Find your customer

Very often it gets difficult to identify the right customer or the group of customers. The difficulty arises mainly due to limited knowledge and lack of market research. Market research doesn't depend on huge spending or extended survey schedules. One may rightly get data on a wide range of subjects from a varied number of sources. Secondary data are available at the press of a key and one just need to know what type of data one requires and how important it is for attaining his objectives. Customers are not invisible beings and are not untraceable. the right prospecting technique is what one requires and it differs in sync with an organizations  profile, its goals and operational standards. Wise marketers see opportunities where there is none. They are not just in search of customers having in-built needs,but also for persons in whom a need could be ignited. These needs are latent needs about which a customer is unaware of and clueless about its presence and utility. The marketer has to point out this need and how satisfaction of that need could enrich his living and open the flood gates of more better experiences in the future. He should be communicated flawlessly about the impact of the good or service that he consumes on his personal well being both in the short and in the long run. 

Prospecting gets difficult due to poor definition of the target group . Categorizing along functions,territories or capabilities mayn't be sufficient always. It is common for overlapping to occur as one or two parameters of categorizing is shared by most of the customers. For example a person may be living in a geographic territory, can come under the desired income group and have the same functional requirements. This makes segmentation a difficult task as mutually non-overlapping variables are difficult to find and be classified as a sub set. Yet it is not a difficult task  as personalized data are now available easily thanks to facilitated by high end use of technology. 

Social media offers now a never before opportunity to know about each individual customers profile , his choices,preferences, values, strengths and weaknesses. It is a potential gold mine to harvest insights which are critical for developing an understanding of the customer and framing the right communication strategy which can spark a desire for the commodity or serivice about which he is communicated. 

In some sectors customers stay scattered over an uneven spread of territories. Neither do they use a common media nor do they have the geographic contiguity. Here you have to find a common thread that touches all your prospective customers and a common platform where they can be addressed, Some times it may be a club, some times it may be an exhibition,a particular channel and sometimes in customized events meant to focus on a perceived shared interest. It can diversify in accordance with the data or insight in command with the marketer. The magnetic property of your communication should draw forth prospects from their scattered hideouts  and huddle them before you to see them and approach them in ways as you wish. 

The role of strategy

                                                     

Strategy…Whether you are a big business or a SME, this is an important driver of your business growth and carries it ahead on the right track.  You need to make a concrete strategy to mobilize and optimize your resources in an efficient way. Many organizations fail to capitalize on their strengths, resources and skills and accelerate their growth due to lack of a clear strategy.  On the contrary organizations that prosper and achieve remarkable results are seen to be driven by a clear and properly outlined strategy.  Strategy is not an indivisible plan, but a composition of several sub-plans integrated into a whole.  Of course a defining goal characterizes the strategy and all activities are carried out to give effect to that end. The final objective of an organization is not achieved a by a strategy that is uniform across all departments and functions, but through a harmonious fusion of different strategies and the synergies produced by them.   

A strategy for one organization may differ from the strategy of another organization even though there is a commonality in scale, category or a target group.  An organization’s inherent values, its worldview and its commitments to the community could be major differentiating parameters and shape its strategy in a distinct way. Adaptation of technology, alacrity with which one responds to consumer feedback and the communication plan of an organization also influence the overall strategy of an organization.  For example,  In a complex organization with multiple structures, layers and command panel, strategy for growth is quite different from an organization that is simple and organically built. The former needs restoration of simplicity to ward off operational inconveniences arising out of a command inter-loop, decision overlapping and a skewed information spread.    They need simple operational controls and an efficient knowledge management framework   to overcome the noise and information mismanagement. In the later case the strategy should mostly focus on leveraging the lean organizational structure, transparent information management and free cross flow of ideas HR planning is less cumbersome in the case of the latter than in the case of the previous.

Organizational culture has also a huge bearing on development of a right strategy whether its product planning, choosing the right portfolio of products, marketing and communication planning etc. Marketing strategy and media strategies are largely influenced by the character of the product or service and the target base as has been defined and determined by the higher management and that in other way depends on the broader vision and outlook of the organization.  How much customer friendly or in broader terms people friendly the organization is can be ascertained from their strategic planning process.   An organization that cares little for its corporate social responsibility and the community adopts a different strategy than the organization where people are the focus of attention.

