MARKETING
That almost sounds like
dating.
"YOU CAN
ADVERTISE
ON SO MANY
SITES, SO MANY
PLATFORMS,
YOU WANT TO
BE SELECTIVE.
IT'S NOT WANT,
YOU NEED TO BE
SELECTIVE."
44
FEBRUARY 2016
"Absolutely it is. There's a
huge correlation. As marketers,
we're matchmakers. There's
a brand that has all of these
attributes, and there's a buyer
who has all of these needs.
And it's about setting them
up. We would never tell a
company: 'Go ask this person
to marry you on the first date.'
It has to be incremental. It has
to be conversational. It has to
be based on genuine facts.
If you look at the dark days
of advertising, you could get
away with that. Because there
was no social media and there
was no Internet. In the digital
era, if you're dishonest, you'll
be discovered."
Let's jump back to what you
were talking about with
behavior-based marketing.
How, exactly, does that work
with respect to your Otter Tail
customers?
"So you think about, okay,
who would be most interested
in a conservation program?
What websites are they going
to? What are they interacting
with? By tracking based on
behaviors, you're going to find
pockets of audiences. This is
an important shift. One, you're
going to spend less money
trying to find these people. And
two, you're going to be able
to get a greater conversion
because you've aligned with
how they already think or what
they already support. They're
already picking up what you're
laying down. You can advertise
on so many sites, so many
platforms, you want to be
selective. It's not want, you
NEED to be selective."
Does this force you to view
customers in a different way
than you used to?
"We can't think of them
demographically anymore.
And we shouldn't be. We
have the tools and metrics
to stop looking at customers
like census data. Instead, let's
focus on behaviors. It's kind
of elegant in how, not looking
at demographic information,
solely, tears down a lot of
stereotypes. We're not looking
at people based on gender. It
doesn't matter your gender,
it doesn't matter your age, it
doesn't matter your education
level, it doesn't matter how
much money you make. It
doesn't matter what you look
like or where you're from. It's,