Predicting the next big thing in communication technologies isn’t always the key to success. It is more often the way in which technology is used that is important in fact, new digital tools are only as good as the added value they bring. This is why understanding the dynamics of a society has become crucial in determining which marketing tools will work.
Marketers do not need to invest large amounts in research or travel around the world to see how businesses in different societies have adopted communications trends. Globalisation has made it easier to learn and pick up some ideas from their counterparts across regions. The following are ones to bear in mind when marketing around the world:
1. Understand the comfort level your audience has with the Internet.
The usefulness of a technology as a marketing channel has a great deal to do with how deeply it has penetrated society. Taking into consideration people’s notions of the Internet and e-commerce needs to be at the centre of any e-marketing strategy. This knowledge will be useful in determining the best starting point when developing a relationship with customers.
2. Keep it simple and personal.
In regions where trust in the Internet is quite low such as southern Europe marketers have learned that building relationships and trust offline is the best way to move customers to an online environment. Knowing they need to be extremely sensitive about gathering information, they have resorted to using their offline presence and brand recognition to build their databases.
This is a slow process, but handling customer’s information with care is the key to earning and keeping their trust before moving on to more complex and sophisticated content and technologies. This approach has been successful in bridging the gap between offline and online marketing and getting customers more comfortable with online transactions.
3. Consider which channels are available and relevant.
Beyond simple emails, marketers can take advantage of different digital channels that allow for more interactive relationships. The Nordic countries where mobile phone usage is very advanced are a good example to follow. They have found that despite the unrivalled functionality of the mobile phone, the channels that are most useful for marketing are still SMS and voice. It is not difficult to see why. They are simple to use and therefore attractive to the largest number of users.
In the US on the other hand, SMS is not widely used, therefore marketers have focused on emails, which fit better in a society where most people own a personal computer. Going for the channels that people use all the time and feel comfortable with is better than experimenting with brand new technologies.
4. Evolve the tools you have available.
The fact that marketers should stick to channels that are already successful among the population does not mean that there is no potential in existing technologies.
As an example, in the Nordics where the mobile plays a very prominent part in society, the newer MMS (multimedia message service) technology still plays second fiddle to SMS, which has taken a new turn. Marketers have found that SMS can work in the same way as a traditional marketing email message. By embedding a WAP link into the SMS messages, the user can be directed to a WAP page with a fuller explanation of the offer, which has led to an increase in the impact of the campaign and has also stimulated greater sales.
Likewise, in places like the US, email marketing has evolved rapidly to provide interactive features. For example, some brands have blended traditional email techniques with the increasing popularity of watching short video clips on the likes of YouTube. The identification and incorporation of a technology trend that is growing in popularity enables the company to inject an interactivity that keep customers engaged.
5. Involve your customers.
A competitive environment pushes marketers to improve the content and creativity of their emails. In some countries brands have even gone further and involve customers a lot more in the creation of campaigns through interactive email marketing tools.
For example, countries in northern Europe have used surveys for customers to rate popular products or new products they would like to see in the market. The response rate for these online email surveys is an outstanding 20 per cent compared to a one per cent response rate with paper surveys. They then use this information to create promotions that are tailored to the survey results and have a better likelihood of being read.
In today’s world of digital media there are an increasing number of channels marketers can utilise to reach their target business audience. Some provide opportunities to serve richer, more exciting content, others the promise of generating a closer and more interactive relationship.
However, before committing their budgets to any new channel, marketers should always think first of the people to whom they are trying to communicate. It is very tempting to get caught up in the hype around the launch of any new marketing channel, but if it doesn’t deliver information in a way that is going to be agreeable to the end-user then it may well lead to a dead end.
