Commerce in a Content Forward World; Will Modern Business Communication Bring an End to Traditional Marketing?
In today’s content forward world, if you are not sharing important, intelligent and insightful information with your business audience, dynamically and interactively — You have yet to arrive at the party. If you have not revamped your approach to marketing and advertising your business this year — you are probably missing a significant % of your market share. Let’s take a quick look at how consumers’ generational trends are changing the way people purchase — and feel about commerce.
Gen X
Gen X, largely thought of as those between 36–51 years old, carries most of the purchasing power today. Making up 25% of the population and producing 31% of the total US income, this group prefers ‘honest and clear product and marketing messages that outline an obvious path-to-purchase’. Gen X likes to conduct on-line research at home and then shop in person.
Although it can be argued that Gen X is the world’s ‘decision makers’ as far as household spend, it is very important to understand what influences them. And to a large degree — its their kids!! Yup — a whopping 93% of parents say their ‘children influence family spending and household purchases’. Yup — you guessed it. The kids, Gen Z, 2–17 years old, are in many cases — pulling the purse strings — so it’s important to know what they are looking for.
Zzzzzzzzzzzzz
Gen Zers are a unique breed in that they have never known a world without the Internet. Think about that. Their behavior is already vastly different than their predecessors, proof of which is Gen Z spends twice as much time on their phones as Millennial. So how does this affect their purchasing patterns? An incredible 80% of purchases by this generation are influenced by social media. 80%! If you are not adapting to new trends in business marketing, your business will struggle to keep pace in a digital, social world.
It’s all about the Millennials
Millennials. Commonly thought of as being between the ages of 18–35 years old, this cohort is the largest group in the work force and now commands a spending budget of more than $600 Billion a year. Many feel Millennial demands are ‘reinventing the commerce landscape’. 33% of Millennials rely on blogs before making a purchase and eight out of 10 millennials never buy anything without reading a review first. This important consumer generation values authenticity above all else and is deeply suspicious of being ‘sold to’ by brands. On the other hand, if you can establish a relationship with this sector — they tend to be extremely loyal.
Millennials are willing to pay extra to do business with an entity they trust. Millenials are 50% more apt to purchase from a company that supports a cause. The way in which you engage this group also matters. 62% of Millennials say that if a brand engages with them on their social media, they are more likely to become a loyal customer.
But…This Says It All
For me the following stat says it all — “1% of Millennials are influenced by traditional ads alone”. Only One Percent!! Millennials, who are currently setting the trends for power purchasing, want more information and insights than traditional ads offer. So, going forward, if your business is not present on social media, you have a serious business problem. And if you are not showing up as relatable, helpful and trustworthy — you have an even bigger one.
So What Do We Do Now?
So the stats say it best. Folks are nonplussed when it comes to traditional ads. Consumers are demanding more from the companies they do business with. They want a peer-to-peer experience. They want to feel the people at the brands they interact with are transparent, respectful, relatable. They expect helpful, relevant information and they want that information delivered to them digitally, over the channels they prefer. How can companies begin to rethink and redesign traditional marketing and advertising behaviors to compete in a whole new world?
Where to Start…1, 2, 3
1) Strategy Session
Companies must begin from the beginning, with a Business Communications Strategy Session. During this session with leadership, participants clarify mission, describe differentiators and decide who they are now — and who they want to become. The culmination of this session should be a well-articulated Business Communications Strategy. The strategy should outline Thought Leadership storylines, the ideal occurrence for content to be published, desired audience and social media outlet channels, as well as ultimate goals for the program.
2) Content Creation
Innovation needs support. The key to producing consistent, quality content is a structured approach to creation. It’s imperative to set a plan in motion for the program — and stick to it. Through close work with Subject Matter Experts, a content team must decide the best market storylines given happenings in today’s marketplace.
A content calendar should be produced and populated with the tasks necessary to ensure continued, quality content creation. Content teams should support authors in progressing from ideation to publication by moving through a repeatable process, which includes interviews, research, copy writing, editing and design. The goal of a successful content team should be to allow the author to share their unique commentary on the market — with the market — in the absolute easiest way possible.
3) Sharing Strategies
Creating great content is only half of the battle in modernizing your marketing approaches. The other half is your sharing strategies. Don’t be naïve enough to think that potential customers are going to come in flocks to your company’s web-site. They may not. A better strategy is to consistently be looking for ways to get into conversation with your constituency where they go for information — and that means Social Listening.
Team members should be devoting time to understanding the digital conversations going on in the intended marketplace. This means learning from industry web-sites, media professionals, influencers, communities, professionals — any individual or group that will help the team understand current trends, concerns and challenges. The goal here is to build a far-reaching base of industry participants and engage them in a whole new type of symbiotic commercial relationship.
How can The Content Corp Help?
• The Content Corp is happy to offer (pro bono) an initial Brainstorming session with your business to discuss the design of a Communications Strategy
• The Content Corp welcomes the opportunity to work with your company to produce your first feature article — for 30% off!
• The Content Corp will team with your company to structure a social media sharing strategy to ensure maximum reach for your content.
Listed in the appendix of the accompanying presentation is a list of our various services. Please do not hesitate to reach out to us directly at;
Bethel M. Desmond
Founder — The Content Corp
917 414 1611
