SPT Marketing news

More and more customers are researching a product online before they commit to purchase (either to buying in store or online). They are using the internet to get more information about product features and benefits, checking forums to read about other consumers’ opinions, visiting review sites to compare products and prices and actively communicating via social networking sites. They are researching even before they leave the house, using mobile phone whilst in store to look for more information to support their purchasing decisions. Therefore a website, mobile channel and online marketing efforts can contribute to purchase.

Social media is a very effective way to convert browsers to buyers, as a significant percentage of consumers is more likely to buy from the brands they are following on social media platforms. Furthermore they actively compare products and can be quick to give an endorsement or a criticism of a good, service or activity in forums and social media sites. They often share their experiences with others and influence future purchasing decisions. Recognising this trend, marketers needs to consider the significant power of word-of-mouth marketing.

A clever, creative and comprehensive digital and social media strategy could be one of your devices to attract the attention of the distracted and anxious consumer.

‘Hidden Pizza’

All entering business needs publicity to help its product and service as well as the whole business to be known in the market. However, several years ago a new pizza restaurant in Melbourne managed to get publicity with no traditional advertising and promotion.

You are probably doubting how a business can publicize itself without the well-known advertising strategies. You will be more than surprised with the answer which is simple and can be applied to all businesses regardless of their profiles.

Instead of the traditional advertising and promotion, the social media scene was used as a main advertising channel which resulted in a lot of online chatter, word-of-mouth and big lines stretching down the street within days of opening. The whole promotion of the ‘Hidden Pizza’ restaurant run by Yellow Pages directory service which aim was to highlight the value of Yellow Pages to small businesses.

The ‘Hidden Pizza’ was not like every other restaurant. It offered a pizza for free however its location was largely kept secret. The challenge for people in the ‘Hidden Pizza’ campaign was to find the phone number of the restaurant in order to be able to call, find out the location and visit to get free pizza. The only place the contact details of the restaurant was officially published was on the Yellow Pages website.

During the two weeks of promotion, the restaurant received more than 8000 calls. More than 6000 callers found the contact details online and the rest in other ways such as word-of-mouth, emails, blogs, text and social media.

This campaign is a typical example of the significance and effectiveness of social media which enabled more than 8000 people within two weeks to find the restaurant. Apparently, traditional advertising and promotions plays an important role to boost businesses however marketing strategies cannot be limited to the traditional ones only. In contemporary society, social media is part of the everyday life therefore sticking to traditional ones may let businesses down by losing the opportunity to catch a significant part of its target market. 

Generation Z (those born 1995 – 2009) is a new type of customers that retailers need to consider as a potential and unique target market. They are students of today and university graduates, employees and consumers of tomorrow. While they are still young, this generation is following in the footsteps of “internet-addictive” Generation Y. Gen Z doesn’t just represent the future, they are creating it as they are the early adopters, the brand influencers and the social media drivers.

They are digital natives who are enjoying the advances of technology during their everyday activities. Gen Z is the first generation never known life without the internet as they are adopting technological behaviour in their early years - growing up watching television, surfing the web, playing electronic games, using mobile phones and devices, joining online and contact friend via social media platforms. They spend much more time online and in front of television than children of previous generations.

With no cash flow to speak of, Gen Z has to defer to parents’ wishes when it comes to making purchasing decisions. However Gen Z recognises the need to purchase, evaluate product performance as users and has a major influence on purchases.It clearly reflects the fact that Gen Z needs to be more targeted than purchasing deciders.

Gen Z is receptive to television and social media advertising, furthermore they have plenty of time to absorb marketing massages. To engage Gen Z, marketers need to offer products that are, or make Gen Z feel socially connected, fun and entertaining, cool and socially desirable, life enhancing, new and innovative.

With Gen Z growing up fast, all marketers should consider and plan to have a chance of attracting the new frontiers when they are ready to spend.

The world of online social networking has grown exponentially in recent years, with advances of technology enabling sites such as LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to easily bring large numbers of like-minded people together as an identifiable group. Social networking is a community of people who share knowledge, interests or activities and who want to expand their contacts of people with similar shared interests. These sites provide various ways for users to interact, including posts, emails and instant messaging.

Organisations are increasingly turning their attention to creating their own social networks, in an attempt to harness their potential. Social networking is one of the most effective ways for businesses to create more website traffic, interest and attention, interacting and building relations with customers and sharing and creating content through online communities. Having a presence on social networking platforms and reach a mass of people provides a wealth of opportunities for organisations, including the ability to attract new clients, directly communicate promotional campaigns with potential customers or to conduct market research via cost effective online focus groups.