'Online conversations' seen as vital
Controlling online conversations and stimulating good product reviews are playing important roles in consumers' purchasing journeys on top of key messages through mass media and effective promotions on the product shelves, a digital-marketing expert sugge
There is a lot of research suggesting that before making any purchase, today’s consumers are likely to search for product details online, watching product-demonstration videos, reading comments and reviews, and listening to their friends’ and family members’ references.
“We describe this key process as the zero moment of truth,” said Komson Asawanuchit, managing director of Concept Plays Marketing Solution, a digital-marketing consulting firm.
After seeing key messages via mass media such as television commercials, radio advertisements and printed ads, consumers who are interested in the products or services might start learning more via their connected devices – smartphones, tablets or personal computers.
Komson said that in the past, consumers would be lured by advertisements to product shelves and then make a decision whether or not to buy.
“Buying patterns and purchasing journeys now have changed, particularly in the ‘zero moment of truth’. To be prepared for this, brands should have a proper digital-marketing strategy to control online conversations and messages or stories around their products,” he said.
Content marketing should be made a key strategy. Brands should have their own influencers and thought leaders as brand guardians in social media to create good stories of the brands and perhaps protect the brands when a crisis occurs. These positive messages should be made easy to reach by target consumers via a search strategy.
The company should understand that video is another kind of easily digested content providing entertainment for consumers.
Apart from controlling online conversations, communication strategies using in-store media are also crucial to the purchasing path of customers.
“Our study based on Tesco Clubcard members suggested that 76 per cent of customers made their decisions at the shelf and 80 per cent were influenced by retailers’ media to purchase one or two more items on their last shopping trip,” said Teeradet Dumrongbhalasitr, head of Dunnhumby (Thailand)’s Connect Media. Dunnhumby is a global customer-science company.
Therefore, using attractive promotions and effective media at purchasing points also helps consumers make a purchase, he said.
