Finding, Connecting, and Converting Profitable Buyers Engagement Marketing Finding, Connecting, and Converting Profitable Buyers

Sources of Consumer Trust Consumers trust friends, family, & personal experience more than ads or strangers Trust is required to acquire customers Trust is built through engagement 2/19

Paradigm Shift Wave 1 Communications Model: one-way messages, brand dictates topics, infrequent distribution, no feedback, brand finds the audience (push) Wave 2 Communications Model: two-way dialogue, patients dictate the topics, frequent distribution, continual feedback, audience finds the brand (pull) Wave 3 Communication Model: three-way trialogue, brand feeds seed messages, provoke conversation and engagement, co-creation of brand messages, collaboration, and curation 3/19

Implications for Marketers Marketers are now facilitators of conversations Marketers must “put a face on their brand” and learn to be personable/engaging based on persona principles Marketers need to build their own platform to deliver relevant contents to attract/build loyal followers instead of paying someone else to interrupt their audience with ads (thus, marketers must now think like a publisher) Digital media is about “who” -- not “how many” (humanize your brand) 4/19

What This Means for Marketers “Business as usual” (interruption) no longer works 5/19

Implications for Marketers Advertising alone does not influence consumer selection of product or service Word-of-mouth referrals from existing customers is key (however, you want profitable referrals – and that means being able to identify what a profitable customer looks like) 6/19

It’s not what you think – and matters more than you think Step 1: Branding It’s not what you think – and matters more than you think 7/19

Branding: What it is Branding Basics: Positioning – what you want the brand to be Design – translating positioning into a name / logo / color Meaning – how the brand takes on associations A name becomes a brand when people link it to other things (it is like a reputation) 8/19

Branding: Why it matters Distinguishing your business from competitors is critical; simply giving “good service” is not enough You must identify the one thing that makes your business unique (USP) and then become known for it Climb off the billboard and into the community – put a face / voice on your brand and dialogue with potential buyers 9/19

Step 2: Identifying Profitable Buyers Profile your most profitable customers, and find more of them 10/19

Customer Mix Realities If you advertise to “everyone”, then don’t be surprised when “everyone” shows up at your doorstep (regardless of their ability to pay) By targeting profitable buyers and connecting with them before your competitors do, you enhance your chances of improving customer mix 11/19

Understanding Buyer Personas Demographic segmentation was invented to create stability so that groups of people could be messaged Patient “personas” are more complete profiles than segments and reveal clues for connecting with them Personas include: demographic, behavioral, AIO (activities, interests, and opinions), needs, channels of communication Develop and manage database to learn patients’ personas 12/19

Step 3: Engaging Profitable Buyers New paradigm: you don’t find them – they find you 13/19

Rules of Engagement Authenticity – resist the urge to “sell” on the first date; you must invest the time to build trust and genuinely interested help the online/offline community Transparency – you must actually participate in the conversations (instead of hiring an imposter to do it) Relevancy - remember that you’re joining someone else’s conversation; listen first – then contribute if you have something relevant to say 14/19

Mediums for Connecting Web site E-mail Search engines: YouTube, Google Social media Providing rewarding, touching, and entertaining contents Provoking conversation and engagement Include a compelling call-to-action (CTA) 15/19

Step 4: Measure Your Results You can’t manage what you can’t measure 16/19

Typical Metrics Financial Behavioral Campaign ROI Customer LTV CPA (cost/acquisition) Numbers Viewers Likes Shares comments Behavioral Buyer Actions Response rates Email opt-in Seminar attendance Inbound calls Requests for information Referrals Testimonials 17/19

Bringing it all Together Transforming your marketing from interruption to engagement 18/19

Go-to-Market Process 19/19 Brand Strategy Positioning + USP Design Ambassadors (online/offline) Monitoring Buyer Personas Demographics Needs/interests Pain points Motivators Buying cycle Media channels Where to find Engagement Social media calendar Grassroots calendar Earned media Email Lead nurturing Measure Results Financial Behavioral Feedback 19/19