1. Digital channels, social media and mobile communications have fundamentally
changed the way consumers interact with brands. Today’s customers orchestrate their
own experiences, no longer following pre-determined, linear routes from exposure to
conversion to advocate. They utilize a variety of on- and off-line channels to start, stop,
rejoin and jump engagement levels, carving out highly individualized paths to purchase
– and then ideally, continuing on to help build a community around your brand.
As a result…
The conventional marketing funnel is now irrelevant and traditional
campaigns are extinct.
The First of Five Truths for Tomorrow’s Marketer
2. White Paper | Campaigns are Extinct 2
51%
58%
51%
45%
28%
18%I don’t connect with companies in social media
To complain and be heard
To get better customer service
To get free perks
To get discounts
51%Appreciate when companies reach
out and it’s not just about selling
These days, marketing success depends on customers
seeing, engaging with – and sharing – your content
within their trusted social networks. No one is waiting to
be wooed by elaborate campaigns.
For proof, take a look at the results from Understanding Global
Millennials, An SDL Customer Experience Research Report.
We know that today’s 20-somethings are either your current or
future customers, and the data we collected shows that:
Millennials embrace brands on
social media
Five out of six Millennials in our study said they connect with
companies on social media networks.
Millennials use social networks and other
customizable online news feeds for content
discovery
When asked“How do you typically discover new and interesting
things online?”respondents indicated they prefer social networks
for content discovery, followed by online and customizable
newsfeeds. More traditional means, like email and search engines,
ranked last.
When they engage with brands, Millennials
want something in return
. . . like the inside track to special offers. When we asked survey
participants why they connect with companies via social media,
the most popular responses were“to get discounts”(58%) and“to
get free perks”(51%).
Millennials appreciate innovative
marketing initiatives
51% of the Millennials we polled said they like it when a company
reaches out with a holiday/birthday card or some other kind of
brand building that isn’t focused on selling a product.
(Facebook,Twitter,
YouTube, etc.)
Social Networks
1
News Feeds
(Reddit, Buzzfeed,
Tumblr, etc.)
2
Email &
Search
Engines 3
51%
3. White Paper | Campaigns are Extinct 3
So what does this mean for tomorrow’s
marketers and how do you get started today?
Begin by focusing on the personalized experiences your customers
want –not campaigns. Make it a priority to build customer
experiences that are ongoing, consistent, meaningful and mutually-
rewarding.
A few brands are already moving in this direction—and they’ll be
the first to reap the rewards. In fact, based on models created from
Forrester’s 2014 Customer Experience Index,“improving customer
experience can increase annual revenue by more than $1 billion
for large wireless service providers, airlines, and hotels — and
by tens of millions to hundreds of millions of dollars for firms in
other industries.”(The Customer Experience Index, 2014, Forrester
Research, Inc., January 2014). According to Forrester, we’re moving
into a“post-campaign era,”where people despise and distrust push-
style marketing methods that interrupt or intercept them — 49% of
consumers don’t trust digital ads; 38% don’t trust emails; and 36%
don’t trust information in branded apps (Beyond The Campaign:
Deliver Real-Time Customer Value, Forrester Research, Inc. Forum
For Marketing Leaders, 2014).
How are today’s leading companies transforming the customer
experience online? At SDL, we’ve seen many innovative examples,
including how creating content“sharing”behavior in a brand’s
customer base can amplify messaging and drive prospects into
a purchase journey. In one instance, we determined that the vast
majority of consumer conversations about a company’s brand
were happening in online forums and blogs. Our analysis also
revealed that 75% of new product users in this category purchased
a specific brand based on a social recommendation. Backed by this
information, the company was able to drive revenue by targeting
specific segments via digital marketing to specific forums, blogs
and publications.
As this example demonstrates, marketers can gain competitive
advantage by leveraging data to understand and participate in the
natural buying cycles that customers create. In the future, mutually-
rewarding customer relationships like these will vastly outperform
campaigns, and as a result, one-way, mass-market spam campaigns
will be extinct. Tomorrow, marketers will use data-driven marketing
to direct their efforts to deeper, more customized customer
experiences fueled by interactions that are ongoing, cross-channel,
timely and useful . . . and that’s why marketers need to start
thinking differently today.
“49% of consumers
don’t trust digital ads;
38% don’t trust emails;
and 36% don’t trust
information in branded
apps.”
4. White Paper | Campaigns are Extinct 4
1
2
3
Where do you stand on the path towards the future of marketing?
Here are three key questions to ask your team:
Are we strategic about how we collect and
use customer data?
Of course you must always ask customers to opt-in and respect
preferences regarding interaction platforms, frequency, etc. But
if you are just collecting data and adding it to a database, sorry
. . . you are on your way to extinction. You need to view your
customer data strategically, as a key source of intelligence for
hyper-segmentation and targeting. Done right, targeted marketing
messages add value for your customers. Done wrong, they seem
creepy. Use customer data deliberately so you can deliver messages
that are consistent, considerate and relevant. Once you do, you’ll
start building the kind of credibility that matures into brand
advocacy.
Are we focused on fostering relationships or
on tracking lead numbers in the funnel?
Because your customers are constantly bombarded with marketing
messages, as well as other interruptions, they now view brand
interactions through a curated lens. That’s why email blasts from
purchased lists, generic content and company focused information
are likely to be ignored. Instead, redirect your efforts to initiatives
that not only build awareness, but also cultivate referrals. Determine
where your customers are, and then meet them there . . . with a
long-term strategy top-of-mind. Meaningful relationships develop
over time, and remember, growing a relationship with customers is
not always about getting the sale.
Is our reporting done in real time?
Your marketing operations must be agile so you can reinforce
what’s working –and immediately reconfigure what isn’t. Now
that technology can be programmed to manage the mundane,
more and more consumers are focusing exclusively on what’s fresh,
innovative and worthwhile. When you track data daily, you can
provide the right information and the right offer at the right time.
Don’t wait for an end-of-the-month post-mortem on your efforts.
Review the data daily and adapt. An agile approach will help your
messages stand out and will ensure your company is remarkable at
every touch point.
