Loyalty is the greatest thing to happen to marketing in a long time. How so? Most people look at loyalty as the chevron to the right of purchase on a purchase funnel diagram.
Loyalty is the most effective input into marketing that there is. When customers become loyal, not only do they want to repeatedly purchase a product or service, but they want to emotionally invest in it. For proof, look no further than www.flyertalk.com, a frequent traveler bulletin board site.
The people who post on FlyerTalk do it at all hours of the day and night, and go to great lengths to dissect and reverse engineer loyalty programs. My Starbucks Idea launched for people who love Starbucks so much that they want to help build it. REI builds its brand through a coop to drive member participation. So why are brands just now starting to understand the value of their consumers? Why are these brands in the minority?
Brands should solicit input from loyal customers whenever possible. Blogs, forums, social media participation should be cornerstones of marketing efforts. Driving and engaging in the conversation leads to greater emotional investment from the customers which in turn leads to greater product involvement with the company.
Showing posts with label conversation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label conversation. Show all posts
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
Social Networking: Is it a strategy a tactic, a buzzword or a desert topping?
So much is made out of social media, social networking, social this and social that lately that its tough to get away from it.
The evolution of tools that allow companies to speak directly to their consumers and allows their consumers to speak to each other is incredible. As a marketing person, its like a dream to be able to ask a consumer about something and get an immediate reaction. Not only does it help to optimize marketing, promotional, customer service and product development, but it allows the consumers to feel more intimately involved with the process. Thus (and I love that word) creating evangelism, the holy grail of marketing.
All that being said, should you have a social networking strategy, or a brand strategy of which social networking is a tactic? My opinion? Everything should come out of a brand strategy. Social networking is very valuable when placed with in the right brand context. Social networking for social networking sake has failed many times.
Take a look at your brand and determine the types of communications and vehicles that reenforce your brand's promise and more importantly, the consumer's expectation of your brand. A handmade luxury automaker doesn't make sense on Facebook!
Just one man's opinion.
The evolution of tools that allow companies to speak directly to their consumers and allows their consumers to speak to each other is incredible. As a marketing person, its like a dream to be able to ask a consumer about something and get an immediate reaction. Not only does it help to optimize marketing, promotional, customer service and product development, but it allows the consumers to feel more intimately involved with the process. Thus (and I love that word) creating evangelism, the holy grail of marketing.
All that being said, should you have a social networking strategy, or a brand strategy of which social networking is a tactic? My opinion? Everything should come out of a brand strategy. Social networking is very valuable when placed with in the right brand context. Social networking for social networking sake has failed many times.
Take a look at your brand and determine the types of communications and vehicles that reenforce your brand's promise and more importantly, the consumer's expectation of your brand. A handmade luxury automaker doesn't make sense on Facebook!
Just one man's opinion.
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