What better way to follow up the Royal Wedding, than with a new round up of all things digital marketing? But before reading on, you can catch up on last weeks edition – where we covered Snapchat’s about-turn, political geo-targeting and Facebook’s cryptocurrency? Once you’re up to scratch on that, read on for the following:
Finding, cultivating and keeping loyal customers is the holy grail of modern retail. In a world of rising operating costs and increasing competition, consumers who repeatedly purchase from a brand provide both security and revenue.
Research surveying 5,000 consumers over 13 countries has created the ‘5 P’s of Shopper Motivation‘ report. The report identified five different types of shoppers – those motivated by peers, price, practicality, personalisation and perks.
Even though the ‘peer motivated’ group was the smallest, they also were the most loyal and the most likely to shop on a daily basis (16%). This is compared to those who were ‘price motivated’, only 6% of which shop on a daily basis. Comprised mostly of 25-34 year olds, these ‘peer motivated’ shoppers are most likely to act as a brand ambassador, with 65% promoting products that they love to their friends, family and followers. This falls to 38% for ‘price motivated’ shoppers.
The younger generation of ‘peer motivated’ shoppers have been found to be strongly influenced by social media (47%), and 68% of this age group will not make a major decision until they have discussed it with their trusted peers. All of this creates a picture of what a loyal consumer might look like, and what their needs might be…
Social media and influencer campaigns work well for ‘peer motivated’ shoppers – tapping into their need for recommendations from trusted people. Boohoo is said to have nearly doubled their profits in 2017 thanks to an Instagram influencer campaign that used celebrities and bloggers to promote the brand.
Social media platforms are evolving to become ‘shoppable’, in order to make the most of this trend, and new apps, such as Qwibe, have been created to combine social media and shopping activity.
Another platform, Mindmeister provides consumers with a number of different ways to complete a purchase – through credit cards, Paypal, coupons etc. – which improves the speed and efficiency of the sale, and increases the chances of a recommendation from this ‘peer motivated’ audience.
It has been predicted that issues around the new GDPR will continue beyond its 25th May deadline – and it looks as though there will be some disagreements over what compliance with the GDPR actually is.
Facebook is a great example of the blurred line between compliance and non-compliance: although the company requested its users to choose to continue to store and display their ‘political, religious and relationship information’, Facebook is still allowing its advertisers to target users based on interests it infers based on user’s behavioural data.
Essentially this means that if a user opted out of Facebook retaining and displaying their information, it could still be used by advertisers in order to target them.
Facebook explained that,
“Like other internet companies, Facebook shows ads based on topics we think people might be interested in, but without using sensitive personal data.
This means that someone could have an ad interest listed as gay pride because they have liked a Pride-associated page or clicked a Pride ad, but it does not reflect any personal characteristics such as gender or sexuality.”
Facebook stated explicitly that,
“Our advertising complies with relevant EU law and, like other companies, we are preparing for the GDPR to ensure we are compliant when it comes into force.”
However, it seems that Facebook’s position implicates Article 22 of the GDPR, which forbids any,
“decision based solely on automated processing, including profiling, which produces legal effects concerning [a data subject] or similarly significantly affects [the data subject].”
Facebook, and other companies like it, which rely on targeted advertising to drive their revenue, stand to lose a lot of money should they be found to not adhere to the GDPR. However they also stand to make a lot of money should they be able to find a way around it…
mCommerce is eCommerce’s younger sibling – and it is one that is nipping at its heels! 25% of the world’s population use their mobile phone to make purchases, a number which has doubled in just a year, and is in comparison to a 15% decrease in purchases on a desktop or laptop.
mCommerce requires its own attention, and brands must ensure that they are fully mobile-optimised. One of the first steps is to understand the inherent advantages of mobile commerce. An app, for example, offers a fantastic user experience, as purchases can be completed with one click (rather than long forms and complicated payment processes in traditional eCommerce).
Easy to use interfaces, multiple payment models and customised content are some of the areas that should be considered when optimising for mCommerce. Importantly, the loading speed of the mobile website or app is a key factor in successful mobile sales, as the journey should be as friction-less as possible.
