The entrepreneur always searches for change, responds to it, and exploits it as an opportunity. Peter Drucker knew about opportunities, didn’t he? We are certainly well into the age of change created by the internet and digital technology applications. We are now seeing the changes in shopping created by customers taking advantage of the near-perfect information. So we don’t have to search very hard for change, do we? But exploiting it is a bit more difficult. In this article, we’ll explore how to change your marketing strategy thinking to give some ways so these changes create better business opportunities.
We recently came across a book that got us more interested in this topic. The book is Absolute Value: What Really Influences Customers in the Age of (Nearly) Perfect Information. This book is about how marketers should respond to more savvy shoppers making smarter decisions because they have access to more information and more options than ever before. It helps us consider the question of whether to change your marketing strategy plan.
Written by marketing experts, Emanuel Rosen and Itamar Simonson, Absolute Value is essentially a manifesto for marketing to the new smart consumer empowered by technology and near real-time information.
The underlying argument of Absolute Value is that technology has changed how shoppers go about value-maximization – the fundamental objective of shopping behavior. (i.e. trying to get the best bang for their buck). Here is some of the evidence offered by the authors:
Research done for Google in 2011 found that the average shopper now consults 10.4 sources of information prior to purchase— almost twice as many as in the previous year
Consumer confidence in reviews around the world is increasing. In 2012, 70 percent of consumers surveyed online by Nielsen indicated that they trust online reviews—an increase of 15 percent in four years.
Thirty percent of U.S. consumers start their online purchase research with Amazon.com, which, with its wealth of reviews, has become a clearinghouse for product information.
Note that value-maximization is all about choosing the option that provides the best subjective perceived value (influenced by cultural, social, personal and psychological factors) for the money paid.
It certainly does not imply always going for the lowest price. This is because customers are often willing to pay a premium for service, experience and image part of the value proposition.
Related post: Case Studies to Evaluate New World Marketing Concepts
Until recently, consumers have been hampered by two barriers to value-maximization; imperfect and partial product information. With only partial information to inform a purchase, our selection process for the best value is sub-optimal.
However, technology is changing all this – making value-maximization a whole lot easier through potentially perfect and unlimited information available on-demand and on-the-go. And ideally, it is combined with a buy button that lies in the palm of every hand. As Absolute Value authors point out:
Marketing Strategy Thinking
The practical upshot is that technology is making consumer markets increasingly rational – people are value-maximizing better. To back up their point, the authors point to a number of studies showing that ‘irrational’ consumer behavior (not value-maximizing) often disappears in the real world, information-rich situations.
Armed with technology and information consumers behave increasingly rational.
Absolute Value suggests instead that marketers should focus on communicating the “absolute value” of what we are promoting – the experienced value of the product itself, rather than building the brand image or brand loyalty.
Marketing Strategy Thinking
The practical upshot of this is that in a world where consumers choose based on absolute value rather than brand spin, the central role of marketing changes from brand marketing to product marketing.
The authors sum up their view with a nifty quote by innovator James Dyson:
There’s only one word that’s banned in our company: brand. We’re only as good as our latest product. I don’t believe in brand at all.
Rosen and Simonson suggest the implication is clear for marketers – they need to focus on delivering the best value proposition – clear, distinctive and desirable – for target markets. In essence, what is needed is a good dose of rational marketing.
See our article on how to create the best Unique Selling Propositions.
Keep observing: Case Studies to Evaluate New World Marketing Concepts
Specifically, five implications for marketers emerge from Absolute Value:
Less focus on branding, more focus on product
Less focus on nurturing loyalty, more focus on innovation
Less focus on the “irrational consumer”, more focus on the rational consumer
Less focus on “choice overload”, more focus on empowering choices
Less focus on brand positioning, more focus on product value
Marketing strategy thinking … our takeaways
Absolute Value is a compelling read for marketing people who want to understand how technology is changing how shoppers decide. It is loaded with examples and provides a useful new framework for marketing to the smart consumer.
Related information: Some Great Story and Storytelling Examples to Study
But in our opinion, Absolute Value is really not absolute. We are certainly heading in the direction the books says. However, there are many ‘soft’ factors in product and service selection.
