The Importance of Knowing Your Audience

I recently attended a presentation by a “Digital Marketing Expert.” Yes, I was scoping out the competition. However, it seems I have nothing to worry about; and not because of his lack of knowledge or expertise, but because of, ironically, his own marketing tactics.

This particular event was hosted by a local chamber of commerce and was a 25 minute presentation from this gentleman on social media advertising, mobile marketing and websites. If I could sum up the theme, I would call it “Ways to Make Your Business Stay Trendy and Hip to Younger Audiences.” The attendees, minus myself and a few select individuals, were older business owners who may not have the most up-to-date website or know a ton about social media (hence why they came to the event).

The presentation was a well-thought-out PowerPoint and he made some really good points. Afterwards, I approached him to compliment his notes and ask if we can stay connected...then I asked for his business card. His response? “Oh I don’t carry business cards, they’re outdated.”

I understand what his method is. His company is in digital advertising, a newer medium and therefore is on the cutting edge, and business cards are a thing of the past. That may be true, but as I looked around to others asking him the same question, there was plenty of confusion across the many faces. This guy had just spent 25 minutes telling everyone his company could solve their social media problems and yet did not have a simple way for potential customers to reach out to him. Sure, people could connect with him on Linkedin or “like” his company’s Facebook page, but that’s not the audience that was in attendance, and those people would still need a name to search for. Many of these business owners were old fashioned (I talked with several of them). They like business cards. They like a simple email or phone number to reach out to and don’t want to mess with messaging on social media or finding the contact page of a website.

The point is, don’t give a presentation to small business owners who don’t know about social media and tell them you can handle their social media and then make the only way to contact you through said social media, which they would need you to show them how, but they can’t, because they can’t contact you...

Know Your Audience.

How Marketing and Customer Relationship Management (CRM) are Connected

Every business knows that Customer Relationship Management (CRM) and Marketing go hand-in-hand. Do all of these businesses know why though? By learning what customers want, the marketing can be more appropriately tailored to suit the target’s needs.

REPEAT CUSTOMERS

50, 30, even 20 years ago, the main goal was to sell a product to a customer, then move on to the next one. Now, companies have realized that repeat business can be as valuable, if not more, than one-time customers. According to About.com: Marketing, “repeat customers spend 33% more than new customers.” Colin Shaw, an “Influencer” on LinkedIn, also notes “The probability of selling to an existing customer is 60 – 70%. The probability of selling to a new prospect is 5-20%… It costs 6–7 times more to acquire a new customer than retain an existing one.” So, while gaining new business is important, it is also EXTREMELY important to keep your existing customers happy too.

CONSUMER’S VOICE

Another factor for companies to consider is not only how much monetary gain they will have from a repeat customer, but also how much of a reach that customer has to others via the Internet. If a customer is pleased with a certain product, they have the outlet to voice their positive opinion online. In the same sense, if a customer is not happy with a company or product, they can post negative comments online. Both reasons show why customer relationship management is important. Laura Lake of About.com also stated “Referrals among repeat customers are 107% greater than non-customers.” Also, maybe it’s not a bad product, but the service itself. Mr. Shaw says “A customer is 4 times more likely to defect to a competitor if the problem is service-related than price or product-related [and] for every customer complaint there are 26 other unhappy customers who have remained silent.”

ARE YOU LISTENING?

One negative review by a highly trafficked website can undo months of marketing, so it is important for companies to consider this into their marketing plan – by monitoring online activity such as blogs and social media. Another marketing item to consider related to customer relationship management is the opportunity to be connected, which can have valuable information. A customer who would like to receive emails from a company, or a customer who becomes a fan of a company on Facebook, is giving the organization an opportunity to connect with them personally, which can yield great insight into the habits, likes, and dislikes of customers or potential customers. There is also the ability to have a marketing plan that involves customer interaction. A company should strive for a customer that wants to visit their site and engage with them.

In short, marketing and customer relationship management are connected. Customer relationship management gives companies the chance to earn trust, please customers, and gain insight for their marketing plans.

References:

Lake, L. (2018). Customer relationships are key to your marketing strategy. About.com: Marketing. Retrieved from http://marketing.about.com/od/relationshipmarketing/a/crmstrategy.htm

Shaw, C. (2018). 15 statistics that should change the business world, but haven’t. LinkedIn. Retrieved from http://www.linkedin.com/today/post/article/20130604134550-284615-15-statistics-that-should-change-the-business-world-but-haven-t

Advertising: Is It Based On Perspective?

There’s this old Seinfeld episode that revolves around a Dockers commercial about khakis. Below is the scene and, for reference, the actual commercial in question:

The episode itself is funny (or perhaps I’m biased because I believe every episode of Seinfeld is hilarious). The unintended result of this particular episode is interesting, however, because it shows that different commercials appeal to different people, and how all advertising used to be done. I know, it’s fictional, but in reality, aren’t there commercials you don’t care for? And yet, they continue to be played because somewhere, someone has seen it and bought the product.

And it’s as simple as that - mass marketing. I don’t believe Jerry Seinfeld is the intended target for the commercial. He says, “Tan pants...why do I buy tan pants? I don’t feel comfortable in them.” His girlfriend, on the other hand, says she likes the commercial. Could it be that she was the target market? Perhaps she would buy cotton Dockers for her boyfriend? In the rest of the episode, you don’t hear George opposing the commercial. You know what else? George is always wearing cotton pants, whereas this is the only episode I can remember that has Jerry wearing khakis. I know, it’s fiction. My point is that some people buy Dockers, and that’s why the commercial existed.

Instances like this is also why internet advertising has become so effective. Why waste money on people who are not your target? With social media, Google, etc, I can get very precise on my target market, making my ROI much better.