Marketing: A changing landscape

The marketing landscape has changed significantly in the past few years with the shift mainly driven by new technology, changes in customer needs and the evolution of consumer tolerance.

A few years ago marketers were talking about customer relationship management and brand management to drive loyalty and retention. Fast forward a few years and the new buzz words are customer engagement and brand experience. So you may ask, what is the difference? Notice that the words management has evolved into less authoritative terms, engage and experience.

The evolution of terminology marks a significant change in the relationship between a business and its customers as it’s no longer a parent-child relationship, but rather a peer-to-peer one - or so the theory goes. In the past few years the Internet and savvy customers are probably the biggest drivers for this shift as social networks, online reviews and forums have significantly changed our purchase behaviour.

Personally I don’t always trust online reviews because very often they are created by shady characters working for the company that sells the product (I urge you not to use this disgusting tactic because it won’t serve you well long-term), but many customers use reviews and forum posts to inform their purchase decisions. Businesses should therefore no longer focus on charming the customer at point of sale, but rather continuously from point of need up to the purchase decision. As customers demand honesty and transparency from companies, this could be an SME’s opportunity to fill the gap.

Customers are becoming immune to extravagant and fancy marketing claims, a savvy client can smell phoney a mile away, which means businesses who want to beat their larger competitors and gain significant market share will have to keep it real because they will get caught-out otherwise.

These days you can easily add review functionality to your website thanks to the availability of open source, ready to install, website software and plugins. With this said I have noticed that many businesses are still petrified by the thought of opening themselves up in this manner as they often believe it makes them vulnerable to scrutiny. Let me leave you with this thought, you are vulnerable any way as customers will air their grievances online whether you allow them or not. It is therefore up to you to authentically live up to your marketing claims and to deliver with honesty what you promised. If you tick these boxes, the chance for positive comments from your customers online is much higher, so what do you have to lose by being authentic? I’d say you have much more to gain by serving your customers in a way that they are demanding.

Use the information that customers provide about you and your business online as research tools rather than an object for your worst nightmares. To stay competitive organisations will have to evolve with the needs of their customers (a marketing theory that does stand the test of time). My advice is therefore; use these new tools that are at your disposal to enrich and enhance your customers’ experience positively. You can no longer manage your brand beyond the walls of your business premises if what happens inside those walls don’t reflect what you claim will happen once a customer purchases your products or services. And remember the way you treat your staff forms part of this principle because they are an extension of your company, its brand authenticity and reputation.