As long as these factors are influential factors in the value equation, the absolute value will not be so absolute. Where customers are most heavily influenced by price as their value measure, the changes suggested by the authors are more pronounced.
One thing we need to point out in either case: businesses certainly need to get their absolute value proposition right.
So what’s the conclusion? The conclusion is there is no conclusion. There is only the next step. And that next step is completely up to you. But believe in the effectiveness of great value propositions and word of mouth marketing. And put them to good use.
It’s up to you to keep improving your creative marketing efforts. Lessons are all around you. In this case, your competitor may be providing the ideas and or inspiration. But the key is in knowing that it is within you already.
All you get is what you bring to the fight. And that fight gets better every day you learn and apply new lessons.
When things go wrong, what’s most important is your next step.
Try. Learn. Improve. Repeat.
Are you devoting enough energy to improving your marketing, branding, and advertising?
Do you have a lesson about making your marketing strategy better you can share with this community? Have any questions or comments to add in the section below?
Mike Schoultz is the founder of Digital Spark Marketing, a digital marketing and customer service agency. With 40 years of business experience, he blogs on topics that relate to improving the performance of your business. Find them on G+, Twitter, and LinkedIn.
Digital Spark Marketing will stretch your thinking and your ability to adapt to change. We also provide some fun and inspiration along the way. Call us for a free quote today. You will be amazed at how reasonable we will be.
More reading on marketing strategy from Digital Spark Marketing’s Library:
Defining your target audience is one of the most important factors in any marketing campaign, and your job is made easier by focusing your marketing efforts on appealing to a specific group of people.
Ideally, you’ll have defined the target market for your product much earlier than the marketing stage. However, since drip campaigns enable you to segment your audience, you can refine your target market even further for each individual email. Some studies have shown that segmented campaigns result in a massive 760% increase in revenue.
Chipotle, while not a small business does have many marketing characteristics similar to those of small business. They work with a small budget, barely advertise on TV and do their own work in-house.
US companies spend millions of dollars each year developing the best strategies and tactics to reach their target audience and increase sales. In fact, a survey of chief marketing officers (CMOs) found that in 2015, companies were spending between eight to 11% of revenue on marketing. The messages and media used to communicate a company’s offerings are key factors in business growth, but the increased prevalence of social platforms and instant access to information demand that organizations shift emphasis from “managing the message” to “enabling the conversation.”
How’s that possible? It comes down to their specific marketing strategy. A strategy built on these marketing attributes:
Marketing strategy plan … Products that are remarkable
These are the ones that get talked about. Marketing starts with having products and services that are better than the competition, making them remarkable and worthy of being discussed by your customers.
What your best customers are worth
They are worth far more than your average customers. It starts with knowing who your customers are, then knowing the best of the group.
Market strategy … customers don’t buy what they need
Customers buy what they want. Gather as many insights as possible by observing what they do. Asking them is not as valuable as observing them.
Marketing strategy examples … new ways of spreading your messages and ideas
These new ways (blogs, permission-based RSS information, APPS, consumer fan clubs) are quickly proving how well they work. Traditional ways of interrupting consumers (TV ads, trade show booths, junk mail) are losing their cost-effectiveness.
The game of marketing has changed significantly over the past decade. It’s not price – it is relevancy, difference, and value. Chipotles know this and have built its strategy around these concepts.
There was a recent AdAge report documenting the non-traditional elements of Chipotle’s CMO and his team. Here are a few key points from this report:
Chipotle marketing mix.
Chipotle has targeted millennials for its primary customer segment.
Its strategy is to win over millennials by solidifying its reputation for freshness, and offering a healthier fare than its competitors.
The brand also gained reputation by shying away from traditional media, because younger audiences feel like it’s less authentic and less easy to connect with.
Even Chipotle’s first national TV ad wasn’t traditional by any means. It featured Willie Nelson telling a two-minute animated story of a farmer whose business grows massive before his conscience convinces him to revert to more humane, sustainable operations.
It’s working at a more grassroots level to build support too, like with its Cultivate food and music festival and its Farm Team loyalty program — both are focused on humane food sourcing and organic farming.
