The new reality of marketing is about customers, or users, and the increasing power that they represent. The balance of power between suppliers and customers has clearly shifted in the last decade. Where suppliers previously commanded a large amount of credibility, customers now chose to listen to and take advice from each other.
Users have become a dominant influence in marketing
What sort of power are we actually talking about? Well, users don’t just want to participate – they expect to. They use the increased influence they possess to spread their perspectives, to share with others. Today, anyone who wants to be relevant as supplier of goods and services for the future generation of users must embrace this. They must allow consumers to participate in the company. Let them comment, question, and even create.
Consumers have many ways of finding or sharing the information they want. They use social networks, they blog, and they send messages to each other. Today’s technology makes it possible to easily send, share and publish anything, so that the public can participate.
Permission-driven and authentic communications
Consumers are constantly bombarded with advertising. This has turned many of them into highly selective recipients. If we wish to talk to this new generation of users, we must talk to them on their terms. In other words, with their permission and in an authentic manner that makes us credible. Permission-driven communication is based on the idea of giving consumers what they want, when they want it. By communicating with consumers on these terms, we can give them a relevant and engaging brand experience.
Embracing a new level of engagement with customers
In marketing, the focus is now B2U, Business to You. Here, we are talking about the market of one. This means that the individual or niche group is the focus, rather than a mass audience. Relationships must be based on targeted, permission-driven knowledge of the user’s unique need. If we manage to establish a strong, interactive relationship with each user, we are also creating evangelists for our product or service. To do this, marketing communications must be engaging and not least, express a message that the user can be proud of and therefore be willing to share. Good messaging can spread virally and reach a virtually unlimited audience in a short time.
Feel free to watch our presentation form our seminar on the subject:
| View | Upload your own
