Customer choice rules the way information is delivered in today’s market place. If you were a Boomer or a Gen X and wanted information about a company or a product, you picked up the phone and called a sales rep. Gen Y went online to the company website. They often requested information be sent, which typically resulted in a brochure being mailed or an email being sent with an attached electronic brochure.
Today customers demand more, much more. Their expectations have reached new heights when it comes to brand awareness. Websites can no longer use words to explain a product’s capabilities, they are expected to allow a prospect to watch and experience the product or at least listen and learn about the company’s capabilities. Prospects are browsing dozens and perhaps even hundreds of websites daily. They land, look and if not immediately engaged and entertained - they leave. The average web browser reads at a third-grade level and never truly reads, choosing to skim information instead.
As the new generation enters the market, Generation Z, this problem only intensifies. While research is limited on this pre-teen generation, many consider the Gen Z birth period between 1994 and 2004 — the oldest of which are currently of driving age. It is estimated that Gen Z are 23 million strong.
Those born late in the Gen Y world can vaguely remember life before BlackBerry. Gen Z has no recollection whatsoever of life without iPods, text messaging, Facebook, smart phones and YouTube. They are digital natives and are coming of age publicly-online. They are mobile, think and text in 160 character dialogs, know only real-time-instant exchange of information, almost never talk-opting to type instead and are the most technologically literate generation of children ever. They are also the most formally educated generation in history - starting education younger than ever, and projected to stay in education for longer than ever. To top it all off, as a generation, they are the most financially endowed generation in history.
Different audiences desire different ways to digest information. If you limit the choices of customer engagement, you will limit your opportunity. Marketing with the voice of the customer in mind is critical to success. Unlimited access to information, from a variety of methods, based on how the client wants to receive the information and when he wants to receive it is referred to as multi-channel, cross-channel marketing. It is what clients call “engaging on their terms”. If you are still marketing with a one size fits all mindset, perhaps you should consider your options.
It may appear complicated but with proper focus and orchestration, providing choices will help to differentiate your company and satisfy your customers regardless of X, Y or Z. If you need help in executing a multi-channel, cross-channel marketing strategy or communicating effectively so that you might profitably grow your business, SourceLink can help.