I was listening to a Alan Hart marketing podcast recently when in a discussion with Amy Fuller, Chief Marketing Officer with Accenture Worldwide Amy mentioned the term “post digital” and suggested that digital interactions are now functional business activities, and that a return to the fundamental concepts of marketing can only benefit organisations.
For those of you who aren’t familiar with the core concepts of marketing – even though you may well have heard of the “4P’s” of Product, Price, Promotion and Place, or indeed the “4C’s” of Customer Value, Cost, Convenience and Communication – it is about identifying the most profitable target audiences for a business and delivering products and services to those groups in a way that delivers satisfaction to the buyer and profits for the business.
Even though the world has moved on a lot over the last twenty years or so – with the onset of digital in all its guises – the fundamentals are still the same.
Successful marketing execution is fundamentally based on the following key actions:
- Market Research
- Strategy
- Positioning (how your business is perceived by potential customers)
- Implementation
- Feedback
Of course, there is a whole lot more to each of these headings – but as a pathway to success for any business, manufacturing or service, this is the route to a carefully controlled, measurable way to build a brand/business for the long term.
So many businesses these days think that by simply spending their hard earned money on Google, Facebook, Instagram etc. that they are on the road to sure fired success.
While there is no denying the benefits that digital exposure can bring to many businesses, it is a more prudent and sensible approach to adopt a clearly defined marketing/communications approach so that the reasons for your spending decisions are well researched, offer value for money and are measurable.
If we truly are in that post-digital space it can only benefit businesses as it encourages a stronger focus on a business and on implementing the tried and tested marketing techniques that have delivered successful results for businesses large and small for over 75 years.
