Consumer-centric organizations are known to do
all they can to engage with their customers and proactively cater to their
needs. Often these will include product/service updates, social communications,
systems to support consumer-centric strategies, etc. However, it is easy to feel
burdened with multi-directional pulls on your consumer-centric strategy as
tactical urgencies evolve in any business cycle. Keeping a framework of key
consumer touch points is imperative in such situations to stay focused and
continue to deliver on the promise of better than excellent engagement. I categorize
these core consumer touch points into 3 areas – the 3 C’s of Consumer Centricity.
- Content – what does a consumer see about your brand, products, services? Are you developing content that clearly communicates and reinforces the value of your products and services? Does this content remind the consumer how valuable their relationship is to the brand and vice-versa? Whether a consumer is using your products or not, we need to evolve our content strategy such that it caters to consumer need for information, before and after they make a purchase decision, and at the time of purchase, you will typically get the nod.
- Choice – Do we offer choice in our products and services? Is our product strategy in-tune with the evolving market dynamics, namely, technological changes, consumer usage behaviors, market expectations, etc.? After we have successfully attracted consumer attention, we need to ensure we are ready to live up to the promise – great product and service. As and when consumers mature and place their trust in your brand, you need to be able to offer a portfolio that goes beyond the core product(s) and allows the customer to strengthen the bond.
- Community – Speaking of bonding with brand, what better way than to draw customers into your community. Do you have a community that not only caters to customer queries, but also, provides valuable information to enhance your products/services? Social revolution has brought about a radical shift in organizations’ communications tactics, as to how frequently and what do consumers need to know. We need to proactively build this into our marketing strategy and invest in right resources to maintain it and keep it current.
As we all know, consumer life-cycle starts well
before they become our customers, and continues well beyond their first
purchase. The 3 C’s provide a marketer’s view into this life-cycle and by creating
the planning tools within this framework may just help simplify analysis,
refine your marketing/communications strategies, maximize ROIs and contribute
to your maturing as a consumer-centric organization.