In addition, Chipotles announced it would become the first U.S. restaurant chain to remove as many GMO (Genetically Modified Organism) foods from its menu as possible. To complement the announcement, and to curb any skepticism about the source of their products, the company created and released a three-minute video commercial on YouTube called “The Scarecrow.” The video strategy was to appeal to emotion to make it extremely impactful.
It was very successful and went viral and received more than five million views in fewer than two weeks. It is a great example of how companies are utilizing digital resources to brand and market in more creative ways.
However, they didn’t stop there. Marketing these days requires knowing your audience and the best channels to reach that audience. You can’t just create and release a commercial on YouTube … and be done with it. Especially one this good.
Market strategy … Spreading your messages.
You need complementary messages and techniques. Chipotle knew this and created a mobile app video game that presents the same concept as the commercial, and made it available for free downloading through the Apple App Store.
The combination of viral video and video game app is attractive to their target market, millennials. Chipotles know multi-channel marketing and integrated advertising are the new norms.
The lessons to learn from the Chipotle marketing strategy?
Know which customers you want to target, study their characteristics, likes and dislikes, and build your campaign strategy around these.
So … guess what? Chipotle’s campaign strategy, while different than their larger competitors, is not so unconventional, is it? But very creative and unique, yes?
The bottom line
In summary, the game of marketing has changed significantly over the past decade. It’s not price – it is relevancy, difference, and value. What are the marketing lessons from your business?
Have any questions or comments to post below?
It’s up to you to keep improving your social media marketing efforts.
All you get is what you bring to the fight. And that fight gets better every day you learn and apply new lessons.
When things go wrong, what’s most important is your next step.
Try. Learn. Improve. Repeat.
Are you devoting enough energy to improving your advertising?
Do you have a lesson about making your advertising better you can share with this community? Have any questions or comments to add in the section below?
Digital Spark Marketing will stretch your thinking and your ability to adapt to change. We also provide some fun and inspiration along the way. Call us for a free quote today. You will be amazed at how reasonable we will be.
More reading on marketing and advertising from Digital Spark Marketing’s Library:
More reading on advertising from Digital Spark Marketing’s Library:
Mike Schoultz is a digital marketing and customer service expert. With 48 years of business experience, he consults on and writes about topics to help improve the performance of small business. Find him on G+, Facebook, Twitter, Digital Spark Marketing, and LinkedIn.
having a significant impact. And the change is rapid. Traditional media vehicles are losing effectiveness as people communicate in new and different ways. Here we will illustrate learning from the best marketing strategy examples.
If you can dream it, you can do it.
– Walt Disney
Mass audiences are fragmenting into small segments. Developing a point of difference is harder than ever. It takes a lot of creativeness, but it is certainly doable.
Whatever is the case, many organizations, Google among them, find it a very useful way to guide investment and it’s amazingly simple to learn and apply.
70% – Sustaining Innovation
Sustaining innovations are improvements to existing products and services that align well with your organization’s current strategy. While these types of innovations are often derided as “incremental innovations” that pales in comparison to “disruptive” or “radical” innovations, that seem more exciting, they are at the heart of any strong innovation effort.
The truth is that it is sustaining innovations created by the vast majority of value. To understand why to think about Moore’s Law. A new generation of computer chips may not seem that exciting, but the incremental improvements over the past 50 years are what has driven the digital revolution and made many “radical” innovations possible.
Another aspect of sustaining innovations is that they tend to fit in well with current processes and customers, so costs for ramping up production and gaining adoption tend to be far lower. That’s why even when you look at wildly innovative companies like Google and Apple, most of their budgets are focused on improving existing products.
Most of your resources — about 70% — should go toward sustaining innovations.
20% – Exploring Adjacencies
Every business, no matter how successful, eventually declines. You can be the most efficient buggy whip maker in the world and you still won’t make much money, simply because there is not a huge market for buggy whips these days. At some point, every square-peg business meets its round-hole world.
You always want to be exploring adjacent markets and capabilities. Amazon greatly improved its business by exploring product categories other than books and car manufacturers are currently investing billions in electric car technology in order to be able to compete in a post-carbon world.
