Every morning, I wake up to a variety of blogs on marketing. Seth Godin is probably my favourite, but there are numerous tidbits that I pull from a variety of sources. . . Social Media Examiner being one of them.
One article that caught my attention the other day was “Where will your customers be in 2014?” I was excited. I opened up the article thinking it was going to talk about Integrated Marketing and how you can marry online and offline marketing techniques to build a cohesive marketing strategy to target customers across platforms. . . I WAS WRONG!. Though Jim wrote a great article, it focussed solely on digital marketing and the spaces where clients would focus their attention. Just to keep it fair, here is another infographic that breaks it down as to where men and women visit most often.
What I have been noticing more and more, throughout the variety of blogs that I visit, is that the focus tends to be solely on social media and it leads you to believe that it IS the silver bullet of marketing. This is something a disagree with!
Customers, like clothing, come in all different shapes and sizes and with varying wants and desires that change with their individual sets of circumstances. We all speak a similar set of languages, but the nuance of how we listen and interpret is as unique as who we are. That being said, assuming that one form of communication will attract everyone is as silly as only making jeans in one size and style. People crave choice and want to be communicated in ways that resonates with them. That is the beauty and the challenge of marketing.
To be a successful marketer, or a company with a successful marketing strategy, you need to understand first who your audience truly is, how they attach themselves to your brand and how they want to interact with you. Having an Integrated Marketing program that touches your audience several ways, with similar (not the same) messaging and creates a call to action that moves people through your funnel should be the end game of any successful campaign.
Your marketing message needs to be consistent but tailored to the audience of the platform chosen. By using this method you are going to “speak” to more varied and different audiences and show the value of your brand to them in ways that make them want to work with you.
Take the time to explore how offline marketing can help you gain customers that are not attainable through Social Media. . . you may be surprised to find a brand new loyal audience. In the end it is about creating Tangible Evidence for your brand that Gets YOU Noticed!
