Some of us may be old enough to remember when the interstate freeways in the U.S. were built and transported people across the country in a matter of days and created the infamous suburban flight. And it wasn’t long before advertisers saw the benefit of erecting 50-foot tall banners to display their messages to commuters. Today, these billboards have become not much more than an aging distraction.
Here’s a news flash… our digital advertising is going the way of the freeway billboard.
In the new post-digital world, digital is now the boring normal and B2B marketers must find new ways to stand out to their audiences. Marketers need to immediately halt recycling their digital methods that numb potential buyers into a slow digital death. Post-digital marketers can mix up their strategies to reach buyers where and how they want, with the right message to win new business.
Here are my 5 tips to consider when working toward implementing your post-digital strategy:
Don’t be selfish – It’s so easy to market yourself, but it’s not as easy to market a solution. We must not get caught up with glorifying our brand and focus on what the customers’ needs are and try to reach them where and how they want to be reached. I can tell you right now that it’s not through pop up ads!
Creatively stand out – To avoid the billboard effect, we need to find new ways to stand out. We can supplement our digital with more content, conversational selling, account-based marketing, engaging influencers, or even hyper-personalization with hand-written notes. What is old can be new again!
Deliver massive value – Customer expectations are at an all-time high and we must strive to meet them constantly (billboards won’t do it). Luckily it is easier than ever to listen to customers and understand what they want. Leverage the wealth of behavioral data from customers and prospects to better understand them and market with more value.
Don’t expect purchases on first click – This should go without saying and could have been easily lumped in with the being selfish point, but just because you have a great campaign doesn’t mean someone will buy. Listen up sales people! Marketing is a journey of building trust and nurturing prospects before they buy – which is becoming more and more common in B2B. We need to reach them with multiple touch points like in point 2.
Cultivate a user (human) experience – In the book, Marketing Rebellion: The Most Human Company Wins by Mark Shaefer, he teaches that marketers who behave the most human will build the deepest and longest-lasting connections with their audiences. So, we must think like humans, not products or services, to connect with humans to ultimately make a sale.
I recently gave a talk on this very subject at the Product & Growth Summit this past September, where I covered what marketers can do to step up their game. I also went a little deeper into the concept of post-digital – you can watch the talk here ?
No longer just a buzz word or misunderstood trend, social media is here to stay, and it is affecting business travel dramatically. As the traveler demographics bell curve continues to swing towards a younger generation, social media is becoming a prominent part of business travel. But the question is: how will it be integrated into corporate travel, and more importantly what kind of role will it play in a managed travel program?
Travel managers, along with TMCs, have been searching for a clear answer to applying social media practices to managed travel programs. Unfortunately, there is no “one size fits all” approach. The application of social media to travel programs will vary from company to company as variables such as demographics, culture, social media policy, corporate image, and software utilities need to be taken into account.
Adoption
Whether or not your company is offering any sort of solution to your travelers, they are using social media. With nearly 20,000 travel apps in existence and countless ways to utilize traditional social media for travel, they have many options.
Universal adoption of these media to a corporate travel population has been a hurdle for many solutions such as TripIt. As Concur bundles the TripIt solution to their customers, the ball is now in the court of the travel manager to encourage travelers to utilize the tool on his or her own to manage itinerary. Many companies have seen low adoption rates to these technologies at the start, but as churn continues to the younger generation this is expected to increase.
Getting travelers on board is the key to success when rolling out a social media application in a travel environment, and this can only be achieved by showing the travelers the “WIIFM”, or “What’s in it for me?” factor. There will always be some hand-holding when a new technology is introduced.
Security & Duty of Care
One way travel managers are taking advantage of social media is by improving security and focusing more on duty of care. Many social media and apps are offering tools on how to help keep travelers safe on the road; GPS signals sent from most electronic devices are utilized. They offer travel managers the ability to locate travelers in an emergency and send communications when phone networks may be down.
The constant stream of information doesn’t stop at status updates. There are a multitude of social media and applications that give your travelers the ability to reduce stress on the road by avoiding traffic, finding places to eat, tracking flights or booking last minute hotel rooms.
Travelers have a culture of their own, and sometimes it doesn’t match that of their counterparts back home. Some social media, aimed at connecting like-minded travelers, can serve as a culture-building and collaborating tool, especially when administered by a travel manager or influenced by human resources. These media can connect travelers that are from the same company during trips and boost morale.
Compliance
The social media solution to compliance issues are simple: communication. All social media in a travel program serve as a direct communication tool to travelers. If travel managers can utilize social media to communicate better with their travelers, compliance will naturally increase. According to an Invoke Media Study, 60% of business travelers prefer to stay in contact with family and friends on trip via social media than over phone or email. Traveler managers can utilize their travelers preferred method of media to offer a two-way communication path. This may be as simple as setting up a private Twitter account and inviting only travelers to join and tweet during their trips.
Data & Analysis
Enterprise social media solutions for travel programs can offer improved business intelligence and predictive analytics. A function of big data, these solutions can offer insight to a traveler’s behavior to better understand preferences. With these unique data points, travel managers can better streamline their travel programs and find ways to reduce costs.
Social media is a powerful and ever-changing tool. With new utilities popping up almost daily, keeping up can be a challenge. Despite this, staying current is essential when integrating into a travel program. These tools will not only improve the experience for travelers, but also improve travel programs and potentially make a travel manager’s life easier. The challenge is choosing what media to implement. While there are so many practices, travel managers must consult the habit of their travelers and consider what’s best for their program prior to roll out. Take solace in the fact that all travel managers face the same hurdles, and that ACTE is providing excellent insight into better practices.
This article is also published on the ACTE Connect site for access by ACTE members.
