One More Time: We Marketers Still Have Control!

Do we marketers have the guts and inner will to reassert our role and influence in the marketer-consumer relationship?

OK, I’ve said it before but I want to reiterate, emphasize, and boldface the point one more time: we as marketers still have control.

And we have plenty of it! More than we can handle — or even know about.

We haven’t lost control, and the consumer doesn’t have us completely wrapped around her finger. Can we please just end the righteous “woe is me” chest-beating? We’re distracting ourselves. In fact, I’m going to wade into controversial waters, even reversing things I’ve said in the past. We may actually have more control than ever before. I’m talking real control, real power, and real leverage.

The bigger question is whether we have the guts and inner will to reassert our role and influence in the marketer-consumer relationship. More important, do we truly recognize the critical levers in our control that can make the biggest difference?

What Can We Control?

Marketers today have a tool kit that would make my late father, a former advertising executive, blush. We can target, message on multiple screens, follow consumers from start to finish, and tons of other stuff. We buy media, place media, revise media, iterate media, pick the messaging platform, select the suppliers, and hired the employees. The list goes on and on.

Most important, and most relevant to today’s new rules, is we control the levers that have enormous potential to drive deep, sustainable bonds with consumers:

What Consumer Control What Marketers Control
Talking Listening
Engagement Experience
Transparency Accuracy
Participation Invitations
Word of mouth Talk drivers
Product feedback Product performance
Attention Retention
Complaints Responsiveness
Advertising Expectations
Engagement Experience
Expression Consumer affairs
Curiosity Answer quality
Attitude Culture

The problem — and the challenge — is that the levers that most matter are the most difficult to pull, even prime to pull. But pull we must. For example, we just can’t dance around product quality or performance any more. In this friction-free feedback environment, if our products fail, the consumer wails…publicly. The good news is we can control that outcome.

We may need to slow down and shore up before subjecting ourselves to the critical masses. Think about all the brands getting whacked for greenwashing (define). Patience, my friend. Let’s get it right. We have the power to get it right!

We also have full control over listening. Listening is the degree to which your brand invites open conversation, is approachable, and, of course, is accessible. “Do you hear me?” we often ask when wearing our consumer hats. This is a big issue today, because consumers in control want to feel respected and valued. Even the simple signal that a brand is open for conversation, a comment, or feedback can improve the relationship. Half the game for marketers in earning respect and credibility with consumers is simply showing we care.

Listening is also the foundation of relationship marketing and loyalty building. Virtually all consumers have an emotional desire to be heard, and the listening process validates that core need. The sweet spot for companies in the listening arena is consumer affairs, and this is also the place where the biggest opportunities lie for organizational change.

The Consumer/Marketing Control Framework, Revisited

We also have plenty of control over how we respond, and this is a really important point I underscore in my upcoming book, “Satisfied Customers Tell Three Friends, Angry Customers Tell 3000.” Responsiveness is how you respond to, address, and manage specific consumer interactions. It’s one thing for companies to be listeners, but if they don’t do anything about what they hear, you simply don’t get full credit. Consumers today have been conditioned, through years of experience, to believe that companies will always try to put on a great face but in the end will never go the distance to address their concerns. In responsiveness, consumers see the eye of sincerity and genuine concern or appreciation for their problems or suggestions.

Many consumers go the distance to let others know about their frustration with insensitive, indifferent, and unresponsive companies. This is why customer service is so critical for brands and companies to work through. It’s also why social media is so important, whether via blogs, online communities, or internal social networking: it fuses connections and facilitates dialogue. It sets a high bar on responsiveness and provides a host of how-to examples on getting it right.

In Conclusion

We have much within our control. It may not be the control or influence we’re used to, but it might be much more powerful. It’s the type of control that has as much to do with business processes as with buying media.

The key is that we get ahead and not allow ourselves to fall behind the currents. Over the past four years, ClickZ has given me platform and credibility to highlight, reinforce, and amplify these critical themes — and for that I will be eternally grateful! They made this choice, and it was fully in their control to elevate these issues long before they were popular or fashionable.

That’s what leadership is all about, and it always pays long-term dividends.

Subscribe to get your daily business insights

Whitepapers

US Mobile Streaming Behavior
Whitepaper | Mobile

US Mobile Streaming Behavior

5y

US Mobile Streaming Behavior

Streaming has become a staple of US media-viewing habits. Streaming video, however, still comes with a variety of pesky frustrations that viewers are ...

View resource
Winning the Data Game: Digital Analytics Tactics for Media Groups
Whitepaper | Analyzing Customer Data

Winning the Data Game: Digital Analytics Tactics for Media Groups

5y

Winning the Data Game: Digital Analytics Tactics f...

Data is the lifeblood of so many companies today. You need more of it, all of which at higher quality, and all the meanwhile being compliant with data...

View resource
Learning to win the talent war: how digital marketing can develop its people
Whitepaper | Digital Marketing

Learning to win the talent war: how digital marketing can develop its peopl...

2y

Learning to win the talent war: how digital market...

This report documents the findings of a Fireside chat held by ClickZ in the first quarter of 2022. It provides expert insight on how companies can ret...

View resource
Engagement To Empowerment - Winning in Today's Experience Economy
Report | Digital Transformation

Engagement To Empowerment - Winning in Today's Experience Economy

1m

Engagement To Empowerment - Winning in Today's Exp...

Customers decide fast, influenced by only 2.5 touchpoints – globally! Make sure your brand shines in those critical moments. Read More...

View resource