Tuesday, May 17, 2011
Thursday, May 5, 2011
2011 & Beyond: Evolving rules of Consumer Engagement
We are living in dynamic times where the consumer has high awareness levels; is more conscious of his needs and is more vocal about his rights. The advent of the Internet has made ‘consumer engagement’ undergo a sea change. This in turn has changed the rules of marketing. Consumer engagement today requires brands to be in continuous touch with customers - at any moment and on any medium. You need to drive brand affinity, capture feedback, answer questions, resolve concerns, offer need based products and solutions and win referrals. Put simply, engagement marketing and customer relationship management have to be the key pillars of your organizational marketing strategy today for both potential and existing customers.
Companies need to follow a three-pronged strategy — leverage web 2.0, undertake online reputation management and establish a strong connect between CRM and Customer Service — to ensure proactive and focused consumer engagement.
Web 2.0: The game changer
While consumer engagement was prevalent even before social media appeared on the horizon, it has now acquired a whole new dimension. Brands are increasingly using social media tools to burnish their image among existing as well as potential customers.
Around 40 percent of India’s population belongs to the age group of 25-30. With Web 2.0, it has become imperative for companies to undertake intelligent and strategic social media initiatives to proactively engage a huge base of young and tech-savvy consumers. Today, social networking tools have acquired heightened importance and are being considered as communication enablers that are widely leveraged to enhance brand image and handle consumer queries and demands real-time.
The increasing penetration of social media in the present-day scenario has made it strategic for any company to have a strong web presence. The traditional practices of capturing consumer response through personal interviews, questionnaires or consumer surveys are being steadily complemented by proactive social media engagement; tracking Facebook comments, blog posts, Tweets; creating online discussion forums, etc. To enhance their online presence, organisations should evolve digital communication strategies that channelise consumer voice towards the online space. Specific web portals need to cater to specific needs of the new-age consumers who now leverage the Internet medium like never before.
Data gathered from social media engagement offer deep insights into consumer behaviour and these analytics help companies create strategic differentiators to stay ahead of the curve. All businesses, especially consumer-centric ones, require a virtual presence with a proactive social media strategy.
Innovative online engagement marketing facilitates both direct and indirect branding among an extensive population base; creates increased affinity and awareness about the brand and products; ensures buzz marketing with existing customers becoming brand ambassadors and drives lead generation for future business.
Managing brand image in the Internet age
The seminal shift from the real to the virtual world has been challenging as well as empowering. With e-commerce dissolving geographical distances, the modes of reaching out to a diverse section of global consumers have undoubtedly increased.
Consumer opinions today can make or mar a brand’s reputation. It is now very easy for a miffed consumer to express his dissatisfaction by posting a Tweet or a blog post via a smartphone. With consumers becoming omni-present, brand management in the virtual world has become a strategic imperative for businesses globally. Prompt responses to consumer queries; swift resolutions to grievances posted online; leveraging positive feedback to drive increased consumer engagement; actions on receiving consumer feedback have become important considerations for companies to represent themselves as responsible and consumer-centric entities. Companies today need mechanisms in place to monitor consumer posts online and take actions real-time. Such proactive measures help minimise the domino effect created by negative feedbacks and help win back the customer’s trust. It also helps build positive perception about the brand and translates into increased loyalty both from existing customers as well as prospects.
Leveraging CRM for effective consumer engagement
While CRM advanced the state of marketing from a monologue to a dialogue, it was still a conversation that was driven by the company, not the customer, till a few years back. However, the marketing landscape today is radically different from what it was 10 years back. Customer attention continues to become an increasingly scarce resource. Increasingly, customers have come to take control of this situation and not only participate in conversations with brands, but control that interaction as well.
To earn higher returns on relationships, companies are required to successfully meet variegated consumer requirements. Leverage CRM to analyse and understand customer needs. Personalise solutions to suit specific customer needs and preferences of the target audience is an effective way to build brand reputation and customer loyalty. Complement your customised offerings with marketing programs that appeal to individuals in specific segments. Utilize a segmented marketing approach to customer service. A personalised experience of the brand can dramatically increase the depth of engagement with your audience. Like real human relationships, engagement grows out of a close understanding of our audience. Tie Customer Relationship Management with Customer Service to create service differentiators.
