3 Ways to Engage with Today’s Empowered Consumer

They say knowledge is power.

If this is now the case, then consumers today are armed to the teeth with more of both in an increasingly competitive and dynamic marketing arena.

First, let’s take a look at this ever-changing landscape:

• In 1970, consumers were exposed to an average of 500 ads per day. Today, this number is ten times higher.
• Brands are creating their own narratives, videos, and custom content—gradually transitioning to becoming the new media.
• Consumers’ relationships with brands have changed and consumers are now talked to, not at.

(Heidi Browning Pearson, SVP of Strategic Solutions, Pandora)

Simply put, we’re amidst the digital age.

This was an overriding theme of this year’s What’s Next DC Marketing and Communications Conference, and the amazing speakers that I saw there drove this point home like a hammer on a nail. Thankfully, they also provided some great tips on how to ensure your marketing strategy doesn’t fall behind your competitors’.
 
Consumers are more empowered than ever. They expect immediate results, they respond to innovative and forward-thinking brands, and they expect to be fully engaged by any company that wants their business.

Here’s an in-depth look at how your brand can cut through the clutter associated with traditional advertising and connect with today’s increasingly empowered consumer:

1. Provide Instant Gratification

Humans are impatient. We want the information we want, when we want it, and we are going to consume it in the ways we prefer. This is nothing new—but never before has the information been just an instant away like it is now. We’d much rather do things ourselves if it means it saves us time and is more convenient.

According to Kate Watts, managing director at Huge, this rule applies closely to Millennials—those typically born between 1980 and 2000 and “never not connected” in today’s instant era.

So what does this mean for the marketers with this demographic in their sights? Watts advises that it’s time to catch up to these technologically savvy consumers and deliver what they want, when and exactly how they want it:

• Location is hardly a sales barrier at all anymore.
• Brands must become customer-centric and focus on engaging at the right time and place.
• The degree to which a brand connects and engages customers will define its value moving forward.
• Brands need a single, cross-channel experience that connects with people emotionally and makes a lasting impression.

2. Innovate or Die

Do you recognize this neighbor?

He may look familiar, but he has undergone an audial revolution. Few would guess that PBS—a network that has never been synonymous with “hip”—actually produced the video.

This innovative and revolutionary mindset is exactly the approach the public television network has adopted in the creation of its PBS Digital Studios.

You may be shaking your head at this radical approach, but it’s hard to argue with the results: Since the release of this and other remixed videos, PBS.org has seen an 11,000% increase in video usage, according to Jason Seiken, general manager of digital at PBS.

Now there is only one question you need to ask yourself: “If PBS can do it, what’s stopping my company?”

3. Write Your Own Tale, Or Someone Else Will Do It First

Every company, organization, association and brand has a story to tell. They all have something that shapes and molds them—defines who they are and what they stand for.

Does this sound like your company? If so, would you ever let someone from the public create this story themselves and share it all over the Internet? Not likely.

Lisa Shalett, partner and global head of brand marketing and digital strategy at Goldman Sachs, believes in today’s dynamic digital environment. She says that it’s essential that you “own your own story, or others will tell it for you.”

Here’s a great example from Goldman Sachs itself. Before it had established its official Goldman Sachs YouTube channel, their staff searched YouTube for “Goldman Sachs.” What they found were more than 34,000 videos already uploaded to the web—none of which were their own. This was clearly a source of immense risk, because it meant that people were saying anything they wanted about the financial giant without any regulation.

After the shock of this revelation, Goldman Sachs moved quickly to engage its audience. By creating and sharing its own story, it was able to control and manage its own brand and online reputation, eliminating much of the risk from the public accounts.

The official channel doesn’t stop anyone from posting YouTube videos about Goldman Sachs, but it does allow the firm to manage and respond to any negative publicity that could stem from such a video. By establishing an online presence across all channels, staffers are able to write the Goldman Sachs story as the real Goldman Sachs—not some imposter.

Does this sound familiar within your own organization? If so, it is time to share and manage your own brand’s story before the billions of people using the Internet do it for you.

There is no arguing that the digital age is rapidly advancing and today’s consumer is more empowered than ever before. Are you taking the steps necessary to not be left in the dust by your competitors?

[Image: JD Hancock]