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In the past, businesses had only one real choice for reaching large audiences: To cover a vast area of the population with one-way mass communication, which was the primary mode of delivery. The figures on aggregate sales were the primary component of the information on customers, and marketing research data was used to supplement those numbers. There was seldom any direct connection, if any at all, between the company and the individual clients. These kinds of mass marketing are not nearly as sophisticated as they should be in this day and age because businesses have access to a wide variety of distribution channels.
The exhibit titled “Building Connections” illustrates the direction in which many businesses are moving, and it is a direction in which all businesses will need to move in the near future if they wish to maintain their position as market leaders.
What steps can you take to ensure that your firm will continue to grow? Instead of focusing on selling things, prioritise satisfying the requirements of your consumers.
The primary contrast between a typical business and one that focuses on growing its client base, is that the former is structured to promote its own products and brands, whereas the latter is intended to meet the needs of individual consumers and different types of customer groups. In the latter, communication may go both ways and be personalised, or at the very least, it can be narrowly focused on specific subgroups. It may be more difficult to implement this strategy for businesses whose distribution networks hold or control consumer information, which is the situation for a significant number of enterprises that deal in packaged goods. On the other hand, an increasing number of businesses now have access to the comprehensive data they require in order to implement a plan that is effective in nurturing customers.
The way in which customers interact with companies has been fundamentally altered as a result of the proliferation of the internet. It is causing the economics of marketing to undergo a transformation, making many of the industry’s existing methods and structures outdated.
The traditional method of conducting business cannot be maintained by marketers since it is no longer viable. Today’s customers are promiscuous in their brand relationships: they interact with a plethora of brands—via new media channels outside the manufacturer’s and retailer’s control or even knowledge—and analyse a fluctuating variety of them, frequently broadening the pool before restricting it.
Following a purchase, these customers may remain actively involved, openly advocating or criticising the things they’ve purchased, engaging in the development of the brands, and disputing and moulding their meaning.
A clear brand promise and products that customers appreciate are still important to customers. What has changed, though, is the time—at what contact points—at which they are most vulnerable to being influenced, as well as the manner in which you may communicate with them at those times.
In the past, marketing strategies that were successful were those that focused the majority of their efforts and resources on increasing consumers’ familiarity with a brand, followed by efforts to get them to open their wallets when they went to make a purchase. However, the quantity and character of contact points have evolved, which necessitates a significant adjustment in order to realign the marketing strategy and budget with the places where customers are really spending their time.
In what line of work do you actually specialise? A question that, despite its seeming simplicity, we should all ask ourselves before the market for the goods or services provided by our company begins to contract.
The railroad industry did not ask itself this question, and as a result, it ceased growing. Why? It was not because there was no longer a demand for mobility among the population. And not because other developments (like automobiles and airplanes) have already fulfilled the demand for mobility. Instead, the growth of railways came to a halt because the industry failed to adapt to meet changing customer demands. The company’s leaders were under the impression, which was not right, that the company was in the transportation industry rather than the railroad business. They considered themselves more as suppliers of a product than as agents who served clients. There are far too many other businesses that make the same mistake, placing themselves in danger of becoming obsolete.
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