The ultimate objective of marketing is to drive customer purchases.
But how do we effectively create buyer behavior? The landscape of marketing has evolved through two distinct phases: the era of product marketing (often referred to as brand marketing) and the channel marketing phase.
Product marketing focuses on establishing a robust brand presence, enhancing the product's influence on consumers, and thereby solidifying their purchasing decisionsOn the other hand, channel marketing revolves around broad market outreach, creating numerous purchasing touchpoints to satisfy consumer demands.
It's imperative to understand that every marketing strategy is predicated on specific environmental factors and contextual conditions.
In the traditional marketing paradigm, consumers were not a direct element that businesses could controlTherefore, employing product and brand marketing techniques along with choosing effective channel strategies became the optimal method for engaging customers.
However, it is crucial to emphasize that the singular goal of marketing remains the creation of customer purchases.
Moreover, it’s vital to recognize that value for companies is generated not by their products but by their customersWhile sales revolve around products, it is ultimately customer purchases that translate into economic value for businesses.
Another essential insight is that in evaluating marketing effectiveness, it's often the case that 20% of valuable customers contribute to 80% of the overall economic value.
The development of internet technology has paved the way for a new phase of marketing, known as customer marketingThis advancement allows businesses to transition from targeting a vast, unmanageable consumer base to effectively connecting, managing, and operating within this spaceThus, establishing sufficient conditions for this shift to unfold.
Traditional brand and channel marketing approaches have displayed significant flaws largely due to their "mass-production" mentality, which often results in the inability to accurately identify valuable customers
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This conventional strategy largely deploys bulk marketing tactics that may inadvertently alienate those customers deemed essential to the company's financial success.
Currently, many businesses are facing the critical issue of customer attrition, especially among valuable clients, and this trend can undeniably be linked back to these outdated mass-marketing strategies.
The Chinese consumer market, for example, has witnessed extraordinarily rapid growth, resulting in a pronounced phenomenon of supply surplusConsequently, customers have emerged as the most scarce and pivotal resource in contemporary marketing efforts.
Thus, marketing strategies must swiftly adapt in response to market evolution, environmental shifts, and technological advancements, transitioning from the traditional marketing era into the age of customer-centric marketing.
The shift to customer marketing does not mean completely dismissing earlier phases of product and channel marketingInstead, it involves leveraging technological innovations that facilitate marketing transformation while blending the strengths of traditional methods to create a new system centered around customer engagement.
Within this customer-centric marketing framework, consumers take precedence, while products and brands are reconceived as tools designed to engage and sell to customersChannel marketing must also adapt to reflect the characteristics of a multichannel marketplace, requiring a reconstruction of its integrated channel systems.
Establishing a customer marketing framework necessitates the development of four essential systems:
– Creating a customer connection system:
In light of a market characterized by over-supply, where customers become the most coveted asset, businesses that lack effective methods to identify and connect with target customers are at a severe disadvantage.
Traditional approaches to product, brand, and channel marketing have proven inadequate in achieving the goal of customer acquisition and engagement.
So, how can we meet this new marketing objective?
On one hand, businesses should continue employing conventional product and brand marketing strategies to influence potential customers
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However, the core requirement is to utilize contemporary internet-based connection methods and new communication avenues to engage customers more effectivelyThis involves seeking out more target customers through innovative connections and modern dissemination techniques, establishing a robust customer base.
While traditional brand development and point-of-sale strategies remain important, relying solely on these methods is insufficient in contemporary contextsOrganizations must pursue additional effective strategies that facilitate customer engagement.
For instance, consider KFC's initiative, “Exploring KFC APP is More Fun,” which exemplifies how a brand can leverage app-based features to engage customers more deeply through richer and more interactive contentUtilizing channels like video live streams and social media content can further enhance customer impact, fostering more vibrant interactions and stronger customer ties.
Today, whether through traditional branding or channel outreach, establishing customer connections is paramountOnly by effectively linking with customers can organizations optimize their customer management, unearth valuable segments, and mitigate customer attrition.
Faced with a shrinking customer base and resource scarcity, businesses must swiftly implement systems to identify, connect, and engage customers effectively.
