Six key programs that best in class consumer goods marketers employ

Because we work so closely with consumer goods companies we understand the challenges they face from a marketing standpoint:

• Don’t have direct engagement with most of their customers. The retailer owns a more direct relationship with customers usually than the manufacturer.
• When they do try and build a direct relationship with their customers, they often have the customer information in separate silos. For instance a registration database, email newsletter programs, web and social all often operate in separate silos.
• Retailers have the balance of power in many relationships as they have direct relationships with the customers. The likes of Tesco and Nectar club cards, and the sophistication of Category Planning make the retailer extremely powerful. Mid-sized brands run the risk of being squeezed out of categories and hence space on supermarket shelves.
• Consumer Goods/FMCG companies generally don’t understand who their best customers are. They are able to understand them at a research level but aren’t able to communicate with them directly.

So what can Consumer Goods marketing organizations do to help understand their customers better and engage with them in a way that is meaningful and relevant?

We have identified six programs that best in class consumer companies are currently doing and that might help your organization create stronger direct relationships with your consumers.

1. Focus on what you are trying to achieve

Direct relationships could be designed to deliver a number of benefits, however, you must know what it is you hope to achieve in any program that is developed. Examples of different ones below:

Loyalty based campaigns

In these types of programs, consumer goods marketing organizations survey customers and run a series of initiatives and then re-survey customers at the end of the program – perhaps after 6 months – to identify if they have managed to shift their attitudes. Birds Eye and Guinness have implemented these types of programs with huge success.

Brand building and newsletters

Building a direct relationship with customers is a key way to ensure consumers are aware of your brand. Customers register to be the first to find out about new product releases, tips and advice. Apple and Muller Yogurt have done these previously. They not only create brand awareness, but also provide consumers with useful industry knowledge. Take for example Apple’s newsletters – they do an amazing job of creating hype around their new product releases in their newsletters. They create anticipation and suspense. So, when consumers finally learn what is being unveiled, they line up in droves to buy it. Genius use of brand building through newsletters.

Direct promotions

These are much more promotionally focused and encourage consumers to shop or purchase with your brand. A good example is sending a direct promotion of money off coupons or buy-one-getone free. Alternatively, the promotion could be driving customers to specific events, such as film premiers, competitions or more local events. Jameson Whiskey is currently running a film competition promotion in conjunction with Kevin Spacey and Trigger Street Production to discover up and coming film talent.

2. Gaining a total view of customer and behavior

Stop trying to guess who your best consumers are when you only know bits and pieces about them. Bring your data together – yes, in one place – and know who they really are and how they interact with your brand across all touch points and stages in the customer journey. When you pull data from registrations, competition entries, surveys, email, website, and video clicks, you can understand what motivates consumers to purchase.

3. Understanding your customers

Once you have consolidated the massive amounts of data, start putting it to good use – analyze it! Only then are you able to know what drives purchase. Does Mary currently use your brand of toothpaste, but not your toothbrushes? Step up your game and send her a discount coupon to purchase your toothpaste. Noticed that Jim just bought a new coffee maker from you and registered his product on your site?

Good, now start the upsell process – send him relevant communications encouraging him to buy coffee from you too. It is imperative to analyze the data so that you can start to uncover key patterns and trends. This will help you engage more directly with your customers and offer them the opportunity to purchase more from your brand.

4. Two way dialogue

But, it isn’t just as simple as sending out coupons and emails. You have to truly listen to what consumers are saying. Once you accomplish that, you can use the knowledge gained to communicate with them how and when they want.

There are easy ways to learn about what they are interested in. For instance, in your email marketing, ensure that you clearly identify ways for your consumer to connect with you. Offer them an area to provide feedback on the product, tips on various uses or general comments. However you implement this piece, be sure your communications are not a one-way street – you need to listen to what your consumers are saying, too. They will appreciate it.

5. Relevance

The more relevant you can make your program for your audience, the better. This will likely result in better engagement. First, think about think about who you want to engage with as it might be difficult to serve all who use your brand. A manufacturer of musical equipment might want to have separate strands for those who are passionate about technical aspects of achieving perfect sounds when playing their music, whereas another might focus on aesthetic design aspects of ‘it looks’ good in your living room.

Fast Moving Consumer Goods, like Philadelphia Cream Cheese might have audiences who buy their product for convenience or for those who like to use it for cooking and always appreciate a good recipe. Segmentation to provide relevance is critical in creating meaningful connections. But remember, you can only successfully accomplish this when you consumer’s needs.

6. Collaborate for success

Most programs have a number of contributors. Often times there are agencies or technology partners involved. Ensuring that you have the proper technology implemented should make the program much more streamlined and easier for all contributors to work together.

Following are some of the hurdles that can get in the way of having a successful program

Be realistic what you can do yourself

Work with partners – when and where appropriate – who possess the key skills you need to be successful. Don’t try to manage the entire program yourself – find the data management and technical people required to complete the program.

Clear view of the audience with whom you want to engage

Make sure you know who you are going after. Is your program focused on engagement with your most valuable customers, your biggest buyers, the ones who buy for the family, or the ones who use the product? It is imperative that you understand your segment so that you can fully understand the objectives of your program.

Not to mention, this will also help you craft your message, set realistic expectations and determine overall success of the program. Overcome hurdles • Be realistic what you can do yourself • Clear view of the audience with whom you want to engage • Start small but deliver • Keep up the momentum

Start small but deliver

Start small. It is far better to deliver a realistic sized program than to try and go big and build something for every channel and fall flat. Some of the most successful programs in recent years have been purely email driven and are implemented on a larger scale once the value is proven. This mitigates risk as well. You don’t want to fight too many fronts too soon when you are going into unknown territory.

Structure the size of your program based on what you can deliver. Once you have realized success, add to the program, but never make it so big that you can’t deliver to the consumer.

Keep up the momentum

Last, but not least – keep your momentum. Too often marketers start regular communication programs, but fail to keep them going. Make sure you have plenty of ideas at the outset to maintain interest. Although you can get your customers to contribute ideas as well – such as how they use your products, pictures of them using it, recipe ideas, technical questions about the product you should never rely on them for your overall content.

Today’s consumers are savvy. They interact with brands across multiple channels – stores, websites, and catalogs, and social media. In order for consumer goods companies to create solid, direct relationships with consumers you must listen and understand what consumers are saying. From there, you can effectively engage with them through the channel they choose. It is important for consumer goods companies to adapt to the changes and begin to invest in innovative technologies and process that allow them to support market demands.

To find out more 

To learn more about how you can drive better communications with your customers by making the patterns in your data actionable, contact SDL today. We have a team of consumer goods specific consultants who can help. For more information on our consumer goods solution, visit http://www.sdl.com/solutions/ industry/retail/cma/cpg.html