start with the end in mind. What do you want your marketing to do and how will you know it is a success? What do you know about the goals, values and objectives of the people you want to compel and how can you use this information to start your campaign? What and when is a realistic next purchase and what will they have done for themselves and your company after?
4. Transactional – What did the person spend and why did they spend it? This piece of information is usually the most recognized to marketers and business owners.
5. Geographical – If you have a regional based business where location is extremely important, geographic information should be included in your database marketing campaign. Whether we are talking about zip code or mail route segmentation, remember that location is just as important as the other four segments.
I understand that the preceding information is probably a little overwhelming. We are talking about going from two sets of data to a multitude of other factors in your marketing and customer
data processes.
The best marketers are your customers and in order to push those customers to advocate on your behalf, you MUST speak to them as an individual and not as a massive group.
The world is changing. Technology is changing. People are changing. Preferences are changing. We know it. Do you?
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