There is very little scope for identical strategies for organizations if they genuinely care for their expansion, so it leads to developing their distinct strategies and here the intervention of a unprejudiced strategic development process is required that can foresee the impending dangers, forecast about it and suggest prescriptive measures which sometimes may lead to a major deviation or restructuring of the strategy of an organization. 

Managing perceptions

  Perception of a consumer towards a particular brand never remains static. A blunder that many organizations commit is that they assume a consumer's perception about a brand remain the same over a considerable period of time. But the real fact is that it keeps on changing unless sufficient interest is built around it consistently. There are many factors that sway his attention form particular brand towards others.The most important reason  being proliferation of choices and abundance of alternatives. Novelty is a great attraction for customers whether it comes in the shape of a product differentiation or a breakthrough technology. Any organization that catch the wind of change first gains a distinct advantage over his competitors. Building on that strength it creates new value propositions and progressively cuts into the market share of its rivals unless they come up with their preemptive strategies. Loyalty as a fact is now a function of qualitative service combined with great product features. One cant stay immune to obsolescence unless one innovates and stays a step ahead. 

In this context managing perceptions about an organization has gained utmost importance. It depends upon the agility with which you respond to change and stay in sync with present developments. It depends upon the adroitness of the brand managers and their ability to shield your image from being corroded by stagnancy. It depend on weaving value to your products so that they they continue to retain their distinctiveness. Communication with the consumers should be more engaging and enjoyable so that wait with expectation for the next conversation. 

Another factor that builds a positive perception is about the public's understanding of your social responsibilities. If they perceive you as having a commitment towards the larger interest of the society and find you more responsive to the social needs, they can  stand behind you and any disadvantages you may have on other grounds can be neutralized. 

Finally it comes to the prudent mixing of strategies and your ability to create  and sustain a positive buzz around your brand,that can help you maintain that positive perception for a longer term. 

Intelligent consumer

Gone are the days when advertisement professionals would assume the average consumer to be gullible and susceptible to the adlusions..advertisement illusions they were reeling out to trap his attention. Consumer is smart now and any attempt to over-present any idea or proposition to him passes off more as an attempt to misguide him. With flow and processing of information getting organized , available and accessible at multiple touch points  , the consumer can now critically assess various aspects of an idea  or product pitched to him before taking any conclusive decision. He is now in possession of better discriminatory tools and has the ability to differentiate the grain from the chaff very quickly, thanks to the buzz generated by new and emerging media as well as critical inputs obtained from other sources. To predispose the mind of this intelligent consumer towards a particular brand now is more arduous a task than as it was ever before. This necessitates a fresh approach..a fresh thinking  with focus on creating a more enduring relationship with the customer. This has to be a consistent and sustainable process. Digital media and its famous offspring the social media offers a robust platform for advertisers to engage with the public and it is not a secret. But what will be the consumers response and more importantly what will be the pattern of his response..that needs to be figured out. By pattern of response I mean whether a consumer remains as receptive and enthusiastic  to a particular advertisers communication with the same degree of interest across a series of messages as he was to the first few communications? Will the advertiser be bale to sustain that level of interest throughout the communication cycle?These few questioned need to be addressed  and efforts must be made to make each communication snippet as unique and distinct as possible. This aspect on the other hand need more intense observation of a consumer's behavior,his cultural conditioning and value orientations.   Observing him  in isolation  mightn't yield the desired  insights and hence his behavior should be observed in the matrix of his multiple interactions with people in various groups,circles and communities. These are the places where he unwinds and untwists his mind and an entry path to his mind is  discovered. This is a tricky operation as it has to be undertaken without giving any idea to the customer that his actions are being tracked.  So it depends on the innovative genius of the marketer how he carries out this exercise and how long he manages to keep the consumer in good humor. Consumer is getting intelligent and so must be the marketers to stay in tune with their enhanced understandings.  This will ensure balance and equilibrium in the communication management system.