– Developing a product system that meets the demands of target customers:
Success in customer relations hinges on the creation of a product system that addresses the specific needs of target consumers, formulating effective marketing strategies that resonate with their preferences.
Customers are primarily driven by products; thus, a product system that meets their varied needs is more likely to capture their interest and secure their loyalty.
In today’s diverse market landscape, companies must focus on customer-centric product development, building product systems that cater to multiple consumer scenarios for a more personalized offering.
With a plethora of choices available, customers increasingly focus on products that address their pain points
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Effectively addressing these needs can indeed sway customer decisions.
In a market bursting with options, businesses must shift their focus from product-centric thinking to customer demand logic, exploring innovative paths to growth by investigating the multi-scenario needs of their target customers.
Building on this foundation, companies need to align their product strategy with suitable marketing tactics.
A comprehensive marketing strategy involves assigning distinct roles to various product categories within the company's portfolio, enabling a more tailored marketing approach that effectively drives customer purchases.
For instance, some products may be designed to catalyze customer engagement, while others serve to stabilize customer relationships or prevent churnSome products may drive sales volume, while others are more about profitability.
In this customer marketing era, a strategically composed product marketing framework targeting specific customer segments is vital and remains an area many companies urgently need to address.
This framework is no longer characterized by simplistic pricing strategies but requires a nuanced approach tailored to the operational needs of the target customers, with the ultimate goal of maximizing brand influence and stability while enhancing customer value.
– Establishing a transaction system that caters to comprehensive customer purchasing methods:
China has evolved into a quintessential multichannel marketRecent market trends reveal a contraction in offline sales while online platforms continue to experience robust growth.
From the perspective of customer marketing, creating an omnichannel transaction system is essential to aligning with the purchasing habits of modern Chinese consumers, effectively fulfilling their diverse buying needs.
Establishing such an omnichannel framework hinges not on the question of whether to pursue it, but rather how to effectively integrate online and offline approaches within a cohesive strategy.
It is critical to maintain a unified omnichannel model that seamlessly merges offline and online operations
The ongoing struggle between these two sales avenues could lead to strategic misalignments.
Current market trends suggest that an online-first model will likely be the most effective approach moving forward.
As consumers increasingly embrace internet-centered lifestyles, and with businesses adapting to online operational models, future transaction models will undoubtedly gravitate towards online interactions.
In light of this transformation, the evolution of customer marketing must pivot toward an online-focused transaction strategy for establishing a contemporary customer marketing frameworkEven in offline settings, the shift towards an online operating model must be incorporated.
Creating a successful omnichannel transaction system requires attention to two primary aspects:
Firstly, a unified online transaction platform for the enterprise.
Secondly, a consolidated delivery system based on omnichannel principlesThis unified delivery channel should utilize an “integrated inventory + drop shipping (e-commerce at home) + rapid delivery (instant retail)” model to meet the diverse buying scenarios of target consumers.
– Cultivating a customer operation system targeting valuable consumers:
The crux of establishing a new customer marketing framework lies in customer managementThis approach is grounded in the premise of creating value through marketing and aims to optimize the structure of key customers within the overall marketing framework.
In the customer marketing age, generating significant economic value from key consumer bases constitutes the primary objectiveAccording to the Pareto principle, 20% of customers will yield 80% of economic value, serving as a key metric for evaluating the success of customer marketing strategies.
Customer marketing primarily focuses on the cultivation of long-term, valuable customer relationships, contrasting starkly with traditional points-based loyalty programs that center on immediate transactions.
The aim here is to robustly foster the stability of valuable customer segments, transforming them into enduring patrons.
Effective customer marketing strategies seek to provide superior value to target segments by creating exceptional worth beyond that offered to typical customers, thus ensuring both economic benefits for consumers and stable revenues for companies.
To establish a customer marketing framework, businesses must dismantle the conventions of traditional brand and channel-centric systems—including marketing and pricing structures—rebuilding around a client-centric model that encompasses a fresh framework for profit allocation.
Transitioning to a new customer marketing methodology is imperative for companies to stay competitive.
In the future marketplace, those who cultivate extensive customer connections will dominate.
Ultimately, businesses that excel in customer marketing will emerge as the future champions of the marketing realm.
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