Online & Immediate: Brands Now Have To Be Everywhere

Written by guest blogger, Wendy Bryant.

I was researching a particular topic the other day and found myself going to Twitter, using certain keywords with hash tags and ultimately finding a vast and rich amount of data. I use Google Alerts, RSS feeds and what now seems old-school, bookmarks of my favorite marketing industry and news websites to research and find products and information that is relevant to me. I am just like the customer that brands now have to reach:

I want my information now.  I can’t wait. I’m too busy.  My business and personal email inbox are always overflowing.

With the surge in social tools and the adoption of technology, brands do have to fulfill that need to get the information now—nobody wants to wait.  Allen Adamson’s article in Forbes, “CMOs: Your Brand is on Digital Time” really hits this point home.

According to Adamson: “Consumers are conditioned to get what they want when they want it.” I agree with Allen that all this access to information and the need to have it all right now is not particularly healthy. Even as much as I want to have the information “now” I find myself going through times of what I call “no tech” where my cell phone and laptop take a break.

What are you doing with your brand to be as “digital” as possible and reach customers now?

It’s easier for larger brands to dive into digital in a big way because they do have deeper pockets allowing investment in interactive tools, teams devoted to social and the ability to develop highly customized digital incentives which ultimately can provide faster traction to their product and services. I don’t think smaller to medium size companies need to despair just because their marketing budgets are smaller. There are many ways to strategize and deepen your digital presence without a heavy spend.

*Website – Take a look at your website.  Here are a few items to consider:

• Are you engaging with visitors? Is there a way for clients and prospects to “ask your company a question?”
• Have you looked at usability, in terms, of keeping visitors on your website?
• What’s a typical path of navigation for a visitor to your site?

Don’t get caught up in completely changing your existing website. If your current website isn’t engaging and your plan for 2010 does not include enhancing your website then consider other ways to reach clients online.

*Competitors – It’s always good to keep abreast of what your competition is doing. Spend time researching what your top competitors are doing in the digital world. If you find their presence to be light, that’s great news for you!  Get your company going so, you lead the way.

*Social Tools – I’ve written a few past blogs about social. Social is not for every business, so make sure you think about your strategy, your plan and budget for 2010.  If you do decide to potentially try social make sure the method or platform you choose matches your business model and customer audience.

For example, if you’re a B2C targeting a demographic of 25-30 then Twitter is probably a good way for you to reach that audience. But if your demographic is affluent, wealthy individuals between the ages of 45-55 you might want to think about other forms of social to reach them. Your industry is very much an influencer here. Do your research. Find out how your target audience is communicating and how you can reach them in the most effective way possible.

*Landing Pages – Micro sites or landing pages are an in-expensive way to target your audience and be very specific about the information your providing.

*Content – Do you have a company blog? Are you providing your clients and prospects with valuable content and information? Remember content is king now so if you can, I highly suggest starting a company blog.

*Incentives – What can you do to provide online incentives to your client base? Even if you’re a B2B business there are ways to provide free consultations, online methods that “hook” potential clients and push them further up the sales funnel.

Brands and marketers have to be online in ways like never before. Social does provide tools that reach millions of people in ways we could not achieve through website and other DM methods.  There are so many ways to go “digital”.  I’ve only scratched the surface here. Digital is exciting and fun: think about what you can do this year to be more online with your existing client base and potential customers.