Advertising is challenging. "The effectiveness of traditional marketing tactics is declining at a rate faster than executives can figure out how to best leverage all of the new media opportunities out there," said Mark DiMassimo, CEO of Dimassiomo Goldstein, an agency that helps companies grow, and author of the e-book "Digital@Speed."
Tips on navigating the ad front:
• Act today. The way DiMassimo sees it, your ideal marketing plan can take eons to launch; then there's the present.
His advice: "What can I do right now to move things forward while the loftier plan is in motion in the background? Stop waiting for all the facts or buying into the perfect process myth. If you're not ready to take on the newest digital tools because you're not ready to do a lot with them, that doesn't mean you can't do a little and test it out. Don't put off small things today because you can't do bigger things."
• Love what you sell. Finding a product or service you are passionate about is a lot of the battle.
"Your job is not to seem like the most sane, balanced and detached individual in the world," DiMassimo said. "You should be on fire with this thing — whatever it is."
• Take on rivals. Name them, and differentiate yourself in your marketing. Don't be shy in stating why you're better, DiMassimo says.
• Understand reviews. They play a critical role, underscores Itamar Simonson, co-author of "Absolute value: what really influences costumers in the age of (nearly) perfect information"
"Find out from your customers which information sources they use," he said. "Reviews make concepts such as branding, loyalty and positioning less relevant and should change the way you think about marketing."
• Engage your customers. Invite them to review your product or service and make it easy by setting up a page for your company on the hot opinion site Yelp (YELP).
"Having an ongoing stream of authentic reviews from people who used your product will protect you from the occasional bad review and will ensure that new customers always find reviews that are relevant, helpful and recent," Simonson said.
• Learn from industry Davids. "They've taken on the Goliaths of their industries and come out on top," DiMassimo said.
He cites Netflix (NFXL), which took on Blockbuster and won.
Simonson notes that challenger brands have opportunities due to low barriers of entry.
"Consumers are less hesitant to try a product from a lesser-known brand when they can find positive reviews and other content about it," he said. "So companies that offer a high-quality product can do well even without heavy investment in advertising or branding."
He points to Roku, which rose from virtually unknown to capturing significant market share in the streaming set-top box market. Roku 3 has almost 6,000 reviews — with over half giving it five stars — on Amazon.com (AMZN).
• Diversify. The traditional thinking in marketing is that consumers associate your brand with certain skills, Simonson says, and they will have a hard time accepting products that don't fit this perception.
But he contends that when consumers evaluate each product separately, based on how it's being reviewed by experts and users, you can spread more easily into new categories if you offer a top-quality product.
"Sticking to the exact expectations that your customers have from your brand should be less of a concern when they base their decisions on reviews," he said.
By Michael Mink, FOR INVESTOR'S BUSINESS DAILY
sumber : http://news.investors.com/
Tidak ada komentar:
Posting Komentar