I’m thrilled to update this post from July 13 2011 when i spoke about P2P in my post regarding conversation not hard sell tactics.
I recently attended IZEAFest the Influencer Marketing conference in Kissimmee Florida. The over arching themes were about being real and building a relationship… essentially ‘Conversation NOT Hard Sell’. This is a theme we discussed in 2011, as we started to see companies moving away from the old hard sell tactics.
In fact one of the IZEA speakers, I believe it was Erik Qualman said that its NO longer B2B or B2C its about P2P…
As you’ll read below TROOL Social Media was talking P2P back in 2011. One of our maxims at TROOL Social Media has always been People do business with people NOT business
I believe millennials are the catalyst for the shift away from traditional marketing.
This excerpt from `How Do Millennials Find Your Business?`article in Entrepreneur online by Matt Walker of Main Path gives a great look into what drives them, what they expect and why its changed our marketing landscape:
This generation doesn’t respond to traditional marketing methods. Instead they’re searching for authentic, local experiences with brands that share their values, encourage social sharing and listen to their customers. This is why many of the top 50 brands for millennials are experimenting with new ideas and concepts when it comes to reaching out to their consumer base.
If you want to take advantage of the lucrative millennial market, then you need to understand which resources they’re using to find your business, how they determine who to trust and which marketing techniques appeal to their distinct set of values.
Social is everything.
Millennials don’t want to simply purchase products and services from a brand. They want to engage with that brand, narrowing the gap in the consumer/company relationship. They won’t be moved to buy a product based on a sales pitch. Millennials want to find new companies based on recommendations from friends. They want to interact with your website to learn more about your brand and share their own experiences online.
Because millennials have grown up in a more connected digital world than other generations, this sense of connection permeates everything they do. Millennials spend about 18 hours a day consuming online media. The majority of that media is created by their peers, in the form of YouTube videos, Facebook and Twitter posts, Snapchat feeds and Instagram. This means that if you want to help generation Y find your company, then social media is a good place to start. Not only do millennials expect brands to be available on social media, but they want to be engaged by them. In fact, 62 percent say that if a brand engages them on social media, they’re more likely to become a loyal customer. Read Full Article...
Authentic and Relationship Based Business
You can believe it: Everyone wants you and your business to be real. We are all fed up being sold to, using old and often insulting advertising ploys. What is it we all want now? We want what the millennials want: we want business to inform and educate us, so we can decide on what, when, where, and why we want to buy.
TROOL Social Media believes that customer service excellence begins with good information, valuable education, and solid relationship building with our customers.
Originally Published on: Jul 13, 2011 @ 17:12
It’s exciting to us at TROOL Social as we see and hear more and more companies committed to their customer at the P2P (person to person) level everyday. No longer the hard sell, in your face approach, these companies are starting dialogues and inviting the customer to interact in a more personal way.
While checking the weather on TV this am,I came across a Häagen-Dazs spot in which they state ‘Ice Cream is our Passion. What’s Yours?’ and end with an invitation to join the conversation on their Facebook fan page. The difference in focus of this ad, struck a chord. Companies, like Häagen-Dazs comprehend the 2011 consumer. They are making an effort to reach out and begin a dialogue. This is a much friendlier approach. Better to build brand loyalty and get a feel for what your customer wants, a feel for their interests and an idea of what they are passionate about. This gives your marketing department a whole new set of criteria.
Customer Service Excellence begins with YOU the customer…