For Marketing Success – Fish Where the Fish Are!
Springtime in Minnesota means fishing’s season opener (the lakes have finally thawed!) Every year, fishermen discuss new strategies for how they are going to catch more fish than last year (or than their buddy is going to catch). Complicated discussions relating to exactly where the fish are going to be are commonplace.
This had us thinking recently about how similar fishing and marketing really are.
If you want to catch more fish, you’ve got to fish where the fish are!
The same is true with marketing – if you want more clients, you need to market where your audience will see your message. Over the past couple of years, we’ve seen dramatic shifts in the ways people make their purchasing decisions – the fish have moved, and as marketers, we need to move with them.
The brand advocacy and social media ROI blog ZuberRants suggests reading “Branding in the Digital Age: You’re Spending Your Money in All the Wrong Places” by David C. Edelman. This article highlights the need for marketers to shift their focus from paid media spend to driving advocacy in order to align with the way consumers are making their purchasing decisions today.
“Companies that systematically identify and energize Brand Advocates are getting at least a 10X ROI in media and sales value. In other words, for every $1 a company invests in energizing Advocates, the company gets $10 in positive WOM (word-of-mouth) impressions and sales. This 10X “Return on Advocacy” is significantly higher than the return that marketers get from paid search campaigns on Google and other marketing approaches.”
10X Return on Investment in media sales and value? Wow! The article goes on to state:
“The consumer’s decision journey has always included ‘consider, evaluate and buy’, but in this day and age it also includes ‘enjoy, advocate and bond.’ This is where social media comes into play. People enjoying sharing with their social media groups by writing reviews, creating recommendations or testimonials, or even by ‘checking-in’ at places on location-aware apps such as Yelp and Foursquare.”
Edelman states “the average American consumer will discuss brands 56 times per week, definitely placing them in the arena of enjoy, advocate and bond.”
Check your marketing budget: are you investing adequately in brand ambassador strategies to leverage the “enjoy, advocate and bond” stage for your business? If you’re not, you’re missing a great opportunity…..online hangouts and social media are where the fish are these days!
Published on: June 13, 2011