Shopify conducted research which showed that 67% of mobile users were more likely to make a purchase from a mobile-friendly site, further proving the fact that brands need to take mCommerce more seriously.
The journey to better mCommerce has many elements, however, consider the following four pointers to set you on the road to success:
Whether going to dinner, going backpacking for 6 months or switching providers, people are empowered by search. Extensive searches on a topic have been found to increase anticipation and confidence, and to make consumers feel less anxious about their decisions.
Google has been conducting research into why people are keen to know so much about an experience before they have even had it, finding that the research process becomes part of the experience itself. Extensive research also helps to make the most of something – planning the prices, maps and schedules ahead of time means that you don’t get any nasty surprises and that the experience is seamless.
Another reason for plentiful research is to avoid missing anything – whether that’s the restaurant speciality or a hidden gem at a particular destination. Research means that consumers can negate feeling remorseful – both by missing something amazing or by doing something that could have been avoided.
For marketers and brands, this type of research-obsessed consumer should inform the marketing strategy. Understanding the consumer mindset as they plan an experience means that products and services can be offered as part of the solution:
Seth Godin is a marketing visionary, and the author of Permission Marketing, Tribes, Linchpin and Purple Cow. In a recent interview, Godin set out six ideas that could transform the way that marketers work, so read on for his fascinating advice and insights…
Or as Godin puts it,
“Reach is almost always the wrong path. It’s easy to collect a crowd on Main Street. You just parade a bunch of super models and people will stop. But that doesn’t mean that you’ve earned any trust and it’s trust and customer traction that build organisations […] Being known by lots of people isn’t really the goal; it’s a by-product of certain kinds of marketing for certain kinds of products. What you’re really seeking is to be trusted, to be heard, to be talked about, and to matter. And if we look at any brand that’s succeeded, that is what they have done.”
For Godin, the contents of your brand should inform the content that it puts out. Each piece of content should have a unique quality, a sense of authenticity and an inherent meaning that relates directly to the brand story. Godin states that content should be comprised of,
“The stuff we make and the way we choose to tell a story about it. That’s what marketing is now. It’s not advertising, it is how we are in the world.”
Technology is developing at lightning speed, and data, automation, machine learning and AI can be used to make a brand more human – or more robotic and corporate. Godin explains that,
“The question is: are we going to corporatise, industrialise and productise everything, and figure out how to just crank things up because we can? Or will we use this moment to be more human, and to figure out how to be original and to be missed if we are gone.”
Storytelling has been a buzzword in marketing for a while, however, only a few companies engage with actual storytelling. Godin notes that,
“There are wonderful stories that many powerful brands have been built around. They’re about identity, about culture and the change that we seek to make. What we do when we do great marketing is we tell stories; stories that create tension, stories that lead to forward motion.”
Godin uses this example: “the boy cried wolf but the villagers didn’t come,” as in just nine words, a whole story is set out. The universality of this story means that anyone who reads it can identify with it – and Godin says that whether that story happened or not is actually the least important thing about it.
By creating a strong and authentic brand story, you have to understand that you are moving away from catering to everyone, and moving towards catering for your audience. Godin uses Harley Davidson as an example of this:
“Harley Davidson can tell a story with an ad, they can tell a story with a video, but they can also tell it with the sound that the bike makes, and they can tell it with which kind of leather jacket they’ve decided to grant a license to, and they can tell it by where they’re going to have a rally.
All of those things are part of the story of Harley Davidson. And so if we’re going to build a real brand, not just a logo, we’re going to build it by living a story – one that’s not for everyone but for the people we seek to serve.”
The authenticity of a brand and its products also relates to how the sales team can sell it. No salesperson wants to miss-sell or mislead consumers – or as Godin says,
“Professional sales people want marketing that makes a promise they can keep – and they get very frustrated when marketing shows up with promises that just aren’t true.
They are the feet on the street, they have to look people in the eye.
And they don’t want to have to say ‘this ad isn’t true but you should buy this product anyway’. They care a lot and that’s where mismatches occur, because the marketer who hasn’t been on the sales floor can’t understand that.”
Godin suggests having the marketers spend time on the shop floor, and also for sales reps to experience life in customer service, as this creates a larger understanding of how the business functions.
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