The Evolution of Engagement in Marketing
- Published on August 17, 2020
I worked in the wireless industry in the mid 90’s and in the space of 5 years the product went from a phone the size of a brick, hence, the brick phone to the Motorola Startac mini flip phone. Size mattered and the smaller the better. One of the phones we promoted was so small when you removed the battery it fit in an empty Smarties box. By the late 90’s color was all the rage and Motorola and Nokia ruled.
Where are they now?
The Wireless Industry was in its’ infancy and networks were expanding, phone prices were dropping and when Unlimited Evening & Weekend calling arrived on the scene demand went through the roof. Our engagement strategy was simple, show a picture of the phone, the price (it got to $0 pretty quick) and where to get one. It wasn’t very scientific but it worked!
Engagement is arguably the most important step in the marketing process. Engagement Marketing is “the use of strategic and resourceful content to engage people and create meaningful interactions over time" For our customer engagement we used the tried and true advertising mix of the day ie. print, radio, outdoor billboards and TV. Once we acquired the customer retention and loyalty was not necessarily ignored but little time, effort and capital was spent on it. In fairness to us we were in full on acquisition mode.
Engage-Acquire-Retain-Reward (EARR).
Fast forward 25 years and just like the wireless industry marketing engagement strategies have changed and evolved as a result of technology. Most of the traditional customer engagement tools mentioned above are on life support, however, engagement today and in the past use the same customer interaction principles & processes, Engage through advertising, Acquire through promotional offers, Retain through customer service, Reward through loyalty offers.
Customer Engagement today uses multiple digital forms like Social Media Ads, SEO's, Email Marketing, Ad words, Influence Marketing etc. All of these digital marketing channels facilitate customer calls to action or Acquisition. The main tools for customer Retention and Reward for the last 20 years has been Robo Calls and Email Marketing. Robo Calls speak for themselves and as far as Emails I encourage you to read this recently published Linkedin article Is Email Marketing Dead?
It is cost effective too at pennies per message!
A recent up and coming and very effective Digital Marketing tool is Text Based Marketing. With 30% click-through rates and 10 times higher revenue per message than email, Text Based Marketing is a fantastic way for businesses to (EARR) Engage-Acquire-Retain-Reward customers. It is cost effective too at pennies per message! Below is an example of Text Based Marketing engagement & acquisition using a Tag line and KEYWORDS in a Digital Ad. P.S. ABC-Sushi.com is not real!
Studies have shown that people keep their SMART phone within 5 feet 24 hours a day and they open their texts 98% of the time. Email has a less than 20% open rate. Email has a 6% read rate while Texting is 45%. People read their texts on average within 90 seconds upon receiving a message and emails within 90 minutes. The following image illustrates engagement using KEYWORDS (sushi & join) and Auto-Reply.
If we revisit the definition of Engagement Marketing “the use of strategic and resourceful content to engage people and create meaningful interactions over time." A couple things jump out at you "engage people" and "meaningful interaction over time." Text Based Marketing is a fantastic tool to facilitate engagement and meaningful interaction over time.
Just like the wireless industry has and will continue to evolve the Digital Marketing industry will do so as well. Motorola and Nokia failed to adapt and paid the price. One thing is crystal clear, Digital Marketers should absolutely consider Text Based Marketing as a compliment to their existing Digital Marketing Strategies!
Author: Steven K. Tait - Investor at Client-Minder.com
Just like the wireless industry has and will continue to evolve the Digital Marketing industry will do so as well. Motorola and Nokia failed to adapt and paid the price. One thing is crystal clear, Digital Marketers should absolutely consider Text Based Marketing as a compliment to their existing Digital Marketing Strategies!
Author: Steven K. Tait - Investor at Client-Minder.com