Significant shifts in society, accelerated by the internet, have meant that customers are getting better and better at not listening to polished marketing promises, so how can customers not listening to you be good news for marketers?

It’s because according to Nielsen (Global Online Consumer Survey, 2009) research, 35% more people trust the recommendations of friends than trust radio adverts.  Even 15% more people trust the opinions of strangers!  Therefore the thousands of customers-turned-salespeople which good businesses generate mathematically outweigh even the most impressive marketing budgets of companies with massive wallets and no advocates.

We have stopped trusting big business and started trusting “people like me”.  The comment, recommendation, endorsement, or anti-endorsement of a friend, or even a complete stranger, means more to us now than the words and promises of big business.  And nowhere is this more true than online, where the view of “people like me” is more easily found than ever before.

The quintessential bad day? Let down by your telecoms company and jeans just too short for your boxers.

Consider the plight of Verizon and their beleaguered marketing department seeking to communicate to America how the organisation is being true to its mission and why that matters to its customers.

“As a leader in communications, Verizon’s mission is to enable people and businesses to communicate with each other. We are also committed to providing full and open communication with our customers, employees and investors.”

Lofty stuff.

However their customers know that their bills are impossible to decipher, compulsory data plans are punishing, dropped calls are maddening, and customer care is not advisable for pregnant women and those of a delicate medical disposition.  And there’s not a damn thing the Verizon marketing team can do about it.  The only way Verizon can improve its marketing is for Verizon to improve its business.

It’s no longer just a cliché that your business is your marketing.

The Google search “Verizon Sucks” has over 17,000 results, “I Hate Verizon” has more than 7,500.  They are the fifth most hated brand online according to Less Everything.  That’s at least 22,500 “people like me” who are influencing what I think of Verizon.  It’s going to take a lot of marketing consultants, a lake of cappuccino, and an unthinkable amount of smiley facey stock photography for me to ignore what they’re saying to swallow the corporate line.

Struggling to work out how to hold both the tick and the briefcase.

None of this has gone unnoticed by the clever people at Google.  Their unquenchable obsession for relevancy has meant that in recent years, on top of their regular search results they have more closely integrated local search, social search, video search and image search.

Performing well on Google over its first ten years required an ability to identify key phrases, and simulate popularity via inbound link building.  As Google’s big brother department gets its paws on more and more data related to what our customers actually think of us, our online reputation will have an increasing impact on our search engine performance.  Simply put, what our customers say about us on UGC platforms will be more important than the number of inbound links to your website.

It’s official, the days of running a second rate business and papering over the cracks with first rate marketing are over forever.

It’s clear to everyone involved in the world of communications that we are experiencing consumer behaviour change at a staggering rate.  Intuitively we know that things aren’t as they were.

On a technical level intelligent mobile devices, faster internet access, cheaper hardware, an ever improving web and the social media revolution have all been catalysts for change.  Societal upheaval has complemented this, as trust in big business has never been under greater threat, and traditional religious and class influences are weakening on a monthly basis.

Angry Customer - grrrrrrr!

This has led to a cynical, marketing-proof, knowledgeable consumer, confident and armed with independent thought.

How have we as marketers reacted to this change?

Therein lies the rub, as there has been no consistent response to the new opportunities brought about by changing consumer behaviour.  Too quickly we have rushed to our comfort zones, too often (though not exclusively) along generational lines.  It seems the new generation of marketing executives fresh out of college overvalue online communication, particularly social media, and are too quick to dismiss offline communications out of hand.  At the other end of the professional generational spectrum, groups of battle hardened senior managers, who have been through too many fads to believe the latest one, have neither the patience nor the inclination to listen too carefully to the hyperbole laden promises of online marketing.

Evidently neither party is correct.

Companies who have grasped the opportunity this change brings have implemented a vision which ensures that the senior management are challenged to think about the power of digital marketing, and fresh eager young executives are given clear guidelines and targets around how their online marketing activity fits wider marketing and commercial goals.  In short, senior and junior staff are united, not divided, by a common language.

Used to its fullest potential, the ability to integrate online and offline marketing correctly is the most exciting opportunity we’ve had in years to influence consumers at all levels.

Woolly cardie, slippers and tank top nowhere to be seen?

Proof, were it needed, that offline marketing is alive and well, is the new 90 second M&S advert featuring the fabulous five – Dannii Minogue, Ana Beatriz Barros, VV Brown, Lisa Snowdon and Twiggy.  It’s stylish, sassy, sexy, confident and dramatic; a good old fashioned above the line campaign to influence consumer perceptions and challenge the notion of M&S as frumpy and dated.

Unsurprisingly it has generated a significant amount of comment online, particularly on social media and discussion forums, not all of which are commending its stylishness and fabulous production values.  Ranking high in Google are forums and blogs containing comments such as “But these are not just clothes, these are M&S finest quality cardies and slippers” and “This is not just a tank top, this is an M&S tank top”.

What a massive opportunity for M&S marketing people to listen, engage, respond to and challenge preconceptions online to complement the offline above the line showcase advert.  When M&S, and others like them, embrace the huge opportunity this affords, we can put foolish talk of the death of offline marketing behind us, and look forward to a new more integrated future.

Advocates and fans talk about best of breed products and services enthusiastically. This is why Google need not advertise their search engine while Microsoft spends $100M on another attempt to challenge Google.  It is why Belfast’s Mourne Seafood Bar fills every evening without advertising while the mediocre competition try to lure a crowd with ads in local fashion magazines or price incentives.

The story of the tomato sells better than the taste

Creating a conversation or story is the best way to spread a message.  A restaurant that interviews the local tomato supplier and pushes the story out in their email campaign and social networks will create a conversation.  The truck sales man that explains how his customer Frank saved money by using less fuel in a long haul run from London will create a conversation.  The bank that thanks their student account holders for their business while in education instead of just sending them data (such as bank statements and flyers), will cause a conversation.  All of these conversations are great adverts that spread.

I think Jeff’s point is that the less conversation-worthy the product or service is, the higher the advertising budget needed to compensate.

Out of the 10,000 readers, it is a proven statistic that if you are really lucky and your ad really connects with the reader then 7% of the readers will remember your ad.  That means 700 have acknowledged the ad.  Out of those 700, 5% may follow the call to action and call you.  That is 35 possible enquires.  Remember this is just 35 phone calls; the customer still has yet to buy your product or service.

So what have you bought here?  You have bought the attention of 35 people for £700.  That’s £20 per person attention.  So the question then turns, how much would you pay to gain the permission of a potentially interested customer, get their email address and market to them multiple times? 

The moral of this tale is that having permission to market to a customer and having their email address or following on twitter/Facebook/Bebo is of massive value and a privilege worth many thousands of marketing pounds.