No Time for Nostalgia: Test and Challenge Everything (Because You Can)

Once upon a time, retailers advertised their products or services very methodically, one media form at a time—TV, radio, newspapers or The Yellow Pages. Though we weren’t sure which tactic brought them in, prospective buyers would come “kick the tires” none-the-less while glad-handing salespeople hovered, waiting to answer a question.

When the inevitable “Does that refrigerator come in any other color than avocado?” question arose, Joe Salesman would eagerly inform that it also comes in coffee, peach and sky blue. After the short Q&A session, said salesman would try to upsell the customer to another product that offered the store (and salesman) bigger incentives, all the while regaling the customer with the benefits of the more expensive version. Finally, Joe would close the sale, and repeat this process day in and day out.

Not so very long ago, this scenario played out all across the globe. However, time and technology changes most things, and the way that business is conducted has changed as well. How?

The push of general information about your products or services through traditional mass media channels that operate exclusive of one another has been replaced by scores of media channels that either work together to improve how consumers pull information to learn about our products or come off as an uncoordinated carpet bombing tactic that actually hampers demand creation.

The result?

With a myriad of push- and pull-oriented media forms to integrate for any given campaign, and with consumers often more educated than the salesperson on what they want to buy, consumers are more prepared to interact with you than you are to interact with them. And, on top of everything else, they expect to obtain information or purchase products 24 / 7. Feel like you are on your heels, unable to catch up to your customers?

How can you compete, let alone thrive, in this business environment? How can you develop strategies to sell to prospects in different phases of purchase consideration? Given the fragmented media landscape that exists today, how can you get the most for your marketing investment?

By recognizing the differences in consumers. They are not all created alike. While some are ready to purchase, others are in different phases of researching and learning about a product and, most likely, actively considering several options. What’s more, due to the many different media outlets, there is no single place to promote a marketing message.

Forward-thinking companies recognize the changes that have taken place. They develop engaging media-specific, yet fully integrated, marketing strategies to successfully lead prospects through the purchase funnel. From interested prospects just beginning to consider a product to advocates who will actively endorse and recommend the product to others, many, if not most, of the marketing channels are deployed.

Communicating effectively today means recognizing how prospects begin to engage with you. You must develop a tailored communication strategy that pulls prospects through the funnel. This tailored strategy varies in methods, media, messages and even offers.

For example, the prospect who responds through a toll-free number on an FSI might be totally different than a consumer who responds as a result of a DRTV spot. That prospect, in turn, is most likely different than the blogger or tweeter. Since an FSI typically contains more product information than a 30-second spot, these prospects may be further along in the purchase consideration funnel, and might only need a gentle nudge to complete the purchase. The more impulsive DRTV responder, on the other hand, is earlier along in the consideration and research phase, and might need a longer, more educationally-based follow-up communication strategy with a strong offer to close the sale. Someone making comments through social media requires an entirely different communications approach.

Add in the need to understand how that FSI and that DRTV spot may be working together to improve the performance of both, and how tying in search or online display advertising might lift it further, adds yet another layer for the marketer to solve.

Commodity product or luxury service. It doesn’t matter what you’re selling, you need to determine the right combination of media, the source of a lead, where the prospect is in the funnel, and develop specific communication strategies to convert leads to sales. Measuring and then optimizing each of those ingredients, applying that learning, quickly, has evolved the model greatly from the days of buying one media form at a time and waiting to see what happens (and then not knowing for sure why it happened).

Test yourself:

1.    What are the natural phases of your purchase funnel?

2.    How does your strategy vary by customer segment?

3.    How does performance change as the media mix varies?

4.    What are the appropriate metrics to understand and optimize performance?

Today’s successful companies are not reminiscing about the good ol’ days, but asking themselves hard questions and embracing new strategies to lead them to smarter, more effective communications, and long-term relationships with satisfied customers.

Follow @Communefx on Twitter to learn more about our solutions for communication effectiveness.