For decades, marketing has been a volume-driven game – more emails, more ad placements and larger billboards. The goal, of course, is to capture a larger number of eyeballs for branded messages and to achieve a supersaturated share of wit.
But today, volume-based messages are losing their importance in favor of customer engagement, true dialogue, and alignment with beliefs and beliefs. customer values. What is happening now is how we engage with clients and convince them that we share a set of beliefs and that we are all moving towards the same goals that will benefit everyone.
To prove the power of shared beliefs, consider these dominant marks:
- Apple – Apple customers firmly believe that Apple will always launch the most innovative products and that they will themselves be more innovative, creative and nice to use them. For legions of loyal Apple, it's not just a point of view or an opinion, it's an unassailable conviction. And as Winston Churchill said: "A man who has a conviction will overwhelm a hundred individuals who only have opinions."
- Disney – Yes, they have movies, toys and theme parks galore, but the prevailing feeling among customers is that Disney and its properties exist to provide joy. Movies and places are simply vehicles for sharing happiness with family and friends. It's a very powerful and intergenerational belief, and it's a belief that sells a lot of tickets, as well as bookings and products bearing a logo.
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Leading the Dynamics of Shared Belief
So, how can progressive marketing organizations really share their beliefs with customers? Obviously, you must continue to do everything you can to serve customers, including being able to expand your marketing activities. But just as important is to do all that is necessary to authentically communicate the fundamental beliefs of the company through each marketing channel, organizational function and customer interaction.
This means that all people from the business, from sales and marketing to support, to customer advocacy and blossoming, must be on the same wavelength with these fundamental beliefs. Why? Because you must be able to communicate constantly and constantly to customers not only what you do, but also what you stand for – whether to foster innovation, promote happiness, unleash the sporting potential or, in the case of my business, to be successful.
When that happens – and if you've ever visited an Apple Store, Disney World or a Nike Outlet, you know it can happen – customers understand that you are behind your beliefs and know exactly where you are going your business . And when every person in your company is imbued with the same beliefs, she can engage in meaningful conversations with her clients around these shared beliefs, as opposed to a simple tactic. "Am I solving your problem today? "
Also, when customers believe in you, it becomes a lot easier to do everything that a company wants and needs to do. Service interruptions generate less hard feelings. The peaks and valleys of boredom are shorter. And an incident here and there has less impact because customers know that your business is in tune with their beliefs. In short, you are not just a salesman: you are a partner.
Rallying around the customer
We all know that a business succeeds or fails depending on the value that it offers to customers. Connecting with customer beliefs is an increasingly essential way to generate value. There is no single point of contact that can communicate everything about your business. It must be communicated over time, all the time, by everyone in the business.
Because marketing is normally responsible, directly or indirectly, for the first meeting of a client with a company, it is up to marketing to direct the charge and to be responsible for each point of contact along the customer journey.
Marketing must intensify and ensure that each employee is:
- Immersed in the beliefs of the company and able to communicate these beliefs appropriately in every encounter with a client.
- Able to learn more about everything – from the industry to the business through the customers – and tackles each day with that in mind.
- Cares more about customers and their situations than anything that goes on in the business – because it's not about us; it is our customers.
As more and more buyers choose to buy according to their beliefs and choose to give up other brands based on these same ideals, companies will not. Will have no choice but to pay attention to the values of their audiences and
The opinions expressed in this article are those of the guest author and not necessarily Marketing Land. The authors of the staff are listed here.
About the author
Matt is Marketo's customer manager, overseeing customer success and overall integration. Previously, he held the position of Interim Marketing Director of Marketo and Vice President of Product and Solution Marketing. Prior to joining Marketo in 2013, Matt helped launch LineStream Technologies as Vice President of Marketing. Previously, he worked at Texas Instruments and Rovi Corporation, where he held positions in sales, marketing, business development and product management. Matt holds a B.Sc. in Computer Science from the University of Santa Clara and an MBA from the Haas School of Business at UC Berkeley.