Bringing balance back to the marketing mix
As a lifelong learner of the marketing craft, I find myself buried in publications, LinkedIn Learning, and attending all types of conferences. This year, I’ve had the privilege of hitting the road with Digital Summit — taking the stage at marketing conferences to present on The Forgotten Stage of Marketing: Consideration.
My take is simple — we need to bring balance back to the marketing mix. While driving awareness and optimizing conversion used to be enough, marketers must now impact the ever-evolving, sophisticated consumer in an authentic way.
The truth is, the marketplace is wildly different today than it was even 10 years ago.
Consumers have countless options. A few months ago I was looking to update our cookware. In a matter of seconds I had googled “cookware” and was served 42,000,000 results. If I spent 30 seconds exploring every pan, it would take me 40 years to find the right set of cookware for my kitchen. Needless to say, I’m still sifting through my options.
This is a dynamic consumers struggle with every day. Finding the right product in a myriad of choices can be difficult, and marketers don’t make it any easier. In fact, we make it more difficult.
Consumers are overwhelmed with disruptive ads. At 5:45 this morning I received an email from a brand I didn’t recognize, offering me a discount on a product I don’t want. At no point throughout my day have I thought to myself “hmmm, if only I saw more ads today.”
Top of the funnel advertising tactics dominate the marketing mix. These efforts are simple to deploy and easy to measure — even if we’re measuring vanity metrics, rather than needle-moving, sales driving levers. Likes are nice, but sales are better. We must challenge ourselves to dig deeper and take note of the metrics that actually matter.
But consumers are still left with a nagging question: what should I buy?
As a consumer, I’m pleading with marketers. Help me narrow down my options, help me understand who to trust, help me decide what to buy. More than likely, if you’re the brand who does these things, you’re the brand I buy.
While the metrics are hard to uncover, the impact of scaled word-of-mouth marketing cannot be understated. Just ask Crossfit, Tesla, LaCroix, The Bachelor, Chipotle, and all your gluten free friends. These brands have built an empire of consumers and brand loyalists by harnessing the power of trusted recommendations at scale.
You can too.
If you are attending any of the following conferences I would love to grab a coffee and talk about how you’re bringing balance back to the marketing mix:
Digital Summit:
- Tampa
- Dallas
- Detroit
- Raleigh
Aducate
- Chicago
And finally, because I believe good food is vital for the soul, if you happen to be visiting one of these cities (previous stops) - I’d highly recommend these restaurants:
Kansas City: For killer posh BBQ don’t skip Q39.
NYC: Grab a slice at Fluffy’s and catch a ballgame in Central Park.
Chicago: If you dig pickled tomatoes on your hot dog swing by Superdawg.
Salt Lake City: Whiskey Street might have the best NY steak salad this side of NY.