Articles
CCC White Paper - Digital Marketing - The one thing you need to do with Marketing today
With all of the continuing hype surrounding social media and digital marketing, there is a strong temptation to try to tune it all out and focus on building your business instead. But that would be a big mistake for you as well as your company’s future growth.
Why? Simply this: consumers have an unprecedented ability to learn more about your business than ever before as well as sharing their opinions and perspective (both favorable and negative) with the entire world. And they can do this with the simple hit of a “send” button.
So what’s the one thing that every business needs to do with their marketing today? It’s what I was taught as a Brand Assistant at P&G: “Listen and Respond To The Voice Of Your Customer”.
Social media and digital marketing are now part of our everyday “toolkit” and the way we do business. But that doesn’t mean all companies should have an on-going, proactive social media effort. That requires a serious commitment of resources, especially the human kind, if you’re going to do it right.
In fact, the more “mainstream” social media becomes, the more likely a lot more companies are going to launch their own Facebook/ Twitter/ YouTube/etc. campaigns (and do them quite badly since they won’t be based on a sound strategy and will be under funded).
Rather, the prime directive for all businesses should be a willingness to “commit to the dialogue”. Companies should be doing this on a daily basis as a fundamental part of doing business. Actively listening to what their customers are saying about them online can keep a business focused on what matters most to their customers (and not be distracted by their competitors or other issues).
There are an abundance of examples where this is really starting to pay for companies (and has been one of the keys to P&G’s success over the years, both before and after the advent of the Internet). Ideally, you should develop a strategy and game plan that go beyond listening and actively engage with your target consumers online using the wide variety of digital marketing tools available as part of an integrated marketing effort.
There are many ways you can benefit from initiatives such as these, including increasing traffic (and leads) to your company’s website, increasing your brand’s visibility online, enhancing your company’s reputation, etc.
But at a minimum, you should be using online tools and best practice to put forth the effort needed to regularly monitor what others are saying about your brand as well as your competition. There may have been a time a long time ago when “ignorance is bliss”, but in today’s hyper-competitive business environment, those days are gone forever.
Listen and respond to the voice of your customer using all the current digital marketing tools at your disposal….you just might be pleasantly surprised what you can learn and apply to build your business both now and in the future.
The author, Kip Knight, has over 30 years of marketing and general management experience at great companies, including P&G, Pepsi Co., Taco Bell and e-Bay. Kip developed customized Social Media Seminars for many Fortune 500 companies.
Contact Information
Contact either Judd Weis, President & CEO, CCC, Ltd. at jweis@cincconsult.com or 513-516-0539, or Kip Knight, Senior CCC Consultant at kknight@cincconsult.com
