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Why not work more than marketing?
The question that has plagued retailers over the last decade is: "Why marketing did not work? There is no single answer, but rather a combination of social changes and technological advances that have conspired to disconnect consumers from vendors. In response to this trend, marketers must change their approach to marketing communications. Let me give you a quick overview some of the changes in our society and technology and the unintended consequences for sellers who loosed, and a hint of what you can do to reconnect so creatively with their customers.
The days of placing an ad or post an offer to your target audience then wait for the phone to ring off the hook with orders for a hearse for several reasons. First, the average consumer (and businessman) is subjected to over 3000 advertising messages per day. These messages, due to saturation, have become background noise. Some sellers mistakenly believe if you just shout louder and more frequently with their messages advertising will cut through the clutter. In fact, only create more noise and contribute to the rapid decrease in the effectiveness of advertising is for everyone. You simply can not spend its way to domination of the mark.
Secondly, businesses and the media grew accustomed to being the only ones speaking, as a lecture format. Call it the "Monologue of marketing" – we talk, consumers listen. Today is a conversation, and its happening real time. Technological advances have, for the first time in history, enabled the consumer to search and filter what they see and hear. The remote, Tivo, spam filters, satellite radio, cable television programming, pay-per-view, do not call lists, caller ID, etc act individually as personal convenience, but collectively they are a bullet-proof armor against unsolicited advertising.
Third, as a society, we have changed. According to media giant EW Scripps, readers of print publications has declined from more than twenty years, and is at its lowest point. As a people, just Do not Read. We get our information, in abbreviated form "sound bites" of the Internet or other sources designed to provide high shear fragments of information, while our young men bury their faces in an Xbox, or spend their time instant messaging their friends. We have in effect made inaccessible to us same media.
Finally, and most critically, consumers do not trust sellers to tell the truth. No matter how many Sometimes a poster screams "New and Improved!" Consumers just do not think its true. And in many cases, are correct. Traders have been destroyed over time confidence consumer through exaggerated marketing speak "and the creative manipulation of the facts. Consumers have learned to trust each other, not vendors.
In February 2006 Advertising Age, Jonah Bloom writes that 90% of consumers rely on recommendations from fellow consumers, " while confidence in the various forms of advertising ranges from about 40% to less than 10%. This would suggest that the simplistic marketing strategy based on payment of printing , or broadcast of advertising messages, or even an agreement to pay per click is a complete waste of time and money. paid advertising still has its place in marketing strategy integrated, but only in a supporting role.
What portends for the advertising industry? John Stratton, vice president of marketing, "said Verizon Wireless recently in a speech entitled: "New rules of engagement" delivered in New York, 'The failure of traditional marketing solutions has thousands of millions of dollars in advertising budgets at stake. Last year I spent over one billion dollars in the purchase of space, time, beating the air and clicks through a multitude of media. So if you have been selling me these things, then you need to know that I am not happy. And I'm not alone. '
The battle for market share is to be won through the delivery of canned messages to your target audience through mass media, but rather to establish its credibility and trust in the brand with their customers and make them speak positively about you. This takes time and dedication and a different approach.
Join the Conversation
So how does a seller reach an audience that has emotionally and physically isolated themselves intrusive advertising messages? Answer: leave to be intrusive and join the conversation!
Today, successful marketing is not what you say about yourself, but what is said about you by others. Word of mouth advertising is the oldest and still the most effective advertising available. And new technology has made this simple form of communication exponentially more effectively through text messages, e-mail distribution, chat rooms, forums, message boards, RSS, Web sites and blogs.
Word of the techniques of mouth marketing has many names: viral marketing, marketing evangelist, and buzz marketing are just a few. Author Mark Hughes defines technique as "capture the attention of consumers and media to the point of talking about your brand becomes entertaining, fascinating and interesting journalism. A conversation starter. "Big word of mouth marketing gets people telling other people about your company, product or service. The Word of mouth is pure communication is face to face and compete with any other means. It is absolutely believable and instantly because the source of information is a fellow consumer confidence.
The crux of mouth advertising is giving people something to talk about your product, service or experience. But there can be any subject, or blatantly self-serving. Instead, you must tell a story that is meaningful to your audience, and also positions your brand in the center of the conversation. Because the story is meaningful to your audience, so it is something new for the media to serve the public, they recognize the value of their readers or audience will find broadcast in history. This value is transferred to the media, resulted in a greater number readership, circulation improved and more widely available. Basically his message resonates with the public purpose and the media offered.
Word of mouth marketing by any name that is relevant to the target, strategically leveraged the media, and supported with carefully placed paid advertising, you can overcome traditional marketing communication tactics for ten times. So, what is your story?
About the Author
Dale Justice is a Partner of Justice & Young, a Cincinnati marketing and public relations firm.
Cincinnati’s Conscience™-The Newsletter, Vol I (the PREMIERE): The Sidekick Interview