Continuing the Conversation
Brands are not successful in the long run if they are stagnant and out-of-touch.
According to an online Forbes article, “[m]arketing is like a game of chess, which isn’t won in a single move” (Kareh, 2017). So, your connection with an audience should not be a one-time occurrence.
So, I sat down with MP&F’s Director of Integrated Marketing, Knight, to discuss how brands achieve longevity and continue to capture the public’s interest.
Here are my top takeaways:
- Know your audience
- Nurture the conversation
Knight says that one of the most fundamental and important aspects of integrated marketing is understanding your audience. The better you know your audience, the better you can reach and connect with them. For example, the taglines and messaging used to target a younger, more technologically savvy audience might differ greatly from the messaging and visual aspects used to target an older, more traditional audience. While the brand should be consistent, Knight says that “different audiences experience the brand differently.” If you know each audience segment’s preferences and styles, then you can better connect with each audience segment on a more personal and relatable level. So, take a cue from the oh-so-relatable Jimmy Fallon, and make sure you are connecting with your audience.
I asked her how she strategically decides what each audience prefers. Knight explained that data collection, such as qualitative research and focus groups, is important. While it may be interesting to study what people do and how they act online, it is much more important to capture and understand the “why” that drives how people act and react. If you understand the “why,” then you can continue to market to people over a long period of time because you better understand the way that they think and feel about certain marketing tactics.
One of the key words that Knight used when talking about integrated marketing is “nurture.” You do not want to overwhelm people and make them feel like you are talking at them. Instead, it should feel like a conversation. But remember, it is important that you don’t bombard your audience with constant contact. This will make the ads feel unnatural, forced, and even sometimes annoying. Who wants that?
Have you ever noticed that certain email advertisements lead to various landing pages? Let’s say you are a high school senior receiving a plethora of emails from universities vying for your attention. Some of these emails might ask you what field of study you are interested in and have hyperlinks to various pages on their website. If you click a certain link that indicates your field of interest, you might notice that future emails from this university are tailored to the major that you self-selected to be interested in. This is a way of nurturing the relationship with you and more directly targeting their ads to suit your needs. It makes the advertisements feel more personalized and conversational, which is a great example of how to keep the conversation going. High five to that!
