In an oversaturated marketplace where brand engagement is at an all-time low, we have to adapt and adopt a new approach if we want to survive a post-pandemic consumer-driven marketplace. With the increase of on-demand programming, short-form temporary social media content, and new marketing trends that seem to emerge overnight… we are left with one of the most distracted consumer audiences in the history of our planet.
In his session on Day 1 of IBTM World 2021, Marcus Murphy, one of the world’s leading brand builders and human behaviourists, shared what’s working now and an actionable plan you can deploy in your business to see real impact.
In his opening remarks, Marcus made the point that 95% of businesses fail in the first five years, and that’s before you throw in a pandemic or anything we’ve experienced in the last 18 months. “The pandemic is something that hasn’t happened in our lifetime. It’s a global connection point – it’s impacted pretty much everyone, all over the world. And I think there’s a massive blind spot – that, for most businesses, is engagement. Lack of engagement is killing businesses. If brands aren’t paying attention to reengaging with customers, we’re going to miss an opportunity and they’re going to miss a lot of customers who they’d have had if they’d done things differently.”
Marcus notes that people are massively distracted. For example, people walk around on their phone, being inundated with content and moving seamlessly in and out of apps. That distraction amidst a time that for many of us has changed how we live and work, means we’re all really distracted.
Most brands are missing the mark in terms of messaging, muses Marcus. Brands are often creating content that is “tone-deaf and lacks empathy which creates trust. Brands are missing the opportunity to really step into others’ realities. People don’t want massively over-produced content. People’s realities are on Zoom calls – the world has changed. A highly produced message is being created when actually people want a relatable human version. This creates real apathy towards brands.”
Marcus says that Marketing is the biggest advantage we have in our businesses. Really good marketers are constantly studying human behaviour – if you can understand it and how it fits into the brand piece, you’ll be able to craft an unbelievable story and get it to the right people. The three Ms, Market, Message and Media are critical.
Market– when you start defining your market psychographics are really important rather than just looking at demographics – this helps you craft a story and humans really love a good story. The measurement of a great story is how people can insert themselves into it. You can have a great story, but brands sometimes miss out on the fact that the messaging is key and really, it’s about the character – that’s what we fall in love with and latch on to in a specific story. Brands need to invest in creating a persona or character that allows people to insert themselves in the story and latch on to them.
Message – what you want to put out into the world is really important! The power of a great message is a transformational one – tell the story of where they are now and where they could go and sometimes you need to articulate that so specifically. When they get excited about where they could go, you show them how your product/service can get them there and how your product can expedite them to get from A to B.
Media – obviously you have to be able to get your message in front of your market and make it easy for your market to connect with you. QR codes, for example, quickly allow people to get connected to you and your brand – they’ve made a big comeback during the pandemic. You can get your own LinkedIn QR code that you can share to your heart’s content. How and where we talk to humans needs to change. This is where engagement falls off even with a great understanding of your customer and a brilliant message.
You want to turn people into your advocates and if those people have a great experience and bought everything you’ve got, then they become a promoter and if you get enough of them, you never need to worry about paid media again.
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