Communication and interaction with clients, user, prospects, etc. is changing. Media agencies which will keep focusing on awareness will die, they need to change them self from a media awareness agency to a media content agency.
Here are five important things brands, marketers and agencies should think about.
(1) Change from a single mass communication and actions to continuous targeted micro-actions
As a brand you need to build a strong connection to your customer. This has a much higher value than just awareness to a broader audience.
- Brian Chesky of Airbnb: „It is better to have a hundred people who love you, than a million people who kinda like you.”
- Another statement from the management board of a big airline is: “I have fear that one day there will be an app which is a digital secretary for your personal travel. With this we will lost our connection to the customer.”
(2) Change from e-commerce to experience
Commerce is a complex process and different from buying a pair of socks or a car. Often it takes place at different touch points. Think about commerce global… online, in a retail store, within the exchange of friends, etc. Think about all channels a shopper could use and make sure that he can get all information he needs at each touch point. Also make sure he has the option to purchase every time.
(3) Change from retargeting to conversations
Don’t stalk, be the trusted advisor who wants to help and advice.
Following with reminders about searched product or products left in shopping card IS NOT the way brands should act. A non-pushy value exchange at the moment of a customer need is the right direction to communicate. Communicate on the entire customer experience phase, not only at the point of pre-purchase.
(4) Change from the funnel to the customer-decision journey
You are thinking about the shopping funnel or the media funnel (attribution)? That’s your view and not the customer view.
Awareness, like preached since many years, should be replace by trust. Trust will be build by defining customer goals at the individual touch points through the customer journey.
Build up an individual 1:1 communication. This means build campaigns which have flexible elements to build up the 1:1 approach.
(5) Change from selling to service
Media planning did connect at the consideration and buying phase of the customer decision-making journey in the past. This needs to change to the entire customer journey. The early phases (evaluate and bonding phase) should be focused. Mass-communication through media does not make sense, replace this with service and curation.
The best example here is Amazon. They have grown up because they offered by far the best services around their shop.
And now?
Marketers and media agencies need to focus on data to understand customer and predict their next step. The combination of 1:1 predictive marketing, data marketing and content marketing will be the future. Therefor we need to change the marketer, the systems and the entire communication. Within marketing departments and media agencies we need to have no more SEO, E-Mail, Performance,…. manager. We need to have a story teller, a customer engagement manager and a data & BI manager.
Does the customer cares about if it’s classic, if it’s search, social or e-mail? NO!! Channel thinking is old school!!
Let’s think about how we build up an technical ad-management department who is managing what marketing managers are doing today. Marketing manager are to much professional to setup the channels, they should be a customer engagement manager, a story telling manager.or just a loyalty manager.
Let’s think how we can use Real-Time Advertising (RTA) systems, DMPs, etc. for Real-Time Content and Real-Time Communication.
The winner will be the one with the best user understanding. The gameplay therefore will take place on the data side.
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- Understanding what are the right data, which ones exists and which ones needs to build up
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- Merging data from different data silos… means data storage and finding the right unique identifier to make them usable
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- Understanding the difference between structured and unstructured data
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- Understanding the difference between raw and aggregated data
- Understanding how to handle huge amount of data in real- and/or near-time
Media will not be what it is today. Users are grown up, so marketers and the media industry needs to do the same way. It’s a huge and difficult change but also a chance like never seen before.
Reach is dead, goodvertising & native advertising is one direction for the media industry.
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