Much has been made of the convergence of Search and Social of late. Generally the frame of reference is somewhat limited – the implications for Digital Advertising. The challenge to Marketers, though, is bigger than simply to adjust allocations of the 1%-8% of total ad spend that might flow to Digital.
Search + Digital constitute Digital Power tools for consumers – and game changers for Marketers trying to reach them.
Can you imagine buying a car, planning a vacation, shopping for a new Fridge without tapping the on-demand expertise afforded by Search and Social platforms? It’s a question we don’t even consider, because Search and Social Media are woven right into our buying process. If I was in the market for a baby stroller 20-years ago, I would have polled neighborhood parents and friends with young children, formed an opinion, reviewed Yellow Pages listings, and visited a store or two. Today, I’d still talk to friends, but I would also visit a half-dozen of the top parenting social sites and immediately access the expertise of the planet rather than rely on the smarts of my immediate community. And while I’d certainly launch a few Search queries, I’d be far more interested in the road-tested opinions of real parents than the lab-refined predictions of Google’s algorithm.
The only shocking feature of this narrative is that while my behavior as a consumer bears scant resemblance to patterns of years past, Marketers cling to the same old playbooks with marginal adjustments at best.
But Madison Avenue keeps right on ticking…
Digital Power Tools afford massive innovation opportunities for Marketers, too, but with isolated exceptions, Marketers have responded by finding new places to advertise and rarely finding alternatives to advertising. In other words, with each unit of ad inventory proving less effective, the “logical” response has been to buy more inventory. Beyond digital, even, “innovation” has focused on inventory creation, so we now can enjoy advertising on pizza boxes, coffee cups, dry cleaner bags, park benches, bathroom stalls, etc. Just this week I spotted a cement truck spinning for ESPN Radio as it poured a fresh stretch of Seattle sidewalk. How innovative, I guess.
Think Different:
The fundamental implication of Digital Power Tools is this: the historic asymmetry of information (primarily about true product cost and quality) has been obliterated. 15-years ago a consumer dared into an auto dealership with far more fear than information. Today, she struts in with the deal she wants in-hand, ready to strike a deal on the terms she wants or head elsewhere. That’s a massive power shift. And yet, have auto manufacturers fundamentally changed their go-to-market strategies? Not so much. Generally, they have simply tweaked their 30-second spots to sound a mite bit more buyer-friendly.
A Great Leap Forward:
With the altered balance of power between “buyers” and “sellers”, marketers face a profound challenge. In a world in which consumers received much of their product information from Marketers, Marketers could comfortably focus on their primary job of “Selling”. Digital Power Tools have armed Consumers with powerful information resources. The biggest challenge marketers face is to abandon outdated mental models built around uninformed consumers. In simple terms, this translates into a shift of focus from Media Efficiencies (getting the message out cheaply) to a focus on Consumers’ job of “buying”. Successful Marketing will aim to perform a service, to help consumers fulfill needs and desires. Marketers need to do more than change their ad copy. They need a whole new Playbook. And pumping display ads into Facebook is hardly the way to start.
