PR TIMES AFRICA PR TIMES AFRICA Magazine june 2015 | Page 7

BRAND
ADVOCATES
4 reasons marketers should focus on
A
s the rate of change in
technology and
communication continues
to accelerate, brands are realizing
the need to reach their prospects
at the right place and at the right
time. And their message must be
powerful and compelling.
Through my 30 years in sales and
sales management, and as a
business owner, I have been an
ardent student of marketing, lead
generation, and customer
acquisition. And I believe that
marketing channels have gone
through two major phases and are
now entering a third phase.
The first phase was
characterized by reaching out to
potential prospects via the
traditional methods of radio, TV,
and print. Those channels
communicated only one way---
brand to consumer---meaning that
the brand defined how their
customers and prospects viewed
them.
The problem with this one-way
“dialogue” was that these
channels could not produce
PR TIMES AFRICA
results that could be measured
with any accuracy. It was hard to
attribute a sale to specific
advertising, hence the adage:
Only half of our advertising
works; we just aren't sure which
half. (And we actually know it's
far less than half that "works.")
The advent of the digital world
changed everything and caused a
sea change. The advertising
spends quickly started to shift
from traditional channels into the
digital channels, which is still the
trend today. accessible information. The path
to purchase changed dramatically;
by the time a consumer was ready
to buy, the brand often hadn't had
a say in the matter at all.
The second phase is
characterized by two-way
communications and the ability to
more effectively track and
measure success relative to phase
one. But because the digital
domain is two-way, consumers
familiar with the brand were able
to share their perspectives about
the brand's products with their
networks and other consumers
looking for information.
Prospects were then able to make
informed purchases based upon
this readily available and easily The third phase of marketing
channels is still in process. It is
becoming apparent that because
advocacy is so important, brands
need strategies and systems to
generate, track, and manage it.
They have no choice but to
mobilize their customers,
employees, and influencers, and
turn them into highly productive
and powerful sales and marketing
channels.
And there are many reasons why
the advocacy channel is a critical
channel to build.
VOL 1. JULY 2015
1ST EDITION
A brand could no longer define
itself by what they chose to tell
consumers; consumers defined a
brand by what they told each
other. Advocacy became a
centerpiece in the new path to
purchase.
Now Entering Phase Three:
Advocacy
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