Part 2: Marketing transformation trends 2019 built-in around 4x12x3 model?-?12 Tactics for 12?months

Continuing from Part 1 where I wrote about 4 strategic trends for 4 quarters that can be your prime focus for the year. Now let’s look at tactical trends and how to execute them over 12 months to achieve set-business goals. Strategy is undoubtedly a must-have component, however execution equally plays a very crucial role in making it a reality.

About 2,500 years ago, Chinese military strategist Sun Tzu wrote “The Art of War.” In it, he said, “Strategy without tactics is the slowest route to victory. Tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat.”

Here is what I call a 4x12x3 model.

· 4 Strategies for 4 quarters

· 12 Tactics for 12 months

· 3 Enablers for 3 years

In this article, I will be covering 12 actionable tactics or execution for 12 months i.e. second section of 4x12x3 model.

#1. Content format.

Well, we all know how important content marketing is for our business. But today, meeting room discussion is all about the content format. We have plenty of exciting stories to tell but the big question comes into our mind, which format is best for engagement.

There are 2 formats which are trending and more engaging, i.e. GIF and Video. 

1. GIF has been on Facebook for years. Whatsapp launched GIF formats and they became an expression of life moments. GIF is going to be a big part of modern marketing. So go, create more GIF content and engage with your customers.
2. Video content as always rules the engagement. Live videos are equally engaging format too. 

70% of consumers say that they have shared a brand’s video. 

Don’t think video for YouTube and Facebook only, you have Twitter, LinkedIn, Whatsapp. It’s highly recommended to develop video content based on audience behaviour and mindset based on social media channels.

#2. Smartphone marketing. 

I know, everyone calls it a mobile marketing, but calling it Smartphone marketing looks cool, and it matters the most today for every business. The roll out of 5G will elevate network speed and marketing capabilities across a newly supercharged smartphone landscape.

Today more than 67% unique mobile users are there globally use mobile over laptop and desktop. Actually laptop or desktop are typically for office use.

The biggest challenge comes in front of marketer is again the format. Shall we restrict ourselves to just SMS (SMS works much better than any other formats in my opinion if done smartly) or do mobile static ads or video ads or create mobile games but cost may bother you.

So your tactical plan should include smartphone as an independent media to target your customers and with different available formats. 

#3. Micro-Influencer marketing. 

They are making an impact. My recent interaction with one of the local influencers has been amazing and worked very well. While influencer marketing is not a new topic, but the focus on local influencer is. 

So here is what you can do to have in your plan;

Identify and build a list of micro-influencers in your market who’re passionate about your category and brand. Check out their podcast, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc. Follow them first and watch them what they do. Then start a casual conversation with them. While it’s cool for an influencer to endorse your brand, but don’t forget they are short-lived. They may not have 100 thousands of social fans, but they have ability to build interaction with their fans. Also, they are not as expensive as macro-influencer or celebrity. So try partnering with them and put together a long-term campaigns and stories with clearly defined KPIs.

#4. Performance media marketing. 

This is really interesting topic everyone talks about. I look at it differently. This shouldn’t be one time activity or campaign rather than have an always-ON advertising. Every product has a lot of features which can be converted into exciting ad formats and keep acquiring customers. 

Basically, you work on a performance driven model i.e. CPA, CPL or CPI. That means you pay only for results. The performance marketing includes affiliate, programmatic ads, re-targeting or UAC or combinations. 

It’s advised that you partner with good suppliers and agencies who has a good understanding of data, technology and ad formats along with understanding your business and objectives.

#5. Chatbots.

Chatbots are on the rise due to an advancement on technology such as AI, Machine Learning and Deep Learning. Bots are slowly learning, collecting information about customers, becoming smarter day by day, figuring out exactly what customers want and taking actions accordingly.

It’s obvious to invest in bots today and train them to handle customers, and support them at initial stage whether they are looking for basic information or advanced. Bots are becoming more human like. The question arises bots are for marketing or customer service. Of course it works for both depending on the objectives. For example; you want a new surface pro keyboard from your favorite ecommerce store. You could visit their website, scroll through 20 or 30 product pages, fill out the form with your shipping and payment information, and so on. But if it had a bot, you’d simply tell it and you’re done!

The most advanced bots are powered by artificial intelligence, helping it to understand complex requests, personalize responses, and improve interactions over time.

According to a recent HubSpot Research study, 47% of shoppers are open to buying items from a bot

#6. Search.

Search is no longer a trend or choice but a necessity for the brands. Your website or app have to be optimized for web and mobile. I would see, the following BIG focus when it comes to search;

1. Mobile-first indexing — Google began this back in 2018, where it ranks website based mobile-responsiveness. If website is not mobile-friendly, then chances are losing out huge opportunity of traffic.