Unfortunately, adjacent opportunities are far riskier than sustaining innovations. Amazon is doing great with its Echo smart speakers but completely flopped with the Fire smartphone. So you don’t want to bet your future on customers and technologies in which you don’t already have a strong operational presence.
Still, by going into an adjacency you aren’t completely taking a shot in the dark, because these markets and capabilities already exist somewhere, just not in your organization. So you may very well be able to leverage your existing resources to create something significant.
10% – Building A New Paradigm
Over the past 100 years, just about every business IBM has dominated has hit the skids. It was a pioneer in tabulating machines, mainframe computers, personal computers, and installed IT services, just to name a few. Nevertheless, every 20 years or so, each one of these business has been disrupted.
Yet still, IBM remains one of the most valuable companies in the world because it keeps developing new technologies. Today, as its business for installed solutions continues to decline, it’s building completely new businesses based on technologies like artificial intelligence, quantum computing, and neuromorphic chips.
Let’s consider a couple of examples to illustrate.
Guinness marketing strategy shows their creativity
This Guinness marketing campaign demonstrates that Guinness marketing has certainly noticed.
And Guinness marketing has adapted and come up with some cool new marketing ideas. This new ad from Guinness proves that beer commercials can be so much more than guys and bars.
“Empty Chair,” tells the story of a bartender who leaves a pint of Guinness at an empty table every night amongst birthday celebrations and sports team’s victories. No one sits at the table, and the woman shoots a dirty look to anyone she catches eyeing one of the empty chairs.
Without fail, the frosted glass is there each and every night. It’s a powerful image that serves as a sign of hope for the bartender. But we aren’t exactly sure who the beer is for until the very end. Everything comes together when a soldier finally returns home to claim his Guinness.
The spot finishes with the tagline “The choices we make reveal the true nature of our character.”
Guinness’s marketing story based on emotion has flipped traditional beer advertising on its head by getting rid of the template and telling a story – a real emotional story – that connects with people. The responses were overwhelmingly positive … customers and particularly the target customers are looking for meaningful stories. The emotion in this marketing strategy certainly is addressing this end state in our opinion.
This Guinness “Empty Chair” commercial salutes the character of a community as they honor one of their own who is out of sight, but not out of mind. They remind us that a true test of character is what you do when no one’s looking.
The choices we make reveal the true nature of our character. Guinness proudly raises a glass to those who are #MadeOfMore.
Guinness has made the message as clean and simple as possible. You cannot overachieve on the simplicity of the message. A message that the reader will quickly grasp and fully appreciate. Keep in mind that pictures are far more valuable than words. Guinness certainly gets it and tells an interesting story as it weaves the message together.
Many business leaders are uncertain about the future. What will great marketing look like in the years ahead? Guinness’ spot shows the way.
Marketing works in many ways.
First, it breaks through the clutter. It is visually arresting, surprising and beautiful. After watching it once, I wanted to watch it again. There are no better means of influence or the power of persuasion than emotion. Hands down the best, in our opinion. And enhanced with a great dose of curiosity.
Experiences that trigger our emotions are saved and consolidated in lasting memory because the emotions generated by the experiences signal our brains that the experiences are important to remember.
Second, it has solid branding; it is clear that this is for Guinness and the brand’s personality.
Third, it communicates a benefit. The entire spot revolves around the Guinness commitment to people. It is very clear that Guinness has something special and remarkable that they want to share.
The ad has generated an astonishing amount of buzz and attention. It is engaging, well branded and focused.
The ad was serious and emotional. It is like they left a note that says:
… there will be a seat left open, a light left on, a favorite dinner waiting, a warm bed made…because in your home, in our hearts; you’ve been missed. You’ve been needed, you’ve been cried for, prayed for. You are the reason we push on.
It touches deep emotions about loss and longing. And the spot worked to build the brand; it made people feel proud of Guinness and its values.
Example takeaways
Stories and emotion are the future of great marketing strategy, aren’t they?
Ben and Jerrys marketing strategy examples list.
12 Lessons from Ben and Jerrys Marketing Strategy
Ben and Jerry’s marketing is changing the game of social.
