Online chat – how to understand and engage with consumers
Nima Yassini, head of digital at RMG Connect, looks at the things marketers should – and shouldn’t – be doing to understand and engage with consumers online…
Understanding consumers has always been a vital part of any marketing campaign, as you can only start to build effective and targeted communications when you have a thorough and informed understanding of your audience. Without knowing how your consumers, think, behave and judge brands, it is impossible to engage with them in a way that will entice them to buy and persuade them to stay. Consumers have become increasingly savvy in recent years, and are not easily fooled by marketing ‘tricks’ and gimmicks. In order to win over today’s consumer, it’s vital to connect with them personally, show that you understand what they are driven by and ultimately, deliver them what they want.
So how do we go about gaining this level of insight into consumers and using it to build successful marketing programmes? The first step is to try and remove ourselves as much as possible from the sales process. Consumers know when they are being sold to and are likely to reject anything they see as blatant sales immediately and without hope of regaining their trust. We now live in a world where there are a host of opportunities for brands to establish their own personality and interact with audiences relevant to that persona. However, we must be careful with these opportunities; this abundance of opportunity is a double edged sword and if we even hint at stepping over the line into breaching privacy, then we risk losing the custom and the respect of these consumers, perhaps forever.
The key to striking a balance is to act not as marketers, and not as friends, but somewhere in between. If brands try and act too ‘pally’ with their target audience, then they are seen through straight away; it’s a desperate attempt to buddy up with people when actually, you are offering them a product or service to buy. The solution is to create and maintain a dialogue where brands can be open and honest about what they are offering, but also personalise this connection with consumers so that they feel the brand has taken the time and effort to understand how their habits and needs differ from their next door neighbour or their work colleague. Once this fine balance has been achieved, then relationships can be built, and both the consumer and the brand start to benefit and gain from the situation.
The capability of web 2.0 and the social nature of the online environment allows for a more personal interaction with consumers: never before have we had the chance to experience the ‘coffee table conversation’ with our audience, and now that we have this chance, we need to manage it carefully and make the most of it.
It’s essential to balance this conversational approach with a solid objective for the brand; after all, social marketing is not just about sales but growing a business in terms of capability and information. For example, Dell has mastered this technique by creating forums which act as both chat facilities and idea factories. The forums allow consumers to interact not only with each other, but to contribute ideas and suggestions which actively add to the product development process for Dell. The result is a useful and enjoyable experience for consumers, and true insight for the brand, as they can learn not only how consumers interact online but also what they really feel about the services Dell is providing.
Once a balanced online platform for communication has been established, brands can begin to research their audience. Asking the right questions, and being prepared to listen to the answers, can work in many ways; it establishes trust with the consumer but also allows for the brand to learn vital truths about the way their target market perceives them and their offering.
What are the golden rules for getting it right?
1. Use online research and communication alongside data analysis. Open dialogue does not always guarantee a direct or truthful answer, but if answers are compared and contrasted to behavioural analysis of peoples’ browsing habits and frequency of purchase data, then a more insightful picture begins to build up, and the truth comes out.
2. Make sure your user group is a good cross section of your audience. Ages, gender, social situation and type of job can all impact on behaviour and choices and it’s vital you have a wide range of participants.
3. Keep online research broad and open. If people are too restricted, and they are directed to narrow questions, then they will feel obliged to give perfunctory, clipped answers. If they are allowed to openly express their thoughts, interact with others and explore a topic, they can take the dialogue where they want to take it.
4. Planning is key. Conducting this kind of research needs a huge amount of preparation and it’s important you know before you start who you want to talk to and what about – visualise the journey of the research before you begin.
5. As well as taking on board and probing positive comments, be open to negative feedback. When conducting any kind of research into how you are perceived as a brand, people will say things you don’t like, but you must be ready for this, and then investigate and fix the problems.
And the common pitfalls for getting it wrong?
1. The mistake many brands make is collaborating and interacting at the start of a campaign, and then dropping off or scaling back, giving the impression that you are no longer interested once you have the information you want. Keeping the dialogue going with consumers is hugely valuable, and will ensure that you keep the consumers’ trust.
2. Not being open and honest about who you are and what you are doing. It’s essential that consumers know what they are being asked and for what reasons. If not, they are not likely to open up and you will not get the answers you are looking for.