Many digital strategies ask, “How do I tell customers about my product?” That is already the biggest mistake you can make. The most effective strategy — the ones that lead to customer engagement and sales — actually ask, “What does my customer need, and how can my product help them?”
You have 30 seconds
The average Internet user owns three gadgets. Attention spans are at an all time low. Studies show that they will wait only 30 to 50 seconds before deciding whether or not to read a website or leave. They know they can find information anywhere — if you don’t give it, they will look elsewhere.
Customer-centric marketing
Brands who do get high engagement and loyalty center their marketing strategy invest heavily in understanding the customer and connecting to them. All their campaigns are carefully crafted to be:
- Relevant. All key communication messages are centered around the customer’s key needs.
- Research-based. Marketing begins in understanding both demographics and psychographics — or, emotional triggers, daily routine, pain points, aspirations, and more. A general campaign that attempts to connect to everybody actually connects to nobody.
- Multi-platform. Customers will often use blogs for information and social media for interaction. An engaging website often include videos, articles, downloadable or shareable information. Websites must also be optimized for viewing on mobile, tablet, and desktop. This enables your brand to connect to your customer in different ways and times.
Customer Persona
This is a demographic and psychographic summary of your market’s behavior, needs, language, trigger points and more. It is specific and concrete. “Women aged 21 to 35” is not a customer persona. “The single busy middle-class executive” is a good starting point. Go deeper. You should be able to describe what she needs and likes, and how she is most likely to search for information on the Internet. You may discover your product speaks to different personas. Then target messages for each one.
User Experience (UX)
if your customer lands on your website, can she find what she needs right away? A pretty website isn’t enough. Look at their user experience (UX):
- loading time
- how many clicks it takes to find information
- the quality of the writing and photos
- clear and easy call to action
- mobile friendliness
Brand positioning and personality
Do you have a friend who just likes to talk about herself all the time? Not fun to be with, right? Marketing campaigns that are driven solely by hard-selling a product or service rarely succeed. People go to the internet to be entertained, informed, or find solutions to a problem. They will respond to brands who give that experience.
This article on the 11 Best Marketing Campaigns of 2016 show how brands increased sales and awareness by creating campaigns that were
- Built around an advocacy that mattered to their audience
- Witty
- Visually powerful
- Built around one simple message that was reinforced in many ways
Do you want to create a more customer-centered marketing campaign? Ask for a consultation with Mapletree Media, a digital agency that serves beauty brands and service providers around Asia.