The World is changing fast and the
clicks are getting louder as is evident from recent events, where the “opinions”
on social media, the “like” campaigns, the “tweets” on twitter, are able to
influence response to events and even shape the outcomes.
In such scenario, for a digital
marketer it becomes all the more important to formulate a strategy, which can
have favorable outcomes now that Online Sales and Acquisition is no more about
an having an additional sales channel but about becoming, the Acquisition Channel.
The marketing budgets allocated are now increasing significantly and in some
cases having a lion’s share of it with Digital Marketing considered a strategic
function and the brightest being put on the job.
The caution here is not to get
carried away by simply ballooning the advertising budget to be spent online but
to build an online strategy centering around the basic, yet, very powerful
strategy of having a PPPF framework in place – The Product, The Proposition,
The Placement and The Fulfillment.
Irrespective of brand name, what
ultimately is being bought is a product, which can be a solution to an explicit
need, a latent need or an implied need. One needs to clearly articulate and prioritise,
what needs to be sold through online and what needs to be sold offline, though,
at times a mix of offline and online will work better. As the wisdom goes, when
people shop for explicit needs, they look for a brand, as they have the need
for trust and more often than not, a brand, which can provide the right product,
will be a winner, provided the digital presence is established, not only online
but in the minds of target customers. When people surf for latent needs, they
are looking for solutions, which they can compare and arrive at conclusions,
exactly what that they had thought off but did not go for earlier because they
weren’t aware and here having a differentiated product works. In case of
implied needs, the product, which offers the best fit, often is the winner.
That means, deciding on the right product basked to be sold through digital
channel, is the best strategy. Examples in case could be credit card (an
explicit need in today’s growing credit culture), a personal loan (to meet the
aspiring life styles), top ups (need to support growing obligations or wanting to
buy the latest in town).
The second thing to have in place is
the product proposition, where it is given that in today’s digital lifestyle
and opulence ff media, the customer is either informed or wants to make
informed decisions only. This means having a differentiated proposition,
without which, even the right product or the product mix won’t work. In the
financial products world, where numbers rule, there is not much to
differentiate in terms of financial value, what one can offer, therefore, the
product differentiation in terms of core, peripheral and perceived features,
gains paramount importance, else everyone is going digital and everyone has
access to what others have. The right product proposition has to meet what
customer wants, has to be seen to be different from what others have to offer
and has to have the right pull features to get the customer clicking furiously
to consume it. Few examples would be Instant Online EMI, Instant PL top ups or
Instant Loan against Credit Card Limits.
In today’s battle field, where
everyone has the firepower, the placement becomes often the difference between the
winner and the loser. Having the right Product and the right proposition is
just the start. Half the battle would be won on, how the products and the
propositions are communicated and where it’s placed. Making judicious use of
owned and referred media and mastering the paid media will be the key. One has
to be where the customer is, one has to know where he spends his time online
and what he spends his time on. Finally one need to know, what keeps the
customer engaged, having known where and what he spends his time on. One has to
carefully build digital presence so as to bring customers to their owned web
estate as that is where the maximum conversions happen at best acquisition
cost. The referred media is increasingly becoming very powerful but then it
serves to bring customers to the desired point only and the conversion will
really happen, if they reach the right place quickly. Finally, paid media is
like luring a thirsty man to the promise of nectar, a nomad to the promised
wonderland or an oblivious man to chance upon the treasures of life. This will
work beautifully as long as the reality is the culmination of the dream journey
undertaken by the digital customers.
And now to have a decisive victory,
the customer experience becomes the ultimate strategic weapon and that is where
fulfillment comes in. Unless, the promise is delivered in the manner digital
customer dreams of, having taken care of the Product need, the differentiated
proposition, the right placement by brining the digital customer to the desired
place, all can fall apart. A simple, fast and the accurate delivery proposition,
is what will finally seal the deal and guarantee the ROIs being so viciously chased
by the digital marketers and always challenged by the conventional marketing
strategy, which says, unless you meet the customer, you can’t sell a dime.
The views expressed are author's personal views and he can be contacted for any feedback/discussion on rajnishkhare@gmail.com