Image as an asset

It is very often believed that an asset is something that is monetarily quantifiable and has some visible dimensions. Contrary to public perception, an asset can assume more wider connotation and can encompass intangible elements too. Defining asset mayn't be a critical task for many,but the nature of its constituents may be of varied view. Anything that adds value or is of some utility measurable or not can be classified as an asset. An asset gives its owner not only tangible benefits, but a sense of possession and pride. An asset apart from being a source of value can also multiply benefits in alignment with other achievements and accomplishments. This is here that the intangible character of an asset comes to recognition. This integrating and facilitating attribute of an asset brings under its fold variables like image which has an igniting effect on the process of value accretion. Image which is a product of a sustained goodwill is nurtured by consistent and willful attention to an organization's social and public activities.It is shaped by people's perception about an organizations empathy with the interests of the people and the orientations of its policies and actions to the collective welfare of the community. A good image works as a shield against negative propaganda and absorbs shocks administered to it by erratic swings of market forces. Even if at times when the competitors gain unfair advantage due to any superiority in process and product, corrosion of market share is checked if the organization manages to maintain a trustworthy image. The benefits accrued in this process to the organization by the interim skipping of scaling up to competitive standards and the resources saved in due course can be attributed to the value of the image and can be quantified to dispel doubt of the classical interpreters of asset.

Inclusive marketing strategy

It is but a natural pursuit of all companies to make efforts to increase their sales volume, and consequently revenue. We know that many companies are heavily dependent on direct marketing to acquire new clients. Still,it is very difficult to reach at every consumer,or the potential ones only through direct marketing. This necessitates adoption of other marketing methods and techniques. Given the consumers level of brand awareness these days, it is advisable to go for a range of marketing activities instead of relying on one medium only. People are needed to be engaged and a degree of personalization of relationship is required too. Here a well planned PR campaign is very relevant. To gain competitive advantage you need to be visible across all media and a sustained good will of the public is needed.. It is very important that consumers find your brand to be reflective of their choices and in tune with their values. Besides as there is no uniformity in a customers purchase behavior and his accessibility to various media, you need to be conscious and cautious about the right media planning.

As a result of intensive media and market research, deep insights have been obtained into the pattern of a customers behavior and his response to a varied range of communications. As efficacy of communications vary due to differences in the quality of content and the platforms used, it is essential that the contents are captivating and the mediums of dissemination accessible to maximum number of potential consumers.

In some cases,It has now been observed that increase in sales is linked to promotion which involves third party endorsements and not direct communication or interaction with the target audience. Thus an indirect buzz generated by certain events, whether customized or of PR category has come to be having a decisive impact upon a customers decision.

Taking all these factors into consideration, it seems a fair proposition to diversify marketing activities and make it inclusive rather than being dependent on a solitary medium to achieve the targeted results.

Impact of PR on business growth

With attitude of people towards an organization or a person now is shaped by their perception about the organizations commitment towards the overall welfare of the community and the public orientation of its programs and functions, Public relation management has gained more importance in recent years.. Companies are now expected to be more people-centric in their operation and responsive to the expectations of the public. This has prompted redrawing of marketing strategies and allocation of more weight to PR in the campaign to conquer new market territories.

PR is no more only media relations and encompasses a wide spectrum of activities that seek to maintain a congenial relation with the people in general and the target audience in particular. In the fast changing business scenario, interactive communication and reflective decision making have assumed more importance due to a continuous need to stay updated on the consumer’s choices and preferences. Reconfiguration of marketing or communication strategy is often necessitated by the behavioral changes of the consumer which is a function of the dynamic character of the market.

The function of PR as a catalyst of business growth is now being realized more than ever before due to the growing sensitivity of people to issues that are not only commercial in nature, but relates to the overall interest of the community. An organization that is visibly committed to the social causes is most likely to have a better image equity than his competitors.

Besides, PR has become more useful a tool to eliminate negative propaganda that corrodes the faith of the consumer in a company’s brand and restore his confidence and consequent trust in it. Crises sprung up due to intra-organizational disputes and which threatens to affect employee confidence and productivity are successfully resolved by a prudent PR strategy.

Innovations in digisphere have widened the scope of PR activity and its potential to positively impact upon the bottom-line of a company. Real time feedback and a swift formulation of response in synch with public expectations are facilitated in an interactive framework which is made possible by utilizing digital media. With faster generation of insights, it becomes easy for marketing strategists to modulate their strategy and synchronize it with public expectations. A responsive and sensitive approach enhances the goodwill of the consumers and makes way for an enduring and sustained relationship which ultimately serves the commercial interest of the organization.