Has Digital Finally Brought One-to-One Marketing?

Is One-to-One Marketing Possible?

Customer Relationship Management or CRM is a highly specialized and increasingly important activity for most companies these days. In fact, many agree that branding falls squarely on the shoulders of CRM and this is why top branding agencies ensure that their clients implement one-to-one marketing via an effective CRM. Like every other facet of business and commerce, the digital revolution has affected CRM immensely. There is no doubt about the fact that the internet has made life more impersonal, reducing human contact and this has affected one-to-one marketing.

Advertising and CRM is coming together

Although the internet has improved personalised marketing,  social media networks are now allowing brands to connect with customers on a one to one basis, and are bringing together advertising and customer relationship management. On social media platforms, customers can now air their issues, concerns and opinions about a brand in public. It is the job of smart brand marketing agencies to respond in an interesting manner to customers. For example, some brands have created humorous videos and images in response to unwarranted rants. Feminine products brand Bodyform created an hilarious spoof video in response to a dismissive and slightly sexist comment from a Facebook user.

Their video went viral and got the brand major attention on the Internet. This works not only to help advertise the brand and to respond politely to a customer, but also allow it to be seen as fun and engaging. The fact that such videos and images often go viral helps market the brand to a much larger social media user base. Take for example, Oreo’s advertisement related to gay pride where the brand took a stand on the issue of gay rights getting a lot of appreciation from customers. Old Spice decided to ask customers to create response videos to their ad and the Old Spice man even responded to fan requests.

Everything is public

Privacy is a thing of the past in this digital era. In the days before the Internet, customers would send letters to brands voicing their opinions, congratulations and even complaints and no one else would be the wiser. Now customers post everything on social media platforms for everyone else to see. If a customer has left a good review, it can have a very positive impact on the brand. On the other hand, negative comments can influence many others too. One-to-one marketing and CRM is now out there for everyone to see and judge

Building brand loyalty is now easier

One of the main concerns of a brand marketing strategy is to build brand loyalty. Digital developments have made it easier to build brand loyalty as brands can reach a wide audience through positive word of mouth . The down side is that bad press travels much faster through the same mechanism. Top branding agencies must be in tune with the digital world at all times to manage the reputation of the brand and to nip bad press in the bud and build on the good. However, with the help of social media and content marketing and with the right kind of content, building brand loyalty is now more manageable and achievable for companies both large and small.

About the Author

Mark Buckingham is a partner with Mark 2 Creative; a dynamic Sydney based integrated marketing agency. We are experts in branding and digital delivery, and are able to seamlessly merge the two disciplines together to deliver cutting edge solutions that set us apart from the competition. Our imaginative and innovative approach provides our clients with a real presence in their marketplace that gives them exactly what they need from their marketing – more business.

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