What are your favorite brands? Which ones do you follow closely and learn the most from? When choosing to learn from other marketing successes, it is always helpful to choose great brands to follow. We follow Ben and Jerry’s marketing strategies because of their creativeness and unique approach to customer focus.
Meet Ben and Jerry’s. They have been successfully executing their social marketing strategy and plan since the first days of social media and social commerce. For over 20 years their strategies have played a significant role in their growth.
An introduction to Ben and Jerry’s is unnecessary, isn’t it?
With more than 600 retail locations in 34 countries, the ice cream scoop shop is the picture of success.
Ben and Jerry’s rode the baby boomer trend in the late 1980s, the swelling ranks of mid-age professionals that created the need where people could share and enjoy a unique ice cream dessert with friends and colleagues, away from work and home.
In our opinion, the company has changed the way companies market themselves to customers. Here is how we feel they have been so successful:
Marketing strategy examples … market segmentation
The company has stayed with the upper-scale of the ice cream market, competing on product quality rather than convenience or price, which are the case with its closest competitors. They target customers with high-end ice cream tastes and unique flavors.
Marketing strategy examples list … execution
The company continues to focus on its original product bundle that includes great ice cream, unique flavors, quality service, and a nice environment to hang around. They keep their focus on paying attention to the details of great execution and service.
Social Media
One of the earliest adopters of the use of social media for marketing and social commerce, Ben and Jerry’s has certainly taken a leadership position in social engagement. Their social media strategy is built on its company website and six additional social platforms, including Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, G+, Instagram, and YouTube.
Basic marketing strategies … adaptation and innovation
Ben and Jerry’s have clearly embraced the social realm. With a strong presence on multiple social networks, the brand has set a high bar when it comes to being social and engaging its customers. They are at or near the top of nearly every major brand ranking in social commerce.
Ben and Jerry’s ability to wear so many hats on corporate success, “local” favorite, and Internet sensation warrants close examination.
What makes this company so good at being social and executing a great marketing strategy? And what can it teach us? Here are our thoughts on these questions:
Customer collaboration
Collaboration with customers is used to obtain customer ideas on new flavors. Fans inspired the best-selling Cherry Garcia, Chunky Monkey, and Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough flavors.
Customer relationships
Instead of solely focusing efforts on accumulating new customers, it cultivates its current relationships. This ensures more fans/followers in the long run, as well as the continued existence of brand advocates. This holds true across the board: in-store experiences are highly valued, along with online engagement, emphasizing the importance of customer service.
Interactive customer engagement
Engagement is a high priority for the brand, and they continually look for new ways to collect inputs from customers. A good current example is their ‘Scoop Truck’, which travels around the country giving out free samples of new products and soliciting customer inputs.
They believe in letting customer engagement and conversation occur as naturally as possible. They listen carefully, observe, and apply new ideas from what they learn.
Encourage sharing
Happy customers are eager to share good experiences and offers. For example, frequent promotions garner an extraordinary amount of engagement on social media through comments, “likes,” and shares.
Social mission focus
Ben and Jerry’s brand has always chosen a social mission … to stand for and stand behind. One great example of an issue they got behind was supporting the push to get corporate dollars out of politics … www.getthedoughout.org.
Experience customization
Ben and Jerry’s provides its unique experience through programs such as personalized ice cream flavors and localized store experiences. Their social sites, in particular, Pinterest and Instagram, encourage users to share their Ben and Jerry’s moments’ which are shared on all their social sites.
Taking a stand.
Taking a stand
Giving consumers a charitable reason to buy that ice cream cone or package is beneficial for all. The takeaway from Ben and Jerry’s is to know your customer and tie that in with what matters in the world … so, pay attention to how your brand can fit into trending topics.
Showing customer appreciation
Appreciation for their customers. The lead in a quote to this article from Ben Cohen says it all about their culture and success at showing customers appreciation.
Whether we are discussing businesses that are social, the best at engaging customers, or being great at a social commerce business, there are few businesses in the class of Ben and Jerry’s Ice Cream.
Being social is a core component of Ben and Jerry’s marketing strategy. It is the integrating ingredient of their online and online to traditional marketing/media.
