Follow these POEM rules, and you will always take the best advantage of all the media at your disposal.
We’ve all been to a restaurant, and we know how it should work. The funny thing is that the same lessons apply to marketing campaigns, especially digital, yet these silly mistakes are made quite often.
For example, we would never expect a restaurant to announce itself before it was actually open and ready to serve food. Yet, websites and special offers often “go live” only to find the links are dead, or a QR code for smart phones leads to the regular PC version of the website.
Of course, when it is ready, the owner wants people to know it. So, he advertises. Yet, campaign discussions are often about whether to “do digital” OR to “do traditional.” It is not “either, or” but how these are managed.
When customers do come through the door, there has to be a good chef who fits the menu, with good ingredients and food, across a menu of choices in order for there to be a good meal. Likewise, that is true with marketing and digital campaigns. Yet, in campaigns the ingredients used often don’t match the chosen menu of channels. Or, instead of a focuses strategist there is a chef who specializes in Italian asked to cook Chinese food. In order to cook a good meal, or have a great campaign, all the right items have to come together in just the right way.
It should go without saying, that before the customer leaves the restaurant they should pay. Yet, in campaigns increased sales and business results are often overlooked. Whether because clever Creative took charge or because customers didn’t find the meal to their liking, missed sales are missed opportunities a marketer’s restaurant can ill afford. After all, marketing is about increasing sales ultimately, right?
Today’s consumers do not travel straight from point A to point B, from TV commercial to purchase. Instead, they bounce and hop from information point to information point as they gradually form brand opinions and make purchasing decisions. As a result, marketers must be ready with information that will interest them, in a format that will suit that interest when and where they are.
For example, consumers may see a TV ad, and then while in retail see a POS display, and then jump on their mobile phone to check the (mobile version) of a website, and also ask their friends via email or social network for their opinions. Only if each of those are satisfactory will they actually approach a sales person, who may still actually turn them off, and perhaps actually hand over their cash for a product. Marketers must understand these connected dots, and how to use them to reach consumers at the exact moment, with the exact information they want, or else they will hop to another brand in a blink.
The digital world is a living, thriving place. Communications with your consumers provide many of the driving forces that deliver business results. Whether it is the branding “sun” and its rays which warm consumers to the brand through TV and Print advertising, or the water cycle of retail clouds and rain, or even the more direct efforts of Search Engine Optimization, online banners and so on, you put your brand message out into the market space.
This ecosystem, in turn, creates communities of insects who spread the word of your brand from fan community to fan community. They are necessary for creating the seeds that will generate new blossoming consumers, and sustaining the health of mature consumer groves and fields.
Digital is a dream come true for marketers, at least marketers who know how to take advantage of it. Here are eight fundamental things to remember when considering digital.
Marketers face a variety of choices with their partners. You can man the hub of a wheel and maintain constant contact and input from a variety of different agencies, holding together the vision for the brand as well as its execution in the array of campaign executions. Of course, you risk missing out by being overwhelmed or being lost in spaces where you are not yourself an expert. Alternatively, you may choose to go with one agency, putting all your eggs into one basket. Of course, you then risk having limited impact due to overreliance on one partner.
At F5DIGITAL, we believe in a different approach: we will work with you and absorb your brand ideals and communications vision. We will then add our understanding of traditional media and meld it with our innovative digital tools and techniques. In this way, we form a reliable and tight partnership that amplifies your campaign while you stay focused on what’s important: your brand and your consumers.
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