It's not just your company that needs to respond to the changing times - it's also your marketing. Are you using the Internet and associated web-based tools as an integral part of promoting and selling your goods/services and generating new clients?
From the marketing perspective the Internet is invaluable. It provides the ability to:
- give increased exposure to your brand name (local/regional/global)
- manage how/when and where the message is distributed
- target information to specific audiences
- measure how an audience interacts with information about your company
- collect (and analyse) market intelligence
- benchmark your company against your competition
- add value to your offerings
- customise your goods/services to the needs of your clients (for not a lot of additional expense).
Why is this important?Today's customers are increasingly demanding that a company works to what THEY want (and not vice versa). I know, I know - it can be irritating (!) but if you want to be successful you have to adjust.
Let's take a non-thoroughbred example. The world's largest search engine - Yahoo! By shifting their business to a competitor customers basically told Yahoo! that they didn't want to be told what to look at on a search page. These educated web users [18 - 40 years old] (many of the same people who buy your services by the way - or who will buy in the future) demanded an increased sense of autonomy. It was no different to someone learning to drive a car. We all get the run-down family vehicle when we start out (in case we accidentally swipe the garage door or decimate the front garden). After a number of years we can drive (well, in an ideal world ...) and we want a car that we feel matches our personality and preferences. Customers are no different. The Internet is not new. Most people in the mid-late 30's have been using it for at least 10 years. They're sick of the 'family car' approach to the technology and companies who treat them like they're learning to drive. They want tailored offerings.
Yahoo listened (clever company). You can now customise your home page to show whatever content you choose. You'd probably be surprised if you saw my Yahoo search page - not a weather forecast, stock exchange message, fashion or travel bargain in sight - rather syndicated news feeds from all major thoroughbred sites around the world, content feeds from seven weblogs I track in the States, local news, currency fluctuations, 3 photos of my horses (and for something light I even get to choose my favourite comics - I just choose for them to appear at the bottom of the page).
That's autonomy.
In future years I have absolutely no doubt that I will also be able to customise what advertisements I see on the web pages I view - something the large scale channel marketing companies such as Overture and Google have already made massive inroads into. In fact, I may even be able to pay a premium for not seeing ads at all if that is what I prefer.
The message in all of this is that too many clients are not keeping abreast of changes in the business world and, as a result, continue to rely solely on traditional marketing methods. The traditional approach (magazine ads, the occasional event sponsorship, uniforms for staff at yearling sales, one or two press releases, a brochure and sales letter certainly have their value and I'm not in any way suggesting you cease using them but, in isolation, they won't maximise your returns.) There are quite simply too many people competing for market share. A savvy web campaign in addition to your traditional marketing tools will allow you to explore and promote your differentiators.
Your marketing has to come of age if you are serious about competing. A marketing approach that does not correctly harness the Internet (and I'm talking about more than just a web site) is synonymous to someone standing in a huge marketplace and whispering what their offering is. You'd probably laugh if you saw someone doing it - but in reality - is what you're doing with your current marketing efforts really any different?
