Uncategorized
Digital sensibilities – marketers providing “advice” over the “sell”
On 12, Mar 2013 | In Uncategorized | By ReneeBlake
Customers are smart, they know when they’re being sold. They’re savvy enough to glean the appropriate information when they need it, and therefore can demand quality.
More and more, brands are taking the route of being council to their consumers. Offering deeper information, advice and genuine insights regarding their products and services.
Digitally speaking, shoppers are closer to the point of sell then ever, and just a click away from learning more about their potential buy. That’s big! Review services, and recommendation engines are not only effective sales tools but also a form of earned media. Amazon, for example changed customer’s expectations by driving towards “advice” over “promoting.” Trust comes from facilitating a decision, not transparent sales tactics.
Mobile marketers are organically ahead of the game here. They are forced to re-prioritize the messaging, and therefore make the user smarter and more confident. This digital sensibility will inevitably seep into mainstream channels. An ad or a promotion inherently can’t be trusted. However, as it turns out, that has always been digital advertising’s approach: everything is checkable and instantly reinforced, or debunked. So ironically, they can get away with a digital retail showroom of sorts… because its transparent, and genuine.
Marketer’s real opportunity lies in the ability to provide advice, or a “aducation” to their consumers and therefore make it part of their brand. Health care providers, subscription based services (such as Netflix,) and automobile companies seem to be realizing this opportunity already. They are paying less attention to speeds and feeds and instead, placing more emphasis on figuring out how to get customers to sample their product.
The most successful marketers, digital and beyond, will embrace advisor-like relationships with their consumers. This will not only build brand sustainability, but also engage consumers in a genuine way. It makes everyone (consumers and advertisers alike,) look and feel smarter.