Ms. Jones is craving a certain type of conversation…are we engaging enough to catch her?
Just because someone owns market share doesn’t mean that they own the market on what a customer desires to hear. They just happen to be there first.
As I frequent the internet searching big marketing stats you can imagine I stumble over lots of things. Most are leaning towards the information you expect to see but every once in a while you find something that is worth a second look.
One such instance was when I stumbled on this chart from marketingcharts.com. Below you’ll see the chart, which provides an analysis of what marketers post vs. what consumers are hoping to see posted.
As the creators and protectors of brands, we sometimes truly get caught up in telling our story and what makes us different. We think that because we care about it that Ms. Jones is going to care about it. These posts that showcase a company’s personality, that tell a story and say what is happening at a company account for 44%, 58% and 51% respectively. However, consumers only want 23%, 37% and 41% respectively of those same posts.
What do they want? They want to know what discounts and sales we have going on right now and content that showcases new products or services. There is a 54% difference in the frequency by which we post content about sales versus what the consumer demands from us.
Penetrating the social stream, whether through ads or organically, is incredibly tough today. If we concede that 2% of the market is only engaged enough to hear our message, then that means Ms. Jones isn’t always hearing us. Even a serviceable 10% organic engagement rate on Facebook (amount of people reached divided by the number of people who like your page) we are setting ourselves up for possible failure.
As marketers who work with a long-term buying cycle in small advertising budgets, we have moved more towards owning that. How we garner her attention on all vehicles is through the following three areas of focus:
1. Product Knowledge:
We are experts in product knowledge. Focusing on the dynamics involved in explaining to Ms. Jones about something she doesn’t buy very often is paramount in ensuring interaction.
2. We have a sale and we need sales:
We don’t make the furniture and our dollars don’t go as far. In a local environment we have to give Ms. Jones knowledge about what she can save today and where she can get it.
3. Turning big company moments into events:
Staying in business today is an accomplishment. Celebrating anniversaries and big store milestones can lead to really positive outcomes. Here are some examples:
Consumers love it when we are authentic. As we have moved our clients towards owning what we are trying to accomplish it has only helped push things forward to great success.