We are living in dynamic times where the consumer has high awareness levels; is more conscious of his needs and is more vocal about his rights. The advent of the Internet has made ‘consumer engagement’ undergo a sea change. This in turn has changed the rules of marketing. Consumer engagement today requires brands to be in continuous touch with customers - at any moment and on any medium. You need to drive brand affinity, capture feedback, answer questions, resolve concerns, offer need based products and solutions and win referrals. Put simply, engagement marketing and customer relationship management have to be the key pillars of your organizational marketing strategy today for both potential and existing customers.
Companies need to follow a three-pronged strategy — leverage web 2.0, undertake online reputation management and establish a strong connect between CRM and Customer Service — to ensure proactive and focused consumer engagement.
Web 2.0: The game changer
While consumer engagement was prevalent even before social media appeared on the horizon, it has now acquired a whole new dimension. Brands are increasingly using social media tools to burnish their image among existing as well as potential customers.
Around 40 percent of India’s population belongs to the age group of 25-30. With Web 2.0, it has become imperative for companies to undertake intelligent and strategic social media initiatives to proactively engage a huge base of young and tech-savvy consumers. Today, social networking tools have acquired heightened importance and are being considered as communication enablers that are widely leveraged to enhance brand image and handle consumer queries and demands real-time.
The increasing penetration of social media in the present-day scenario has made it strategic for any company to have a strong web presence. The traditional practices of capturing consumer response through personal interviews, questionnaires or consumer surveys are being steadily complemented by proactive social media engagement; tracking Facebook comments, blog posts, Tweets; creating online discussion forums, etc. To enhance their online presence, organisations should evolve digital communication strategies that channelise consumer voice towards the online space. Specific web portals need to cater to specific needs of the new-age consumers who now leverage the Internet medium like never before.
Data gathered from social media engagement offer deep insights into consumer behaviour and these analytics help companies create strategic differentiators to stay ahead of the curve. All businesses, especially consumer-centric ones, require a virtual presence with a proactive social media strategy.
Innovative online engagement marketing facilitates both direct and indirect branding among an extensive population base; creates increased affinity and awareness about the brand and products; ensures buzz marketing with existing customers becoming brand ambassadors and drives lead generation for future business.
Managing brand image in the Internet age
The seminal shift from the real to the virtual world has been challenging as well as empowering. With e-commerce dissolving geographical distances, the modes of reaching out to a diverse section of global consumers have undoubtedly increased.
Consumer opinions today can make or mar a brand’s reputation. It is now very easy for a miffed consumer to express his dissatisfaction by posting a Tweet or a blog post via a smartphone. With consumers becoming omni-present, brand management in the virtual world has become a strategic imperative for businesses globally. Prompt responses to consumer queries; swift resolutions to grievances posted online; leveraging positive feedback to drive increased consumer engagement; actions on receiving consumer feedback have become important considerations for companies to represent themselves as responsible and consumer-centric entities. Companies today need mechanisms in place to monitor consumer posts online and take actions real-time. Such proactive measures help minimise the domino effect created by negative feedbacks and help win back the customer’s trust. It also helps build positive perception about the brand and translates into increased loyalty both from existing customers as well as prospects.
Leveraging CRM for effective consumer engagement
While CRM advanced the state of marketing from a monologue to a dialogue, it was still a conversation that was driven by the company, not the customer, till a few years back. However, the marketing landscape today is radically different from what it was 10 years back. Customer attention continues to become an increasingly scarce resource. Increasingly, customers have come to take control of this situation and not only participate in conversations with brands, but control that interaction as well.
To earn higher returns on relationships, companies are required to successfully meet variegated consumer requirements. Leverage CRM to analyse and understand customer needs. Personalise solutions to suit specific customer needs and preferences of the target audience is an effective way to build brand reputation and customer loyalty. Complement your customised offerings with marketing programs that appeal to individuals in specific segments. Utilize a segmented marketing approach to customer service. A personalised experience of the brand can dramatically increase the depth of engagement with your audience. Like real human relationships, engagement grows out of a close understanding of our audience. Tie Customer Relationship Management with Customer Service to create service differentiators.
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