January 5, 2017
The marketing landscape continues to alter at a startling rate and we at Immediate Future are pretty certain you are fed up of being bombarded with fluffy information and figures about this “mammoth” transformation over the years. I can pretty much guarantee you’re thinking, “How great was life when we had no more than a trickle of channels to move product; Radio, TV, Magazines & Newspapers! Aah the good days!”
Well this isn’t how you should be feeling at all. The reality of the situation is we now have a lot more than just a handful of ways to reach that very customer – how in the world can that be a bad thing for someone who wants to do the same thing: provide more of their products/services to more people. Not only do these additional channels drive sales like before, they provide data about your customer too and an opportunity to engage with them like never before!
Companies feel compelled to join the digital ‘rat race’ – creating presence on every single social channel that they are exposed to and get involved in trending conversations whether they are relevant to their business or not. Here lies the problem: whilst sinking in a sea of buzzwords, using platforms without actually knowing how to, companies lose sight of how much marketing has actually stayed the same over the years. Results rule – yes that is STILL applicable. The marketing environment may have progressed and yes admittedly marketing today requires us to build immersive experiences to engage the consumer, but its core principles remain the same. Where am I going with this? Well businesses need to worry less about how many tools are jam-packed into their strategies and instead focus on effectively achieving worthy goals by aligning their social marketing into their overall marketing strategies. Businesses need to be reminded that consumer behaviour is fundamentally the same and the rise in social platforms and technology has just enabled these behaviours to happen in a faster, wider & more connected scale than ever before. It merely provides an additional opportunity to deliver a brands’ message, content or promotion to the consumer in the most significant and appealing way- again, still applicable today.
Integrity, & great customer service in a consistent manner will always outdo any new hype to hit the marketing industry. Businesses should get back to creating a great product, provide a great service, if you’re reallllly that great, your consumers may just do all the talking for you – couldn’t get that done on an ol’ black box now could you!