Jennifer Stubbs – Cover Essay
Cover Essay:
“We must now reach beyond the traditional roles of awareness and driving traffic and extend our selves to the more intimate world of sales and customer relations…”
Standard marketing messaging doesn’t work anymore. Understanding the “What’s in it for me?” focus in your customer will determine your success. Is your content trying to convince people to buy your product by pushing information? Or, is it pulling them in by answering their key purchase questions? Success will come to companies that understand that costumers want things complicated, they want information in a format that they can evaluate. Sales result from customers being able to see value in the material that specifically applies to them. Marketing is moving from the service provider convincing consumers of what they want to consumers telling producers what they need and will tolerate.
Self proclaimed experts (bloggers, peer review websites) are telling us what to buy, and we trust their opinions. Why? They have no reason to lie. These influencers aren’t trying sell the product they are simply offering their opinions. Are you reaching them?
An understanding of conversational marketing and social marketing offers you an advantage. Most companies are still focused on controlling the brand message. A shift to learning from your customer via their honest opinions and feedback, being flexible enough to withstand some negative feedback and realizing that your product is organic and can, based on these suggestions become ever improving and ever more valuable to your customers.
What Should You Do?
Test your content. Are you offering something that will appeal to the “what’s in it for me” customer?
Be flexible. Let go of the fear of always being in control of the content that is out there.
Offer up something that is not contrived, that is believable and that has value.
Start a dialogue with your customers
What Mix Should Be Considered?
Transactional E-mail Marketing
Blogging
Podcasting
Viral Marketing
Interactive Marketing
Social Marketing
Search Engine Marketing: Pay-per-click
Search Engine Marketing: Optimization
E-mail marketing: Non-transactional
ECRM – Electronic customer relationship management
With the new line of mobile devices touting peer podcasts and browser settings that offer instant credibility-checks based on fellow consumer reviews, along with the creation of the most powerful voting tool ever created, the “back button,” a move away from in-your-face messaging to a demonstrated understanding of your clients needs has become imperative. Companies now not only require an understanding of the risk of not being in control of how the masses process and interpret your messaging, but they can make significant gains by knowing how to leverage this perceived threat and turn it into an advantage for a company.
The “What’s in it for you” portion of this cover-essay, is gaining someone that has a solid understanding conversational marketing trends, four years in media marketing of a professional service firm and who compliments her knowledge of new media with a solid creative background in art direction, graphic and web design.
Sincerely
Jennifer Stubbs
