By John Hennessy
According to the 2005 Yankelovich Marketing Receptivity Survey, 55 percent of all consumers would be willing to pay a little extra to get only the kinds of marketing they prefer, but marketers aren't listening. The survey results were summarized in an April 19th CRMToday article.
In delivering the results of the survey at the 51st Advertisement Research Foundation (ARF) Annual convention, J. Walker Smith, president of Yankelovich Partners, suggested that marketers were getting too hung up on media and taking their eye off best marketing practices.
"Marketers are mis-framing the debate about how to reconnect consumers," Mr. Smith said. "This is not about new versus traditional media. New media, like digital and wireless technologies, will never solve the ongoing decline in marketing productivity. The most resistant consumers are still waiting for better marketing practices, no matter what media is thrown at them."
The CRMToday article listed the top three marketing practices that consumers wanted as:
- "Marketing that is short and to the point" - 43 percent
- "Marketing that I can choose to see when it is most convenient for me" - 33 percent
- "Marketing that is personally communicated to me by friends or experts I trust" - 32 percent
At the bottom of the list were marketing practices involving new media:
- "Marketing that ties together traditional media with new media like the internet, PDAs or video games" - 7 percent
- "Marketing that only uses new media like the Internet, PDAs or video games" - 8 percent
Moderator's Comment: What marketing practices can be modified to gain the extra dollars shoppers are willing to spend?
How about promoting what shoppers enjoy?
Regular shoppers purchase a fairly static set of products. Purchase history can reveal what those preferences are. Then, instead of trying to entice shoppers to buy what you want to sell, use marketing to encourage shoppers to buy more of the products you know they enjoy.
If a shopper regularly buys six units of product A, a marketing message that suggests they buy six units of Product A:
- Is a message that is relevant to them and demonstrates that you're paying attention,
- Builds trust with the shopper,
- Helps the shopper expand their enjoyment of Product A,
- Reduces the likelihood that they'll run out and stock up elsewhere and
- Increases your sales of Product A to that shopper.
Best of all, since you know the shopper enjoys the product, you don't need to use much incentive to get the sale. Just make sure you stock up on Product A. You'll be selling a lot of it.
Relevance is a very powerful tool. - John Hennessy - Moderator