We all know that marketers are creative. It’s a part of our DNA. To compete today, marketers cannot just be creative in our brand development and marketing strategies; we have to be creative in business development as well.
Consumers are changing. Millennials now make up the largest generation in the workforce. The number of Gen Xers is about equal to the Baby Boomers. Even on their worst day, Gen Xers are a digitally savvy group, and it’s no secret that the Ys grew up texting and tweeting.
What does this mean? The way customers find you is changing.
The explosive growth of Uber demonstrates this concept best – as Uber is not so much a transportation or a cab company, but an applications/logistics one. Uber took a constant problem tourists and residents alike face in any city in the world, and created an easy and adaptable way to connect a customer in need of a ride with a driver ready and willing to pick them up. The concept may seem simple, and the result is that Uber is one of the most successful companies in the world.
Ask any Baby Boomer if they are an Uber customer and you’ll find only a few are on board. Ask a Millennial and you’ll be surprised to find one who isn’t. In fact, the term “ubering” is a verb for them. It’s not that Uber (or Airbnb) have reinvented a service, but they’ve reinvented the process, and that’s what’s propelled them to the top.
What does the Uber model mean for printers, graphic designers, and marketers in general?
The number one job of marketing is to be found by consumers. Marketing is a vast and intricate field spanning many, many topics, but our fundamental role is to make the phone ring (not literally, of course, as Millennials never use the phone anymore).
Consumers are mainly finding companies through an internet search. According to Hubspot, 61% of consumers begin their shopping experience online. Further, 44% of online shoppers begin with an online search. While customers are still looking to build relationships with companies, it’s safe to say they are first finding them and interacting with them online.
Marketers know the importance of ranking high on Google. Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is paramount, and should be an integral part of all digital strategies, but SEO is a long game, combining a full focus on content, link building, and regularly optimizing websites (among many other tasks) – efforts that can often take months, if not years to produce results.
Search engine marketing (SEM) is expensive. A simple search on Google for “Graphic Designer Barrie” yielded 580,000 results. Depending the keyword demand, SEM options can be priced far too high for marketers to play. While Google publishes that the average cost of an Adword click is $1 to $2, experienced marketers know that any crowded marketplace will result in much larger costs, leaving it very lucrative for larger companies with even larger budgets.
The good news is that creativity can trump budget. Using the Uber model, there are now many ways in which marketers can be found. For example, EZBZ, a U.S. based company has just launched into the Canadian marketplace with their online platform that connects business owners with customers in real time in a mobile friendly, easy to use interface. A customer looking for “Business cards in Barrie” can simply open the browser, type in what they need, and the lead goes directly to those registered in that particular expertise. There is no charge to receive the lead, and a minimal charge for businesses to respond. It’s a fast and economical way to connect suppliers with customers. Says EZBZ CEO Shana Schlossberg, “It’s a dating service between businesses and consumers in real time.”
The Canadian Association of Marketing Professionals is the exclusive provider of EZBZ’s platform for marketing professionals, and it is our pleasure to be rolling out this service over the next few weeks. As a not for profit association, we are often approached for recommendations for marketing services from simple printing to strategic marketing development. With the launch of CAMP’s EZBZ platform, marketers and consumers can connect in ways they could never before.
In today’s Uber world, the businesses that thrive are not only the ones that can build quality relationships with customers by providing top notch products and/or services, but also those companies that can adapt. And platforms that can unite customers with suppliers in real time are the way of the future – whether your customer is a Millennial, a Gen Xer, or a Baby Boomer.
