• How-to

Gone are the days when marketers felt ‘safe’ being seen in traditional forms of media. The latest digital wave has opened new doors.

Today, there’s a glaring need for companies to stay with the times—to feel the pulse and ride the new digital wave. Of course, the priority continues to be capturing eyeballs and increasing footfalls to your digital properties, but with innovative ideas and new solutions. Conversational marketing, social media marketing and mobiles are some of the newer ways to connect with a rapidly changing consumer profile.

In the age of bottom-up consumerism, here are a few tips to get noticed.

Make yourself accessible
Sidharth Rao, CEO & Co-founder, Webchutney, says one should engage in live conversation with consumers. “Emotion powers conversation,” says Rao. “Respond to change—blog, become your own media, and loosen up. Don’t launch and walk away; instead, the take time to wait for responses and build an ongoing interaction. In today’s market, consumers are looking for a ‘culture of rapid response’, a personal touch that goes beyond mere buying/selling constraints.”

The Lenovo Social website turns the typical product experience into a unique, interpersonal engagement with the brand by promoting a philosophy of “Everything human is social.” The Lenovoforums and Lenovoblogs provide users a platform to discuss and share their experiences and influence each other regarding product buys and features. It is a good case in point to witness the shift in today’s marketing landscape, where consumers are becoming brand evangelists on the digital platform.

Engage and evolve
Lose the frippery and adopt Web 2.0. Rao believes that one should keep it simple and real. “Plug into social media and become the platform to excite and engage your customers,” he suggests. “Twitter, the leading microblogging company, offers users the opportunity to answer the ever-so-pertinent question of ‘What are you doing right now?’ in 140 characters. With more than 3 million users signed on, a platform like this can help bring about transparency to a company’s decisions like never before.”

Dell, for example, utilized interactive social platforms to address its abysmal popularity on the web. It evolved to a new level of customer feedback and troubleshooting services with its Ideastorm campaign. In a three-year progression (2005-2008), unfavorable comments on the web reduced by staggering numbers. That’s the power of going social!

Go Viral
According to Rao, viral campaigns ‘work’ the internet to provide exposure via peer-to-peer endorsement. Viral campaigns are lucrative when original, creative and unique. Besides, it’s easier on the marketing dollar when compared to traditional media.

Explore Mobile
Mobile penetration in India is almost twice that of other digital media, with a unique mix of 363 million wireless consumers that cuts across the urban-rural divide. And the numbers are increasing daily. “The mobile web platform promises to redefine the Indian digital space like never before. So integrate mobile with your web strategy. Don’t generalize interactions; instead, personalize with tailor–made solutions to meet the demands of specific target groups,” Rao says.

Culturemafia recently ran an SMS blast campaign on behalf of a prominent liquor brand to reach out to consumers for a promotional event. The text messages served as an RSVP and succeeded in driving traffic to the brand’s WAP site. This generated massive traction for the event and encouraged consumers to engage themselves with the brand.

Moreover, as this emerging medium involves a fraction of marketing costs compared to traditional media, companies have a huge incentive to go the mobile way. And considering the opportunities it provides to engage with consumers, here’s a medium that’s fast becoming man’s new best friend.

Tags:
Blog, Dell, internet, Lenovo, mobile, tips to get noticed on the internet, tips to get noticed on the web