Nando’s adopted ‘Fergie Time’ (+00:05) on May 8th in tribute to Sir Alex Ferguson’s retirement from Manchester United; Morrisons (or ‘Murriwins’) changed the name of their Wimbledon branch to mark our long-awaited British triumph; and ‘Ryan-Heir’ flew all toddlers under two for free on July 23rd in celebration of Baby George’s arrival.
From these examples, it’s clear that consumer marketing is becoming more immediate, driven by social media and motivated by timely events. Both have sparked an undoubtable change in buying behaviours and sales are increasingly a rapid-response reaction to current trends as opposed to planned purchases. The complexity of buying behaviours, depending on the type of product, forces marketing teams to customise campaigns that will instantly resonate with their target audiences. Those brands that don’t engage at the same pace, often lose out.
As with any consumer behaviour, marketers must react and replicate to maximise their business gain. To succeed, brands need to be able to execute new campaigns rapidly. In turn, this means existing marketing processes must become more agile and be open to swift flexibility.
We understand that the prospect of implementing a new, spontaneous campaign approach is a daunting one. So, in order to put some of these worries to rest, we have pulled together our five top tips for making those first steps into ‘real time’ marketing successful:
Be impulsive
With the growth of online retail, impulse purchases are increasing. The immediacy of our digital world is also driving interest further and wider than ever before, and brands need to be able to keep up with these sudden impulses to buy. Businesses must be able to replicate the impulsive nature of the ‘see it, want it, buy it’ attitude to consumer spending – offering customers what they want, as soon as they want it, no matter how spontaneous.
Be quick
With increased business competition driven by online retail, there is always a more tantalising offer around the corner should you go looking for it. A new differentiator for businesses, therefore, is not to be the best, but the first. In this fast-paced environment, companies must react as quickly as consumers to reap the biggest benefits – creating marketing campaigns at short notice, responding to competitor prices or offers, or taking advantage of a current event.
Be specific
It’s easy to get caught up in the buzz of a news event, the flurry of conversations and opinions that immediately spring up. The mistake many businesses make when engaging with these fleeting (and sometimes fickle) events is viewing the millions of users as a whole. As with any other type of marketing campaign, keep it simple and specific – meaningful interactions with key audience members are (for the most part) vital for success.
Be local
Consumers engage with what’s important to them. Target your campaigns and customer outreach far and wide but adopt a personalised, local approach. . A well-targeted, meaningful conversation with a select audience will not only appeal to customers on a personal level in real time, but will continue to resonate with them for future engagement.
Be confident
As with trying new things, there’s always an understandable tendency to be over-cautious – especially if it involves new channels you’re not familiar with. Making snap marketing decisions on the back of social or local trends may seem daunting to begin with but, brands must empower their marketing teams (and cultivate the confidence) to make specific campaign changes in their regions. As teams become more familiar with the immediacy and creativity required for this approach, the confidence to engage on a personal level with customers will translate into business benefits. However, if things don’t work out as planned – learn from your mistakes and don’t let it shake your confidence. It’s better to take chances than not to try at all.
By Julie Hesselgrove, Group President of Communication and Marketing Services at Xerox.
PrivSec Conferences will bring together leading speakers and experts from privacy and security to deliver compelling content via solo presentations, panel discussions, debates, roundtables and workshops.
For more information on upcoming events, visit the website.
comments powered by Disqus