Optimizing Marketing Strategies, Brands Need to Get Emotional!
“Right as diverse pathes leden the folk the righte wey to Rome”. This old English proverb is relevant to portray lists of things that advertisers nowadays can do to improve engagement rates with their customers. There are plenty of accesses to brand stories, but there are surely some basic strategies that should be well-considered, given that promotions are supposed to be properly received by the consumers.
Speaking of strategies, one of them includes an emotional approach. The analysis can identify the human emotional spectrum, such as mood and attitude that will also affect the consumers’ behaviors. Therefore, the company should really focus on this manual strategy as well to understand what the consumers expect and meet what they want.
1. Implementing a marketing strategy with empathy
In modern marketing, establishing a reputable brand is linked to creating an emotional connection with consumers. Understanding their emotional state can even help advertisers plan and design their products. Sylvia Alexandra Sudradjat, Head of Business Development IDN Media, mentioned, “Advertisers should be able to feel, see, and understand the consumers’ situations, conditions, perspectives, and emotions. That’s what we mean by being empathic.”
Empathy, needed the most amid the coronavirus outbreak, helps companies distinguish themselves in a challenging environment, bringing passion and focus to a corporate entity. “Brands are also required to attain more adaptability and sensitivity as both play a key role in communication with consumers. Other than that, a successful campaign begins with meeting our consumers’ needs, too. Crucial as it is, knowledge about what our customers need from us is only as good as the way we retain them,” she stated.
2. It’s a functional and emotional equilibrium
According to Sylvia, marketing should always show a deeper understanding of both the functional and emotional needs of consumers. The interplay between certain brand attributes and consumer perception will encourage consumers to act favorably towards the brand. She took an example, “Let’s say, lotion A focuses on skin health. The product has just launched a hand sanitizer enriched with vitamin E. Targeting women, this product is aimed to care for dry skin caused by the use of alcohol-based products like any other ordinary hand sanitizer. Functionally, it is to cleanse and moisturize the skin. Emotionally, it helps curb the spread of COVID-19 while avoiding dry and cracked skin on the hands. As simple as that.”
3. Consistency and how it boosts consumer engagement
Building consumers’ trust can certainly be done through advertising. “Brand consistency is the glue that helps people get back into context. Consistency should be in every element: brand identity, brand message, execution, content, platform. Building awareness is definitely not an overnight job, but once we’ve built a good reputation through consistent delivery, we have permission to evolve, expand, and gain trust from the customers,” explained Sylvia.
In addition to it, Sylvia said, influencer marketing has grown exponentially. Not only affecting consumers via social media, but it also proposes an integrated model to account for the roles of advertising value and brand credibility. “The influencer, the platform, everything should be well-determined. A good example of an advertiser who does advertising in a consistent way, for me personally, is Apple,” Sylvia admitted.
4. Advertising is conversations, conversions, purchases, and advocacy
With consistency, the level of engagement between brands and consumers will be way much better as it bridges the gap between consumers and brands, turning standard clients into life-long advocates. She explained, “Starting with conversations and conversions, purchases and advocacy can also be achieved. Good customer engagement will help advertisers understand their consumers’ preferences, so the funneling and, if possible, the advocacy can keep on going. What is meant by advocacy? It’s when consumers share their positive experiences about a certain product with their colleagues.”
Amid the strike of coronavirus epidemic, consumer engagement can be done through various digital platforms, such as webinars, articles, infographics, interactive sites, Instagram Live, and applications. “Let me underline, advertisers have got to be flexible, adapting to the consumers’ behaviors and preferences. What do they need the most during the time of hardship? What digital platforms they find interesting the most?” Sylvia concluded.
