New Experiences in Advertising
The only purpose of advertising is to generate sales.
However, in this connected multi-channel world, getting the numbers is nowhere near as simple as it used to be.
No matter who you are or what you sell, your competitors are only a click away, and this ‘Rule of Google’ applies to all.
What worked in the past simply isn’t as effective now, so you need to take a new approach to your advertising to lock down the strongest market position possible.
Effective advertising comes from creative thinking, clever planning, careful budgeting and a long-term commitment. The problem is that there are so many options out there, which means it’s all too easy, and often extremely costly, to get things wrong.
If your messages don’t appeal to, or fail to reach your target market, then they’re worthless. The best advertising message in the world is irrelevant if it doesn’t convey the benefits your customers need or want.
It will always be your customers who decide the worth of your advertising and not you. That’s why it’s vital that you create an advertising plan with a foundation built on modern advertising principles that respect your customer’s inherent right to reject and ignore your messages.
Before you even start planning your advertising, you need to forget (and please say that you have) all about the Product, Price, Place and Promotion mentality that ruled last century’s advertising.
The Four P’s made sense in a world dominated by newspapers and televisions, where marketers could easily reach big, obedient audiences and where product differences lasted.
But today the consumer has control and unlimited choice, audiences have scattered to new platforms, and product differences have meaning for days, not years.
So you need to move towards the Four E’s.
Think of Experience rather than Product, Everyplace rather than Place, Exchange instead of Price, and lastly, Evangelism and not Promotion.
Disregard product advantages and focus on how your customers experience your retail business. Why would they purchase from you instead of your competitors?
Why do they shop online instead of in-store? What influences their buying decisions? How do they use your product and how do they stay linked to you after their purchase?
Thanks to the Internet, consumers can buy products, even the ones you sell, everywhere, so all you have to differentiate both your company and your stores is a unique retail experience.
Once you know what this experience is, you need to consider how you’ll communicate it through your advertising.
Then focus on how you can reach your potential clients when they’re most receptive to engaging with you, rather than interrupting them to grab a fleeting moment of their attention while watching TV or reading a newspaper.
Your advertising must be flexible enough to meet consumers on their terms; today, that’s everywhere and anytime.
Want to know what’s increasingly more important than price to your customers?
Their time. What are you prepared to exchange for this so that you can grab a share of their wallets? You need to offer more than low prices, especially when you consider the real value of your customers – what they bring to you in revenue over their lifetime.
Picture twenty years of interactions with one customer rather than twenty minutes on a single sale and you’ll start to see the bigger picture. In all likelihood, this long-term brand-based thinking is the most important aspect of your advertising and marketing plan.
Retail promotions used to revolve around price drops or constantly pushing product benefits. That’s old hat now that the lowest price is probably online, and the product benefits no longer last.
How can your brand become so inspiring that your customers actively seek it out, choose to engage with it, and then share their enthusiasm with others?
Evangelism is incredibly powerful today because it marries the oldest form of advertising – word of mouth, with the newest – social networking. However, a Facebook page, a Twitter feed or the occasional blog post isn’t enough to create a real sense of involvement.
Frankly, it’s 2022, and you have to stand out to succeed.
If you don't embrace the most up-to-date advertising methods in your strategic planning, then you may as well not bother planning at all.
On the other hand, if you can get the Four E’s approach entrenched into your company’s culture, you’ll soon see how it filters through to and positively influences every aspect of your marketing and advertising efforts.
More importantly, you’ll see the results in your sales figures, and that’s the whole point of the exercise, isn’t it?