Today’s customer is unwilling to endure poor, disjointed experiences. As many as one-third of consumers will walk away from a brand after only one bad experience (PwC). To retain current customers and continue acquiring new ones, companies need to prioritize the customer’s needs and expectations. This reframing must extend across the organization, but one critical area to focus on is media.
Breaking the Mold of Traditional Media
Traditional media is broken out by channel with each channel aligning to a specific goal and stage of the buyer journey. This approach builds silos in your organization and creates a fragmented experience for customers.
In Forrester’s recent report Rethink Brand And Performance Media, “Marketers should instead recast their media efforts around persuasion and precision – a new taxonomy that centers media around the customer rather than around channels.”
Persuasion and Precision, Not Brand and Performance
Instead of thinking about media in terms of brand and performance, Forrester suggests a framework organized around persuasion and precision.
Persuasion, like traditional brand media, covers awareness and how a brand presents itself to consumers. But it goes further than that by focusing on establishing a connection between the brand and the consumer.
Peloton is a prime example of a company that does this well. Its campaigns use unique content that makes using a Peloton an experience. This approach resonates with customers who want to lead a healthier lifestyle, not just own an exercise bike. Peloton ads aren’t simply about growing awareness of its brand – they are about persuading consumers that Peloton can help them achieve their fitness goals.
By aligning what it provides (exercise bikes) with a customer goal or outcome (live healthier), Peloton creates a two-way connection that persuades its target audience to consider purchasing.
Precision narrows in on prospects or existing customers. While traditional performance media focuses solely on measuring marketing campaign performance, precision media examines consumer behavior to optimize and improve experience, looking for opportunities to eliminate friction and make purchasing easier throughout the customer lifecycle.
Forrester states that “Allstate tailored its insurance quote landing pages to CRM and search query data, which increased conversions by 81%.” By looking at what customers were searching for and using those terms on its pages, Allstate guided consumers to complete an action it desired (request a quote).
So, while persuasion is about telling consumers how your brand can help them meet their goals, precision is about creating experiences that make them want to purchase.
Why This Approach Works
Framing your media strategies around persuasion and precision puts your customer at the center of your efforts, causing you to prioritize their experiences, needs, and preferences. In the end, this approach will help improve your connection with your customers, move them through the entire lifecycle, and keep them coming back.
Perficient’s Expertise in Media and Customer Marketing
Forrester interviewed leaders from Perficient’s Digital Marketing and Digital Strategy teams while researching this report. For more information, download Rethink Brand And Performance Marketing (available for purchase or to Forrester subscribers) or contact our Digital Marketing experts today.
