Partner Article

Marketing in the digital age - how to be successful

The idea of marketing truly has stood the test of time: put your customers at the heart of everything you do and you will succeed.

The move to digital has not changed this in anyway. If anything, it has made it more important than ever as technology has made it easier and more affordable for competitors to enter the market place.

Being ‘better’, ‘faster’ or ‘cheaper’ is not the answer. Being clearer, more niche and more available is. But what does this mean? Well for me, I believe that if you build an excellent product / service that delivers value for money for a particular group of people, you will generate sales, repeat business and growth.

What people don’t realise is that sales don’t come first. Rather, clients must experience your brand proposition in some way first. This must entice them to engage with you further and this engagement will eventually culminate in a sale. And the cycle doesn’t stop there. Once you have made a sale with a customer, you must further hone the attention you give to that customer because they have the power to become your biggest advocate (referring business in left, right and centre), or your biggest problem (demanding the attention of you and your time and bringing negative press to your door in the form of poor reviews and comments ‘down the pub’).

Putting the customer first in the digital age means getting to the bottom of what they want and how and when they want it. It means more than listening – it means getting out there and working hard to uncover the one thing that would answer their specific problem and how. It means building relationships that are two way and mutually beneficial. It means giving people a reason to like, follow, buy from you, recommend you and come back to you time and time again! It means providing ways in which people can experience and engage with your brand to give them confidence that a purchase is not only a good, but an excellent decision.

Put it this way: if someone buys from you right now, would they be compelled to find and like you on Facebook and then write a rave review about their experience? If not, ask yourself why not. If you can fill that void, you will be marketing effectively for the digital age.

So, before you send out your next sales message or make your next sales call, ask yourself: what one thing do my customers need and how can I turn prospects in to true brand advocates.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Digitia .