The reality of modern business is that even companies that create a mass product go deep into personalization in their communications and the main focus and focus of marketing strategies is shifted to the needs of the audience. In turn, it is important for the client to see that the company understands and takes into account their needs. In this regard, advertising agencies do not approach each project in a standard way but rather delve into the specifics of the client company in detail, actively interact with both its managers and employees to understand the features and uniqueness of the product, its attractiveness to the consumer.
Among the main communication trends in 2017, we would highlight the following:
Focus on the service
Multi-party business platforms which we have seen booming in the market in recent years have influenced attitudes to property: "uberization" has affected many processes and now for the customer of the digital era, the value is not the products that they will be able to possess but the services that they will receive. Research shows that modern society is not set up to possess and accumulate – the vector is turned towards instant access to services. We do not buy expensive outfits for one evening but rent them from a service that provides a stylist and make-up artist in the complex and we do not want to spend money and time on maintaining our own car, when at any time we can use the available taxi service at the touch of a single button on a smartphone.
The importance of customization
Customization (from the English: custom-consumer) is the adaptation of a product or service to a specific customer, taking into account their requirements and wishes. Before the advent of factories and factories, all goods were customized-clothes and shoes were made to individual standards, furniture and household utensils were also made and even food.
With the increase in demand and the development of industrial production, companies began to focus on optimization and cost reduction, producing mass-consumption goods.
However, in the modern realities of price competition product characteristics have become simpler and customer needs are reduced to an average value. The return to the uniqueness of products is due to the presence of a large number of almost identical products on the market. And if the specifics of some areas, such as telecommunications, allow you to build up from competitors solely due to the strength of the brand, in most cases this is not enough. Saturated with monotony, consumers now want to buy products that are custom-made and emphasize their status and significance.
There are three main types of customization:
Individual (expert). Creating a product tailored to the individual needs of a particular client. It is suitable for products of the elite segment and is associated with high costs. For example, a popular service on the perfume market is the creation of an individual fragrance.
Modular. Used if the product can be divided into parts or components. In this case, the consumer can choose their own configuration of the system elements. A classic example is buying a car in a particular configuration.
At the appearance level. The buyer can choose the type of packaging or packaging. A case that has become a classic of modern marketing – named banks of the Coca Cola company.
Growing role of video content
In one of its latest reports, Cisco predicts that 75% of mobile traffic will be video content by 2020. This should be taken into account when planning tools and developing a content strategy. If you can use it, you will be among the leaders. However, when generating content, you should take into account the specifics of each audience segment, as well as keep in mind that modern communication channels are overloaded with information. For example, today it is quite difficult to interest a network user in a video whose timing is higher than 15 seconds.
Opinion leaders become brand ambassadors
Today, influence marketing is actively used in the promotion of products and services in the B2B and B2C segments. Companies choose bloggers, celebrities and celebrities who have a lot of subscribers as their brand ambassadors. But when choosing this tool you need to take into account the nuances: the story of Maria Sharapova last year is indicative: in the midst of the doping scandal, major companies rushed to break their contracts with her. In the end, it turned out that those who turned away from her lost, because the public was stirred up and supported the tennis player. And those companies that did not stop working with her, were in the positive field of her support and received a much more emotionally positive effect from the fact that they remained close to the athlete.
Also, the most relevant today is the trend of creating your own opinion leaders. AC Nielsen (AC Nielsen) – a global research company, provides the following statistics: 92% of consumers trust a personal recommendation, even if they do not know the Recommender personally. This is another strong argument for creating an influence program.
Everything can be measured
Principles for evaluating communications. In 2010, the international Association of Ames created the Barcelona principles, revised in 2015. What are they talking about?
Goal setting is of paramount importance. We need to understand why we are doing something. Of course, we should measure not only the results of the company, but also its impact on the business, that is, we should take into account and plan what we are doing and how it will affect the business, investment, shares, number of subscribers, etc.
Use of quantitative and qualitative indicators. Unfortunately, in order to justify our results, we sometimes only count the number of publications but in fact it all needs to be considered much deeper: the tone of publications, the response to them, the experience of colleagues and competitors, where you were at the time of launching the campaign and where you were at the time of its completion.
Measuring the effect of social media. Social media has entered our lives tightly, so it is necessary to measure them on a par with the media. These are different indicators: the number of views, tone, audience coverage, and the study of the target audience of these social media. And most importantly, the measurement results should be transparent and easily measurable.
Despite the fact that everything can be measured, we must understand very clearly that there is no single formula for evaluating PR effectiveness. Don't look for "one size" items — use a comprehensive approach.
