Adapting traditional marketing

Traditional marketing approaches and campaigns are no longer enough to gain customer attention and make money. Businesses have to adapt the old or traditional approaches of marketing to fit the new way of thinking and interaction between customers and businesses.

The traditional campaign is made of up six parts:
1. Define product- What will you sell or what service will you offer?
2. Segment audience- Who is your target market? How do you need to divide them in order to create specific marketing to appeal to them?
3. Appeal to each segment- Look for ways to gain the attention of your various market segments, such as teens versus elderly.
4. Craft a message- Come up with the message you want to send about your product or service, and craft it into something that works on an ad or television or radio segment.
5. Choose an advertising medium- Decide how you are going to advertise, on the radio or television, billboard, in mailers, etc.
6. Go for the customer- Place that ad, and wait for the customers to come to you.

However, this plan is stale, and will not gain you nearly as many customers as an adapted approach will. Customers do not want you to sit back and wait for them to come to you, they want you to come to them, to be transparent, and to provide them with something they need, not a message that appeals, but a product that does.
Adaptations should include:
1. Mutual interests and common causes- customers want to get behind a company that meets their needs, and that helps them align with their goals. Marketing around a cause, such as being more environmentally friendly can help customers feel an affinity for your company. In aligning with a cause, you provide them with a product they can get behind, knowing it benefits something they want benefited, or is safe for the environment, etc.

2. Become an advocate for goods and services worth buying. Instead of crafting a fancy, good message, craft a good product or service. If you become the kind of company that provides people with something that is actually worth buying, you will gain a loyal following, who advertises for you. Focus more on creating quality, and your advertising will come in stride with that.

3. Promise and deliver excellence. The new marketing approach requires honesty and transparency. If you are going to promise something, you better deliver it. No more gimmicks, or tricky sales pitches, instead focus on open, honest communication between yourself and your customer, and you will see a huge increase in sales, and longevity to your customer relationships.

Don't just sell to your customers, inspire them, and better their lives! If you can truly make their life easier, cheaper, or better, you will find customers that stick with you, and market for you so that selling your product or service is simple.