The New Consumer: Adapt Your Marketing to this Connected, Communicative, Community-Oriented, Always-Clicking Digital Citizen, or Risk Being Left Behind

The new consumer.Adapt Your Marketing to This Connected,

Communicative, Community-Oriented, Always-Clicking Digital Citizenor Risk Being Left Behind.

CARLA GATES JUNE 2013

The New Consumer =

Generation CConnectedCommunicativeContent-CentricComputerizedCommunity-OrientedAlways ClickingIn Control

Meet Generation C.It’s Not a Demographic. It’s Everyone.

Today’s consumers have fundamentally changed their relationship with media and technology…and with brands. They don’t want to be talked at, instead they want to be invited to the discussion.

And their online behavior has less to do with the year they were born and more to do with their attitude and mindset.

“With connected consumers, decision making is no longer signified by a simple funnel, nor can business models support decision making before, during, and post transaction across these distributed, but connected platforms. This is a time for augmented engagement strategies …based on their behavior, and on their expectations...”- Brian Solis, The End of Business As Usual

How Do I Know All This?

Brian Solis, “The End of Business As Usual”http://www.briansolis.com/2012/04/meet-generation-c-the-connected-customer/

The Google Engagement Project http://www.google.com/think/collections/engagement-project.html

International Journal of Market Researchhttp://www.ijmr.com/AboutIJMR/Samples/Sample2.pdf

Digital brands, research groups and individual thought leaders have delved into the minds of Generation C. Thanks to the following for the research and thought leadership contained in this presentation:

So, what does the new consumer want?

And what should you do about it?

5 Characteristics of the New

ConsumerThey have an urgent need to engage with the world, satisfying that hunger via community – both a real community of select friends and family, and a virtual community of distant followers, fans and acquaintances. They want everyone and everything at their fingertips.

Be prepared to meet them everywhere they are. That means stepping out from behind the relative safety of your website and joining, encouraging, and starting conversations on social media, forums, blogs, etc.

1. THEY THRIVE ON COMMUNITY

HOW TO MARKET TO THEM


ConsumerThey want to shape opinion and lead thought. They quench their thirst for connection by seeking out ‘shareworthy’ content (even including content from brands), which they can use to provoke a reaction and reinforce emotional connections in their community. And everyone thinks they’re an artist because creating is empowering. They want us all to see what they’re creating (photos, memes, tips, events, new products, even emotional breakthroughs) as this gives their lives validation.

Give them something meaningful to share; content that makes them look smart, clever, thoughtful, or cutting-edge in front of their community.

2. THEY’RE ENERGIZED BY SHARING


Source:


Consumer

They turn to ‘trusted advisors’ (friends, brands, bloggers, community-members, celebs) to help them navigate their online lives, using email lists, social media and content aggregators to map out an ecosystem that satisfies both their functional and emotional needs. And when they find something they love, they go deep, becoming a valuable source of information themselves.

Become their trusted advisor, giving them content to digest and share in their specialized community. Constantly remind them that you’re an authoritative, trusted voice in your industry by posting content of outstanding value frequently.

3. FINDING ‘TRUSTED ADVISORS’ IS THEIR SOLUTION TO BEING TIME-POOR

HOW TO MARKET TO THEM“Those (brands) who insert themselves into as

many channels as possible are set to capture the most value. They'll be the most successful, the most connected, capable and influential among us. We're all publishers now, and the more we publish, the more valuable connections we'll make.” – Pete Cashmore, Mashable


ConsumerThey know when they’re being marketed to and have the best bulls**t detectors in the world. They want real, thoughtful, authentic, personable content from brands. They want to know there is a human behind the brand. They want to discover and disseminate, instead of being told what they should care about.

Luckily, they welcome authentic brands into their social circle. They’ll either switch off if your content is not relevant or engage if it is. Emphasize authentic values and passions that can be rallied around, and then provide that rallying platform.

4. THEY CRAVE AUTHENTICITY



Consumer…in their own lives, and to help encourage it in the lives of others. They're into personal development, and searching for meaning in every relationship, not just material security and comfort. They are motivated by honesty and integrity. And they’re proud to give back more than they take on.

Focus on developing an emotional connection with customers - don’t just focus on the transaction. Give them content that helps them discover themselves. And give them tools to help them “make the world a better place.”

5. THEY SEEK MEANING


The big idea?Maximize your reach by engaging loyal customers in a community of authentic content, which they will use to evangelize your brand to a wider audience.

Thank you.Need help reaching your Gen C customers? Let’s

[email protected] or http://twitter.com/

CarlaGates247

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