Why Brands Need to Shut Their Mouths and Open Their Ears

I read an interesting article about how brands should change their old marketing strategies and adapt to this digital age where smartphones are ubiquitous. For a long time, successful brands have been trying to create their brand message and convey to consumers effectively. However, branding is NOT a one-way communication system. It is important that you hear your consumers' responses and keep improving your products accordingly.

I found a lot of useful information in the article giving marketing suggestions of making full use of social media and communicate "with" consumers, instead of just communicate "at" them. Successful examples show that not only does it do good to sales, but it is also beneficial in building a healthy and long-term relationship with consumers.

However, as far as I am concerned, you should always find a balance between "keeping it my own way" and "going with the flow. It is by no means wise either to stick to the very original idea of your brand or to just follow whatever your community tells you. Being flexible and selective is always the key here.

Here are some excerpts from the article:

The Boston Consulting Group recently published a study: “How Millennials are Changing Marketing Forever.” The report detailed what they coined “the reciprocity principle” as they wrote, “Millennials expect a two-way, mutual relationship with companies and their brands.” As individuals become brands in-and-of themselves, the tables have turned, so the smartphone generation expects these brands that they consume to not just communicate at them but also with them.

The article also talked about how to do do the two-way communication with consumers, mainly via social media. 

Here’s the best news for entrepreneurs: The two-way communication is far less expensive than traditional branding. The channels of Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest and Tumblr, are all entirely free to use, and it is on these channels that this two-way communication occurs. The reciprocity principle requires not cash but authentic communication. Having a conversation with your community is free and when done right (that is to say done authentically), it converts mere customers into true brand ambassadors. And these brand ambassadors are powerful multipliers of your brand.

Then it gave us an example of how Zady successfully applied the reciprocity principle in its promotions and advertising.

Our company Zady, which is working to transform the current environmentally ruinous apparel industry by creating a brand built on the principles of beauty and sustainability, infuses the reciprocity principle in everything that we do.Here is how we do it: 

1. Ask and you shall receive. We noticed that a customer posted a photo on Instagram of their latest Zady package with their dog, and requested that Zady carry sustainable products for their pets. We didn’t let this comment go unheard. But we wanted to test the waters, so we re-grammed the picture on our Instagram feed and posted it to Twitter, asking our audience what other products they were interested in seeing us carry.Your company can do the same simply by asking, preferably with some visuals, what people want to see either on your site or with your product. 

2. Open your ears. The re-gram garnered an overwhelming response that folks wanted sustainable dog products.Everyone wants to have his opinion heard, and you will get responses to the question, but just make sure that each person feels heard. You can do this simply by liking their comments or reposting their comments on your company’s social accounts. 

3. React. We followed up to this query by searching for a stylish, long-lasting, locally and sustainably produced dog product. By the time we had the product up on our site and sent an email out alerting our customers of its arrival, our audience was so engaged that our first run of the pieces sold out within days.Of course, the key to the two-way conversation is the response. You have to make your company flexible to following what your community tells you.

Article Link http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/232464