Social media has changed the name of the game. It used to be that unsatisfied customers would complain to their mother or best friend, write a carefully worded letter or email and perhaps stop buying from the company. Today it's different. Their voice is magnified time and time again by the powerful network of social media. One angry customer can quickly become a whole lot of angry customers joining together on the biggest soap box imaginable. Check out today's infographic by Frugal Dad of real-world examples of big businesses brought to their knees by viral vengeance.
We've all been there. The pieces of what will eventually become a very practical and European looking bookshelf are laying on your living room floor. There is a bag of bolts or screws or whatever-you-call-'ems (washers?) somewhere in the box and a crumpled instruction sheet in your right hand. Just a few simple steps and you'll be rearranging your book collection before lunch, right? Wrong.
Despite our best intentions, sometimes IKEA's "assembly required" is synonymous with "just give up." Well the giant home products retailer has taken a new direction to help us with the assembly process. IKEA USA has started a new YouTube playlist called "How To Build." It is a welcome relief to the common complaint of confusing manuals and construction. The playlist includes a video with step-by-step instructions about putting together a piece of furniture from their store. It's short and sweet and a great visual representation of how to assemble an IKEA product. For now there is only one video in the playlist, but as such a great resource there is sure to be more.
Why is this such a smart marketing move? IKEA has gone where their customers are. With more people using smartphones and tablets, online video use is at an all-time high. Not only does this "How To Build" playlist provide visual instruction for frustrated viewers, it targets them in their element. This is important for any marketer to understand and keep track of. Where do your consumers hang out online? What sites do they turn to for help? How can your brand reach out to your customer and make life simpler for them? IKEA did a good job of listening to their customers and providing them with a relevant and helpful service.
Here is their video on how to build a "MALM" bed frame:
Many of our customers strive to develop consideration and preference for their products and services. For them, third party endorsements are critical to adoption of their new products and services not only by end user customers but by their retail trade partners. The question is how to achieve low-cost reach and frequency with the endorsements over a sustained period of time. Increasingly, we're turning to short-form direct response television (DRTV) advertising.
The DRTV rates we're able to negotiate are 35-45 the cost of regular media buys. In many cases, we're able to more than quadruple frequency and reach. The creative in our spots revolve around the third-party endorsements that end user customers seek out when they're researching a major durables purchase. We typically use social media and publicity-based marketing programs to spur these third party endorsements from real customers and/or experts who have fallen in love with our customers' products. Our creative formula always includes a third party endorsement for each key product attribute within the spot. The spot is structured to highlight the product as a solution and always ends with several compelling calls to action (CTA.) All this in 60 seconds or less!
Thinking about DRTV for those product categories without P&Ls to support broadcast media buys? Below are a few questions you should ask your vendors.
1.) How many DRTV ads do they complete each year? Relatively few agencies have a laser focus on DRTV. The skill set is remarkably different from a created brand spot.
2.) Do they have a proven method? Everyone has a method or approach. The question is whether or not they have business results to support their method.
3.) Do they have working relationships with seasoned DRTV creatives and media buying personnel? Most of the time the best professionals aren't on staff with agencies. Because of this, you can save big bucks if you negotiate well.
4.) What are my DRTV economics? These include conversion rate, cost per lead, fulfillment cost, call center cost and return on investment.