Not all businesses can go to the extent that Ben and Jerry’s does. But they can support local issues and do weekly online promotions to increase customer engagement, gain new customers and convert good customers into advocates.
Lots of ideas here that can be easily replicated … which ones do you feel could benefit your business? How could you improve the Ben and Jerry’s marketing strategy for your business?
Need some help in capturing more customers from your marketing strategies? Creative ideas to help the differentiation with potential customers?
Call today for a FREE consultation or a FREE quote. Learn about some options to scope your job.
Call Mike at 607-725-8240.
All you get is what you bring to the fight. And that fight gets better every day you learn and apply new ideas.
When things are not what you want them to be, what’s most important is your next step. Call today.
Test. Learn. Improve. Repeat.
Are you devoting enough energy to improve your marketing, branding, and advertising?
Do you have a lesson about making your marketing strategy better you can share with this community? Have any questions or comments to add in the section below?
Mike Schoultz is the founder of Digital Spark Marketing, a digital marketing and customer service agency. With 40 years of business experience, he writes about topics that relate to improving the performance of a business. Go to Amazon to obtain a copy of his latest book, Exploring New Age Marketing. It focuses on using the best examples to teach new age marketing … lots to learn. Find them on G+, Twitter, and LinkedIn.
Digital Spark Marketing will stretch your thinking and your ability to adapt to change. We also provide some fun and inspiration along the way. Call us for a free quote today. You will be amazed at how reasonable we will be.
More reading on marketing strategy from Digital Spark Marketing’s Library:
What are your favorite brands? Which ones do you follow closely and learn the most from? When choosing to learn from others’ marketing successes, it is always helpful to choose great brands to follow. We follow Ben and Jerry’s marketing strategies.
Why? because of their creativeness and unique approach to customer focus.
Steve Jobs liked to say that it’s not enough to kill bad ideas, you have to kill good ones too. That’s because the good strategy is about making choices and it takes more than intelligence or even instinct, it takes discipline, one of Jobs’ most overlooked qualities.
Marketing strategy is particularly difficult because, as I’ve noted before, the rules have changed. A generation ago, brands mostly strove to create buzz and “drive awareness,” now they need to build compelling experiences that keep consumers engaged.
However, the old tasks have not gone away. We still need to run TV ads and in-store promotions, man conference booths, and hand out brochures, but now on top of that, we have a whole new world of algorithms, apps, and devices to master.
There is a spiritual aspect to our lives … when we give we receive, when a business does something good for somebody, that somebody feels good about them.
– Ben Cohen
If you want to effectively build your personal brand, you have to center everything around a story.
And not just any story, yourstory.
Meet Ben and Jerrys. They have been successfully executing their social marketing strategy and plan very early in social commerce. For over 20 years their strategies have played a significant role in their growth.
Before we get started, let me ask you a question. Have you ever tried the Ben and Jerrys experiencc? Can you tell us about it in the comments section? We would really appreciate it.
An introduction to Ben and Jerrys is unnecessary, isn’t it?
With more than 600 retail locations in 34 countries, the ice cream scoop shop is the picture of success.
Ben and Jerrys marketing strategies rode the baby boomer trend in the late 1980s. This was during the swelling ranks of mid-age social media professionals. They created the need where people could share and enjoy a unique ice cream dessert with friends and colleagues.
In our opinion, the company has changed the way companies market themselves to customers. Here is how we feel they have been so successful:
Ben and Jerrys marketing strategies market segmentation
The company has stayed with the upper-scale of the ice cream market, competing on product quality rather than convenience or price.
That strategy was the case with its closest competitors. They target customers with high end ice cream tastes and unique flavors.
The company continues to focus on its original product bundle that includes great ice cream, unique flavors, quality service, and a nice environment to hang around.
They keep their focus on paying attention to the details of great execution and service.
Ben and Jerrys marketing with social media
One of the earliest adopters of the use of social media for marketing and social commerce, Ben and Jerry’s has certainly taken a leadership position in social engagement.
Their social media strategy is built around their company web site and 6 additional social platforms, including Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, G+, Instagram, and YouTube.
Ben and Jerry’s have clearly embraced the social realm. With a strong presence on multiple social networks, the brand has set a high bar when it comes to being social and engaging its customers.
