It’s no secret that marketing has evolved and will continue to do so. In a Harvard Business Review article from March 2018, the following chart shows how we’ve gone from a market approach of “mass appeal” to one of relevance, experience, and personalization today.
Ideas for adapting to a world without loyalty
Using a virtual ticket, I recently viewed Mark Schaefer’s 2019 Social Media Marketing World keynote speech entitled, Social Media Reimagined: How to Adapt to a World Without Loyalty. It’s a great speech and caused me to do some serious reflection about how we “market” ANS to potential customers.
Mr. Schaefer shares these 5 ways that we can adapt to the non-loyal world with our marketing:
- Marketing isn’t about “our story”. It’s about their story.
- A personal brand is now the company brand.
- Live experiences change everything.
- Your culture is your marketing.
- Build peak moments into customer experiences.
Ultimately, he concludes with, “BE MORE HUMAN.” Show your personality and show your face.
Making a business more human
Most of our clients are other businesses. This speech left me wondering, how can we at ANS be more human? How can we be more relevant to our clients’ lives? How can our business appear human to another business? Lastly, in what ways can we personalize our message more to be more relevant?
In the above referenced HBR article, Zealley, Wollan, and Bellin mention that in the U.S. market, businesses lose $1 trillion annually to competitors because they aren’t staying relevant. “…companies need to become more like living businesses, building and sustaining symbiotic ties with their customers as if those relationships are with a concierge, butler, or friend.”
So, how does ANS move to become and remain a “living business”? I pulled in members of the ANS team and we brainstormed. We came up with ideas about how we can personalize emails even more than we are already. In addition, we talked about how we can focus on people rather than products and services. Ideas and plans were around about how to gain relevance in our community. We talked with sales and client services about the benefits of visiting clients in their space at least once annually. We researched industry conferences our clients are attending and discussed how we can support them there. Above all, I’m pushing for these discussions and plans to continue for the foreseeable future.
Tell me your thoughts
What do you think? How are your marketing and business processes changing to have more personalization and to maintain relevance in the lives of your customers? What changes have you made to combat a world where loyalty is no longer the driving force for business?