The marketing landscape has changed drastically over the last few years. More competition, more choices, globalization is now much more of a reality. Need a new pair of shoes shipped direct from China? No problem. Need alternative medicines from India? Delivered direct to your door in less than two weeks.
With the all these new marketing challenges, comes the new realities of the importance of a dynamic digital presence and building a digital footprint that both satisfies the needs of customers and the ever important search engine bots. Just flooding your online text with repetitive keywords is no longer the way forward. In fact, this previously accepted practice will actually do more harm than good. Consumers don’t like it. Google hates it.
So what must a brand or service do to compete in today’s hyperactive selling environment?
It’s simple – just follow our THREEE solution.
Consumers today require THREEE things from a brand or service. They want to be Educated, they want to be Entertained and they want to be Engaged in a simple and easy way, allowing them to connect on their terms, not yours.
Education is easy. Simply tell your story in a persuasive way, without selling. Give them the facts. The more visually communicated the better. Infographics, videos, simplified text with photos. This is the way to Educate consumers today. Fluff is not required. What business doesn’t say they are the best? No need to say, if you are not good at what you do, do something else. Value propositions and benefits are key. Tell them how you can make their life simpler. Easy.
Entertainment is a little more difficult, but still not complicated if you think about your core business and then decide how you can entertain your customers or clients. And if it also educates while entertaining, even better. As with education, doing so visually is key.
A few years ago, a local Boston restaurant decided to create a series of fun, unique vides featuring their chefs cooking their most popular dishes. They gave explicit instructions of how to prepare their dishes at home. It was light. They had fun. Full recipes were also posted online. Most businesses would worry that giving away these secrets would lead to diminished sales, as people would just cook these meals at home, and not come to the restaurant anymore. In fact, just the opposite happened. Business increased by 35%. Customers tried to cook the meals at home, and then came in to taste theirs against the pros. A bold move, with positive results.
Last, but not least is Engagement. This is critical. Engagement is the process, which connects you to a potential new customer. They are ready for more information, or ready to buy. It is the start of the sales cycle. Make it difficult and they will simply move on. To facilitate engagement it is important that you have properly placed buttons, call to actions, and your communication strategy manifested within your digital footprint. Live chat is a great example. It allows a prospect to interact with you on their terms, often while multitasking. Another is direct connect. You spend significant resources on getting new customers. Making it easy for them when they are ready just makes good business sense.
While implementing these practices will greatly improve your interaction with your target audience, they will also vastly improve your relationship with search engines. Site ranking today is more about the “experience” and less about saturated text. Videos. Social media. Blogs. All these lead to higher ranking and site quality scores. These areas provides limitless opportunities for education, entertainment, and engagement. Be smart. Utilize them.
If you want to find out about how CRE8EGY can put their THREEE program to work for you, feel free to engage us, educate us, and then entertain the idea of working together. You will be pleased with the results.
Cre8egy. Creative. Strategic. Really Good.