Top 5 Must Do’s for Marketers in 2010

It's January 2010 and you can bet your bottom dollar that over the next few weeks you will see more than your fair share of articles predicting digital marketing trends for 2010. Predictions are great but the way I see it, articles stating a list of things that may happen won't help you any more than if I guessed the winning lotto numbers for Saturday.

So I thought I'd take a different approach this January and give you some information that will actually help you achieve your marketing and business goals for 2010. Here are my Top 5 Must Do's for marketers in 2010. These aren't predictions but things you must do this year if you are serious about achieving real results and want to maximize the lifetime value of your customers.

1. Embrace digital

It's time for marketers to sharpen up and really embrace digital. Those that fail to do so will be left behind with significant effects to their bottom line. Digital is no longer a channel to just dabble in and test out but rather a 'must have' in the overall marketing strategy.

It's no longer just about sending a few sales emails here and there, rolling out the same content and strategies for all your customers, and updating the website when we have the spare funds available. The industry has grown beyond that and so have consumers. Being a smart marketer in 2010 demands a highly targeted digital strategy.

In 2009 smart marketers realised the potential cost savings and business growth opportunities that digital can provide and will be embracing it with gusto in 2010. More and more of the marketing budget is being allocated to digital for a very good reason…..it works and it works well. Your customers are using digital more and more so if you haven't already started working on your digital strategy for 2010 then you need to get started…quickly!

Consumers are expecting you to deliver engaging branded content online via your website and emails as well as other relevant digital channels such as video and mobile. Failing to meet these expectations may result in your customers taking notice of your competitors and possibly even switching to brands that will deliver what they want, when they want it and how they want it.

2. Get to know your customers better

Understanding your customers is the key to maintaining relevance and doing a better job of delivering what they want. You may not realise it but your database is a great source of insights about your customers.

Maintaining your database will increase its overall value to your marketing activities. Ensure that you keep records of customer details and activity up to date and correct as the final result will be accurate and more useful customer insights.

An efficient and highly cost effective way of gathering information about your customers is through the use of online surveys and polls. They can be used to gather almost any piece of information customers are willing to share. This may include product satisfaction, the types of products they want in the future, purchase habits, customer service satisfaction and a myriad of other customer purchase characteristics that can be used to build customer insights.

Surveys are an efficient source of real time customer opinions, feedback and insights that allow marketers to swiftly act on opportunities and build competitive advantage.

When you understand who your customers are, their needs and what they expect from your brand, then you will have the power to build relevant, targeted marketing campaigns that effectively delivery strong results.

3. Profile your database

Marketing 101 teaches that targeting specific segments of the market achieves a better business result than selling to the entire market. The same principle applies to your database.

Imagine your database as an entire market. Within this mass of customers smaller groups of customers can be found. Each group has different characteristics, needs and desires than other groups and will respond differently to various marketing messages.

Profiling your database into specific customer groups allows you to become more targeted with your marketing messages.For example, Dominos Pizza identified a number of different customer groups within their database, such as young single males and families with children. In response they tailored their weekly email coupon offers to each group and found that redemption of their pizza offers increased significantly.

4. Strengthen your customer relationships

Customer relationships evolve over time. The depth and strength of these relationships are determined by the way that you build, nurture and develop the connection you have with your customers. The longer you maintain a relationship with your customers and the stronger that relationship is, the more value and loyalty your customers will bring to your business.

Digital marketing channels are highly effective in facilitating the building and strengthening of customer relationships. Digital channels give marketers the capability and flexibility to execute customised marketing campaigns that can deliver the right message to the right customer at the right time.

For example, Huggies uses lifecycle driven email communications to deliver highly customised and relevant information to new mums.

Through insight and understanding of how a mother's needs change over time a stronger emotional connection is built with the Huggies brand. This facilitates the establishment of a longer lasting loyal customer relationship that delivers higher lifetime value.

5. Get your head around analytics

From now on your digital marketing success will heavily depend on your data. It might sound boring and somewhat nerdy but you've got to welcome it with open arms if you want to be competitive and drive results.

Analytics can show you how your marketing campaigns cause customers to react in different ways based on different content, timing and creative. Through analytics you can make more informed marketing decisions that deliver better marketing results. You can also test different offers and see how different marketing strategies and tactics will impact your marketing results.

Armed with these insights you will be empowered to create highly targeted and relevant marketing campaigns which can drive results. By allowing your analytics data to guide your marketing campaigns stronger results can be achieved with measured predictability.

The global financial crisis of 2009 seemed to the the #1 excuse marketers were using as a reason to hold back from getting into digital. In 2010 the economy looks to improve considerably and the excuse is no longer there. Marketers need to keep up with the times and get into digital.

If you're unsure of what your first step should be, contact Permission. We are experts in Digital Relationship Marketing and can help you get started on the right foot. Call us on 02 8024 5400 for a chat.