Statistica reports that in 2018, 52.2% of worldwide online traffic was generated through mobile phones.

2. Local search — it’s an important for any size of the business as it results into conversion. 

According to Google, 50% of people who conduct a local search on their smartphone will visit a store within a day. Similarly, research by ComScore suggests that 56% of ‘on-the-go’ searches have local intent, while 78% of location-related mobile searches will result in an offline purchase.

3. Voice search 

The virtual assistants such Alexa, Siri, Cortana, Google Voice, has changed the way we engage with mobile phones. They are becoming more conversational and in fact, voice search is easier than text input. Especially when you drive, and looking to find something in the phone such as business local, restaurants phone to order a food, etc. 

Google says 20% of mobile queries are voice searches.

#7. Event Activation — Community focused. 

At home or out of home. This is an exciting way to interact with customers in person. You demonstrate them your stories, engage with them directly and so on. There are plenty of community events, theme driven get-together, exhibitions, etc. happening in your city or country. Pick and choose them based on your target audience and objectives. Sponsor them, create experience and get your product or service closer to the customers. 

There are many reasons where an event activation marketing can help you;

• Create awareness and thought leadership 
• Generate leads/Sales 
• Product demo, feedback and relationship 
• and more

It absolutely generates ROI for your business.

#8. Radio. 

I love this media. It’s your companion while you drive. Don’t discount radio as a part of your media strategy. 

Is radio effective? Quick answer? Yes. No other medium can reach such a broad cross section of potential customers as radio can. In addition to the audience, there’s the attention factor. Being able to place your brand’s marketing message in front of a consumer for 30 (or 60) seconds is a gold mine. 

The fact is that people listen to traditional radio more than digital radio. In fact, radio reaches 93% of people each day versus 15% for Pandora and 5% for Spotify.

There are effective ad formats such program sponsorship, fabric, RJ engagement and competition which drive results for the brand.

#9. Out of home media innovation. 

This bring a life to a brand if thought well. It’s for just an awareness but drive results. Of course, it’s not easy to track performance like digital. 

Out-of-home media offers a brand safe environment, with unparalleled viewability. Unless something is physically blocking the screen, all ads are 100% viewable. What percentage of digital display ad inventory can honestly make such a bold promise? 

What’s more, a Nielsen study showed that OOH provides the highest rate of online activation per dollar of any offline media. Add data feeds, video, and programmatic capabilities to the mix, and digital out-of-home is an unbeatable offering.

However, I strongly recommend to leverage strategic location with innovative ideas. The creativity matters the most in this case.

By 2021, a MAGNA Intelligence study predicts OOH spend will reach $33 billion.

#10. Tell Stories. 

PR has evolved a lot in recent years. As technology increases the speed of communications, the way brands interact with media also changed. The biggest problem for brands is to create innovative stories for their brands and get media folks excited to cover you. 

Here are the different ways brands can benefit from the shift in the media landscape and content format.

• Visual stories are always interactive. It’s recommended to develop story-telling videos.
• Social media: In the age of social media, we have all become publishers that allow us create exciting stories and distribute in no-time. 
• Journalist as influencers: Media network has changed significantly in the past decade because of the digital age. You can reach out to a diverse set of partners who can help scale your stories.

#11. Customer journey and automation. 

This is one of the most critical aspect of the business, is to build a funnel through out the customer journey and build a tailored-made communication to the customers based on their behavior and actions. Let’s admit, marketing automation helps us work smarter and save precious time.

It’s always advised to leverage a mix of tactical channels such as email, sms, push notification, web overlay , in-app message, etc. based on results throughout the customer journey.

88% of the customers who received birthday emails from a company said it enhanced their brand loyalty.

#12. SMS, an effective tactic of retention marketing

Acquiring new customer is great, but retaining existing customer should be your primary focus. 

Several studies says that 68% of sales comes from your existing customers and results in greater ROI — and it costs lesser.

The marketers have exciting promotions that can keep customer engaged and happy. But the question is how to bring them back. There are many tactical channels such as push notification, in-app, email, sms, etc. however, SMS works the best especially when you’re into a consumer business. 

SMS open rates is 82% which is pretty impressive and can’t be ignored. SMS works very well due to its format — short, sweet, creative and to the point. 

Part 3: Marketing transformation trends 2019 built-in around 4x12x3 model — 3 Enablers for 3 years --- are on the way.

Part 1: Marketing transformation trends 2019 built-in around 4x12x3 model — 4 Strategic trends for 4 quarters.

Please do share your comments and suggestions if any!

Disclaimer:

The above strategies, tactics and enablers are personal opinion and can be sequenced in any order depending on the brand and category priorities for the year.