Reviews and reputation management have emerged as a critical cog in any company’s digital marketing strategies. Facebook is a leading player in this space. As per marketing research conducted by Bright Local, it is used by 47% of customers, above the 25% who use Google or 17% for Yelp. Facebook has itself tweaked its interface by doing away with its earlier five-star rating system, and replacing it with the review system with a simple yes-or-no response. The company says this will help ensure all recommendations are genuine. If one answers yes, they’ll be provided the option to add tags, known as Rich Endorsements. Even for a negative response, specific feedback will be asked to share. These recommendations will be prominently displayed across the platform, as Facebook understands people most trust those made by people they know. Crowdsourced reviews play a massive role in the brand building, so Facebook wants to ensure complete authenticity.

Source:https://azbigmedia.com/how-facebook-changes-impact-digital-marketing-strategy/

Uploaded Date:16 October 2018

A study conducted puts the number of ads viewed by an average American in a day at a staggering four-thousand. This figure is derived from the billboards on the streets, ads on television and social media induced digital marketing. This is too much noise, but to make it more specific brands can use the concept of psychological ownership. This is the case where customers feel so connected to a product, that it starts feeling like an extension of themselves. Companies that have successfully done it, are reaping the rewards. To get this done, three factors need to be built in- control, intimate knowledge and investment of self. A way to increasing customer control, is to simply offer them an option in product design as Thread-less has done with its t-shirts. Investment of self can be encouraged to have one’s own identity as a piece of the product. An example of this is Coca-Cola’s 2014 campaign titled “share a coke”, where coke bottles could be procured with users’ names being customized on them. Virtual reality tours, free classes or in-store garage sales can be methods of building intimate knowledge. There also exist dangers of ultra-psychological ownership as fell recently by the makers of the Star Wars series or the Tropicana brand back in 2009.

Source:https://hbr.org/2018/09/how-customers-come-to-think-of-a-product-as-an-extension-of-themselves

Uploaded Date:26 September 2018

For long, the established pattern has been to outsource one’s marketing to specialized agencies. However, several companies are now debating whether to insource this. This is due to the slow transformation,discrepancies regarding cost transparency or even incomplete digital skills on offer. A study by the Association of National Advertisers, found pout that about three-fifths of those surveyed have now insourced their marketing operations. While most have mainly brought digital marketing inhouse, others like Pepsi, Unilever and Chobani have even brought back creative functions and strategy in. Some of the major ways in which in-housing seems to be benefiting some companies is the reduced cost, quicker execution and specific segmented targeting. Another massive advantage today is that beyond the one-time marketing, if inhouse, the company will actually own the data warehousing. This will allow it to leverage the customer relationship for a long-term. It frees up the organizational clutter allowing the company to develop internal capabilities. There are undoubtedly some risks such as the challenges in recruiting the right talent. So the company needs to decide thoughtfully on the pros and cons.

Source:https://www.bcg.com/publications/2018/time-to-bring-more-your-marketing-in-house.aspx?linkId=55100356&redir=true

Uploaded Date:25 August 2018

Traditionally companies took up their marketing strategies based around the intrinsic value of their products on offer, the convenience of the processes and functions. However, some pioneering companies have now designed the same around the customer experience. The right metrics have also been put in place to capture the required business intelligence. These metrics capture data on various stakeholders such as – customers, performers, operations, compliance and the economics of the processes. Thanks to the provision of agile software now, this is feasible. Such agile methods are ideal for fostering innovation. The entire customer journey needs to be mapped and defined by a series of specific taxonomy. The talent recruitment must be such that teams reflect cross-functional capabilities. Clear goals need be established with an effective feedback loop attached. If needed, the operating model may be tweaked in the middle to enable upscaling.

Source:http://www.bain.com/publications/articles/experience-is-the-new-product-heres-how-to-manage-it.aspx

Uploaded Date:18 July 2018