According to the 2015 Meaningful Brands research by Havas, most people would not care if 74% of all brands disappeared for good. This should be a wake-up call for the majority of brands. The marketing landscape is continuously changing and digital technology is developing faster than ever. It will come as no surprise, that some businesses fail to keep up with these trends.
Most of the problems that brands face nowadays result from problems in marketing communication. Many marketers have not updated their strategies to today's consumers who are more demanding in terms of customers service, less loyal to favorite brands and more resistant to traditional marketing messages.
Social media is a digital reflection of today's consumers' lives. Platforms like Facebook or Twitter are a natural environment, especially for the young users. They spent a massive amount of time there. These digital networks are constantly adjusting to evolving consumers to meet their expectations and make them spend even more time on social media. Social platforms are sources for news, information about friends and entertainment. They let users express themselves, share their experiences and views, interact with others and ask for opinions.
It creates a wide space for brands to step in and communicate with clients and prospects. Users leave lots of information about their interests and preferences. Marketers who do not listen their audiences miss the opportunity to reach out to the most promising leads.
Internet users create over 30,000 mentions with "where can I buy" phrase monthly. Social listening tools enable you to collect such comments in one place and then reach out to prospects. It is one of the most effective channels for generating sales. Leads that you collect with social listening are authentically interested in particular products or services and what's more important these prospects express their demand publicly. If you reply directly to a user who ask for recommendation chances are he or she will settle on your product.
According to the Brand Storytelling Report 2015 by Headstream, more than a half of consumers are more likely to buy a product in the future if they really love a brand story. People want to hear stories about real humans, stories they can relate to. Relevant stories that speak to consumers make brands meaningful. On top of that, they can go viral, giving brands organic recommendations that are more trustworthy than any other corporate messages. Emotional marketing helps businesses to stand out in the highly competitive market.
Apple flipped their marketing strategy. They don't sell computers. They offer a way of thinking and a challenge to the status quo, by making their products beautifully designed, simple to use, and user-friendly. It just happen they fulfill this vision by making computers.
Other meaningful brands start with the why as well. Coke doesn't sell soda, they offer happiness, Universal Music doesn't sell songs, they give you emotions and moments. Redefinition of marketing strategy can change the way people perceive a brand and bring them around to its offer.
Consumers, especially the young ones, often don't trust brands any longer. Corporations no longer have a big impact on customer behavior and their preferences. Traditional advertising is not effective as it used to be a few years back. People use ad blocking and if not, they unconsciously tuning traditional ads out.
That's why Internet users are more willing to trust a favorite blogger rather than a recommendation from a brand. Thus, bloggers and other influencers have the power of shaping consumer opinions. They are more credible to today's audiences.
Word of month has always been a valuable source for customer acquisition and retention. However, with social media development it moved to a different level. Recommendations have no longer one-to-one character. Everyone with Internet access can reach out to broad audiences. If a user happen to be influential on social media, he or she has a powerful weapon of shaping customers opinions in hands.
Therefore, more and more brands started to leverage this channel in fixed marketing strategy. Influencer marketing brings measurable results to businesses. For instance, a cosmetic brand managed to significantly improve sentiment structure within 18 months (graph), since they started to cooperate with influencers.
Somersby incorporated influencer marketing in their strategy as well. They have cooperated with bloggers on regular basis for many years. It helped them improve online image and improve sales results.
If you work in marketing you should never stop learning. Follow trends and always listen to your audience. Your clients and prospects is the most valuable brand asset you can ever earn and also a rich source for insights that will help your business to grow.
Agencies will Become Educators
Teaching will be another model that will continue to take shape. More specifically, teaching people and companies. Not keeping the secret sauce secret. This means educating and enabling as opposed to controlling (practice what you preach, right?).
This means agencies/consultants, etc. will continue to create their own content online and off.
Perhaps it is monthly events in your home town where you invite out business owners and marketers.
And in many ways, this content can be monetized directly. Perhaps instead of clients, you have subscribers and create a community. A membership site or a mentoring program.
The end result is part publisher and part agency.
Most branded content will come from consumers. User generated content will far exceed branded content and brands need to embrace this and accept they aren’t in complete control of their own brand. As such, it’s imperative that brands create a strong identity in the minds and hearts of consumers.
Here are some of the traits that will be seen in Consumer, Markets and Suppliers:
- Small Screen versus Big Screen versus Screen on demand (The latter being my bet for handling the new complex consumer). Mobility will still have its part, but don’t just think of Mobility being small device.
- Pinpoint narrowcast profiling versus Viral broadcast
- Knowledgeable Consumers
- Immediacy of transactions and how the Profile wants to transact
- Increased Collaboration to live your life and high levels of independence
- Decentralisation of where people live and more reliance on Screen-based technologies.
- Consumers creating their own marketing opportunities
- Consumers as Advertisers of their own content
- 3D printing conceptual information and holography
- Consumers will want to ‘Find’ an answer on demand, not ‘Search’, but we should expect this to be automated
- Consumers lives will be more chaotic, so will need convenience providers to help them trade ‘time’ for money or favours
- Applications will be more Consumer-centric rather than Consumers being driven to SM alters. Consumer will want to have ‘My Life’ on a screen which will help them coordinate their lives.
- Big Data will be transparent, but Big Information will be the focus for Consumers.
- Be prepared to pay-per-view the Consumer directly to listen to your Marketing Communications as a shared model with the Tool provider. A new ecosystem will evolve.
- Attention span will be less, but there will be a rapid Judge and Execution
- Consumers own Video’s will be routes/channels for your Marketing Communications and tools will become available to make that happen
- Consumer profiles will be Real-time, but only if they want you to see it (intense Privacy laws)
- Consumers will use SaaS to build their life style tools.
- Consumers will demand/expect very high Content quality and highly intuitive.
Sources:
Natalia Chrzanowska, Smart Insights, 2016
URL:http://www.smartinsights.com/traffic-building-strategy/integrated-marketing-communications/4-trends-will-change-marketing-communication-2016/
Brad Hogan 2016, URL:http://www.therisetothetop.com/davids-blog/5-predictions-future-marketing-pr-advertising-agencies/
Dugdale consulting, Word Press 2016,
URL:https://dugdaleconsulting.com/2014/02/18/marketing-communications-and-the-future-a-view/
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