They are at or near the top of nearly every major brand ranking in social commerce.
Ben and Jerry’s ability to wear so many hats on corporate success, “local” favorite, and Internet sensation warrants close examination.
Related: Marriott Marketing Makes Customer Experience the Difference Maker
What makes this company so good at being social and executing a great marketing strategy? And what can it teach us? Here are our thoughts on these questions:
Customer collaboration
Collaboration with customers is used to obtain customer ideas on new flavors. Fans inspired the best-selling Cherry Garcia, Chunky Monkey, and Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough flavors.
Customer relationships
Instead of solely focusing efforts on accumulating new customers, it cultivates its current relationships. This ensures more fans/followers in the long run, as well as the continued existence of brand advocates.
This holds true across the board. In-store experiences are highly valued, along with online engagement, emphasizing the importance of customer service.
Interactive customer engagement
Engagement is a high priority for the brand and they continually look for new ways to collect inputs from customers. A good current example is their ‘Scoop Truck’, which travels around the country giving out free samples of new products and soliciting customer inputs.
They believe in letting customer engagement and conversation occur as naturally as possible.
They listen carefully, observe, and apply new ideas from what they learn.
Encourage sharing
Happy customers are eager to share good experiences and offers. For example, frequent promotions garner an extraordinary amount of engagement on social media through comments, “likes,” and shares.
Social mission focus
Ben and Jerry’s brand has always chosen a social mission. A social mission to stand for and stand behind.
One great example of an issue they got behind was supporting the push to get corporate dollars out of politics … www.getthedoughout.org.
Experience customization
Ben and Jerry’s provides its unique experience through programs such as personalized ice cream flavors, and localized store experiences.
Their social sites, in particular Pinterest and Instagram, encourage users to share their Ben and Jerry’s moments’ which are shared on all their social sites.
Giving consumers a charitable reason to buy that ice cream cone or package is beneficial for all.
The takeaway from Ben and Jerry’s is to know your customer and tie that in with what matters in the world.
So, pay attention to how your brand can fit into trending topics.
Showing customer appreciation
Always looking to show appreciation for their customers. The lead in quote to this article from Ben Cohen says it all about their culture and success at showing customers appreciation.
Whether we are discussing businesses that are social, the best at engaging customers, or being great at a social commerce business, there are few businesses in the class of Ben and Jerry’s Ice Cream.
Being social is a core component of Ben and Jerry’s marketing strategies. It is the integrating ingredient of their online and online to traditional marketing/media.
Not all businesses can go to the extent that Ben and Jerry’s does. But they can support local issues and do weekly online promotions to increase customer engagement. Always looking to gain new customers and convert good customers to advocates.
The bottom line
Lots of ideas here that can be easily replicated. Which ones do you feel could benefit your business? How could you improve the Ben and Jerry’s marketing strategy for your business?
Give it a try and show some patience. You will be surprised at how well at works!
Ben and Jerry’s is one of many businesses we can learn from. Please post your comments below, offering questions or your own great examples of social marketing strategies.
Need some help in capturing more customers from your marketing strategies? Creative ideas to help the differentiation with potential customers?
Call today for a FREE consultation or a FREE quote. Learn about some options to scope your job.
Call Mike at 607-725-8240.
All you get is what you bring to the fight. And that fight gets better every day you learn and apply new ideas.
When things are not what you want them to be, what’s most important is your next step. Call today.
Test. Learn. Improve. Repeat.
Are you devoting enough energy improving your marketing, branding, and advertising?
Do you have a lesson about making your marketing strategy better you can share with this community? Have any questions or comments to add in the section below?
Digital Spark Marketing will stretch your thinking and your ability to adapt to change. We also provide some fun and inspiration along the way. Call us for a free quote today. You will be amazed how reasonable we will be.
More reading on marketing strategy from Digital Spark Marketing’s Library:
Mike Schoultz is a digital marketing and customer service expert. With 48 years of business experience, he consults on and writes about topics to help improve the performance of small business. Find him on G+, Facebook, Twitter, Digital Spark Marketing, and LinkedIn.
