Digital marketing and the consumer of the future

For many companies, 2020 is a symbolic goal to create strategies and plans to reach that date. All experts agree that marketing will have undergone a profound transformation in both its foundations and its methods for that year. I have compiled what the prominent marketing gurus have said and with my personal opinion of how marketing will look in 2020.

The Consumer 2020

The development of marketing philosophy for the future needs to understand the 2020 consumer. Three factors will continue to influence consumer behavior.

1. A complete adoption of technologies. By 2020 there will be 2.5 trillion smartphones. Much more than today, digitization will be the most natural thing in the world. Even payment via smartphone will be the most common method in place of cash and credit cards.
2. Transparency. Adopting technology as a natural environment will make the world more transparent. Consumers will have a perfect notion that brands are doing well and which are not. As a result, consumers will demand better services. Instead of simply just comparing companies to the competition, they will compare to the leading companies in their field. This will raise the expected standard considerably.
3. Selectivity. Technology will be more effective and consumers will have a shield to trade messages. The new media makes the consumer more selective in the brands to which he or she feel more identified. Technology lets the consumer try instead of just breaking into a marketing message. Gaining consumer access by 2020 will require more surgical strategies.

The consumer as an extreme philosophy center

A rating of 7.3 out of 10 will not be enough to win the heart of the 2020 consumer. Only extreme consumer focus will guarantee success. Extremism is not a good thing in politics or religion, but marketing 2020 will be an absolutely necessary premise.

Being extreme means facing different challenges:

• Build an inventory of all the small frustrations facing the customer and start solving them one by one. A first-class experience is the foundation for an extreme centrality in the customer.
• It’s all about influence, not influencers: Every client exerts influence. The illusion that a select group determines the perception of an entire industry belongs to a school of the past. Treating all clients in the same way is what brings a positive conversation structure. Focusing only on “influencers” may have the opposite effect.
• Symbols of extremism: once the brand exceeds expectations with respect to a basic level of service, that brand needs a symbol of extremism. They are ideal for a conversation that begins with complete customer satisfaction with something in particular when using your product, brand or service. Examples: Zappo’s 365-day return policy, the policy of responding to a 30-minute tweet from the KLM carrier.

Develop this kind of philosophy primarily to reevaluate the process with the consumer. It all boils down to the optimization of a functional relationship. The added challenge in this matter is to add a personal touch. Even the most flawless process feels impersonal without a smile.

Friendly people can give a personal touch, and can enhance communication with a random act of kindness. It is not as complex to implement it properly as it seems.

Of course, extremism in putting the customer as a center is not just having an online presence or a customer service center online, it is just the beginning.

Meanwhile today, it is clear that 80-90% of your online success depends on your offline behavior. In 2020, a successful brand will not differentiate on and off line channels.

Integrated technology in marketing

Reaching the consumer 2020 requires a conscious investment in technology:

• Continue to improve the customer experience : new technologies can improve this experience. Technology brings innovation to the relationship. For example Disneyworld is testing “new botargas Mickey”. The botargas are interactive and the guests can talk. This creates a new innovative experience for the client whether young or old.
• Increase efficiency : good technology is applied when you can create self-service environments so customers can resolve their problems quickly and effectively. As a result, customer satisfaction rises and cost is reduced. McDonald’s is testing its self-order system through interactive displays, the result: waiting time is reduced and McDonald’s reduces costs.
• Generate more profit : Amazon now adjusted their prices several times a day and this process is completely automatic. This strategy adds a sense of innovation to the customer and creates an experience where the customer can find a good price 24 hours a day.

The future of the sale in 2020 will be to sell without being sold

Hooking up consumers will become increasingly difficult. Today, consumers are looking for interaction with no more than 5 brands. The technology makes it incredibly easy for consumers to lift a shield towards commercial messages. That is why Inbound Marketing will become an essential basis in the strategy to reach the consumer 2020, be relevant instead of being disruptive will be the key, and relevant in the content not in the commercial message.

The data will be absolutely valuable to be relevant. Your brand will need to create a perfectly personalized message based on the data to gain consumer attention.

It’s very funny, really: the bases of marketing 2020 were described in the 80’s, when CRM and direct marketing were the trend. Today we can finally execute what was described at that time. The theory of the 80’s is sound and modern technology makes it possible.

Remember, it is less and less about your brand, your product and more and more about what consumers are doing with your brand, product or service. The new Kraft and Coca Cola sites incorporate this message. In both cases the product itself has been sent to the background and the sites are more like a magazine with stories and relevant content. This is selling without selling.

4 Principles for success

1. Create your own content platforms : liga you own your own content rather leave it floating adrift on the Internet. Try to direct consumers to your own platforms to consume content.
2. Content as bait to generate data : the content is the bait that you use when you go fishing. Many brands only send worms to the water: a fish comes, swallows the whole worm and leaves. By placing it on a hook you cause the consumer to be trapped when trying to bite the worm. Use this metaphor to build your content marketing strategy and capture data across your content.
3. A mixture of great stories and girls . The stories are the basis of marketing 2020.
4. Design, design, design : content must be relevant but well designed. There is a phenomenal difference between a classic story and a captivating story and the difference is sometimes only the presentation. Designers will be very important in marketing 2020.