The unspoken habit

We go through our daily lives doing the things we do so well, unknowingly we fill our days with hundreds of habits. I have the same breakfast every morning, a slice of toast with butter – I doubt that will change anytime soon. But maybe one day it could or should change?

The change from one habit to another is where the magic lies. Marketeers have a window of opportunity to break those habits and create new ones, from consumers buying their competitors’ products to consumers buying their products.

The understanding of consumer habits has become ever so important in today’s society, with increasing digital platforms and social media taking the forefront in the daily lives of consumers. The power of habit is huge, yet often left ignored and seen as the unspoken marketing principle. The simplicity of habits may be the exact reason why they become faded into the background, but now it’s time to listen up and pay attention.

How can I pay attention?

There are few moments in people’s lives where habits change, but capturing those moments in marketing campaigns can make a big difference. Those moments can be anything from changing jobs to having a baby, get it right and you can form consumer habits that last for the long haul.

Despite new habits only occurring on rare occasions, there’s room for more opportunity when advertisers begin to observe habits closely. For instance, most of the time consumers do not make informed decisions about purchases, they simply buy through habit. Companies must understand this sense of maintaining the status quo and avoid challenging it. As for competitors, you must effectively disrupt this status quo and show consumers what else is available, to break the habits of a lifetime.

An example of paying attention to habits is explained by mobile business director Steve Wing who told the audience at Marketing Week Live that news consumption is heavily dominated by mobile apps in the morning, whereas Facebook and Guardian.co.uk are used more frequently during lunchtimes. These specific schedules highlight consumers habits falling into place, news corporations are now paying attention to these routines and marketing their content on different platforms at different times of the day to adhere to these consumer needs.

As Laurence Green writes “The bottom line is this: brand owners will profit from a better understanding of the consumer habits at play in their category”.

 

Progress or the Emperor’s new clothes?

Earlier this week I was in a car being driven to the airport when I noticed that the rear-view mirror had been replaced by a screen linked to a camera somewhere on the back of the car. The screen was located where the rear-view mirror would normally have been, and was the same size and shape.

And that got me to thinking! What is the cost differential between fitting a small piece of mirrored glass versus a complex system of cameras and screens? After all, both deliver exactly the same benefit – of being able to see what is behind you. And at what point did someone decide that a camera and screen would be better than the less expensive mirror?

Now I could understand it more if the screen played DVDs or offered a heads-up display of the satellite navigation, but no, it was just a replacement for the rear-view mirror.

I wonder if the innovation was the result of some market research, although I sadly doubt it! I can’t imagine anyone suggested this as the one thing that would encourage them to buy the car more than if it simply had a mirror!

Sadly this is a prime example of either market research being retro-fitted to justify a product development by the manufacturer, or technology being used for the sake of technology – just because it exists.

And the same can be said in brand marketing. We hear a lot about social media being the only way to grow brands – every brand needs a Facebook page or Twitter feed. Classic marketing techniques are being discarded in pursuit of ‘technological progress’. But I would recommend caution before we all abandon tried and trusted techniques in favour of this new wave of technology.

Please don’t think for one minute I am suggesting social media has NO place in the world of modern marketing – of course it does! It can be, with the right brands, a hugely successful and powerful medium. But that doesn’t necessarily mean it is the most appropriate for ALL brands. It may be that other routes will work better for your brand, or that it should be part of the overall mix but not the main element.

For example, you may find that sampling via healthcare professionals is a critical driver of brand sales. It’s not sexy! But it works! So before we divert budget out of this activity, we need to be sure that the alternative works at least as well.

I’m not advocating we stand in the way of progress – I think we should embrace new technologies if they are right for our brands and our customers.

With healthcare brands our focus should be on patient/sufferer outcomes. If we can genuinely say that adopting new technology can improve patient/sufferer outcomes then let’s embrace it.

If it’s a case of replacing a cost-effective rear-view mirror with a complex and expensive camera and screen, which does EXACTLY the same thing at several times the price then maybe, just maybe we should think twice.

Our top tips for Dental Marketing

Ever wondered what the best way is to communicate with the public on oral health issues? How to approach dental professionals? Or create lasting client relationships?

We have the answers right here! We’ve been busy devising a list of top dental marketing tips from our lovely owners, Ed and Tracy, who really know their stuff.

So here it is in all its glory…

1. No hard selling! Create a symbiotic relationship with your client – one that benefits the both of you. Aim to visit your client on a regular basis, to build up your face-to-face communication. The more they see you in person, the more they will trust you.

2. Present the evidence – if you are making claims about a product in your marketing campaigns consider the evidence being presented. Ask yourself – is the evidence accurate and relevant?

3. Always explain the patient benefits of your service or product – dentistry is focused on patient outcomes, therefore if you are offering a better patient outcome it will set you apart from your competitors.

4. Be prepared for it to take time! It takes time for dental professionals to adopt new technology, products etc. Taking small steps will lead to outcomes in time – don’t expect miracles to work overnight.

5. Get social – the web is a fantastic, free resource. You can utilise this tool to promote your brand and identity, interact with existing and potential patients or clients and inform others of your expertise in dentistry. Integrate a blog, website and social media accounts into your marketing plans and watch the virtual world meet the real world.

There you have it, our top tips for dental marketing. For more tips and advice follow us @stockdalemartin.

Tweet Tweet

Everyone’s talking about ‘it’ and doing ‘it’ but really what’s all the fuss about? Can the dental world really benefit from Twitter or is it just another fad?

A recent study by Heaivilin et al, 2011 titled Public Health Surveillance of Dental Pain via Twitter (for the full article – http://bit.ly/rfYn4N) found that there is potential to use social media to measure public health data.

The study consisted of analysing a total of randomly selected 772 tweets from an original 4,859 tweets over seven non-consecutive days. All 772 tweets examined included reference to dental pain and the impact it had on the Twitter user’s life. Of the tweets 83% were in relation to general dental pain, 44% of the tweets reported seeing a dentist and 14% actively sought advice from the Twitter community. Despite 14% being a low percentage in comparison to the other results, it does highlight an area in which dental professionals have an opportunity to capture their audience through social media.

For example, a quick search on Twitter of the word ‘dentist’ and this pops up ‘I am scared of the dentist and have an appnmt tomorrow, am a nervous wreck, any good ideas for help out in Twitterland’. This example highlights a perfect opportunity for a dentist to spark a conversation with the user and help to restore their faith in dentists. Creating conversations like these will build-up a rapport with patients in the online world, trust is then built, resulting in word-of-mouth recommendations. Searches can also be specifically tailored to your potential target audience, meaning results are even more effective. Offering knowledge and advice in the social world is key to creating a relationship with patients, particularly the younger generation. So what are you waiting for, tweet away!

A Nation of Communicators

The recent recession has given all of us cause to re-evaluate our marketing budgets and consider where cuts might be made. For those debating whether to trim down or abandon online and social media marketing activity, though, a new report produced by the Office of Communications (Ofcom) offers food for thought.

The report, published today, examines the availability, uptake and use of communications technologies and services in the UK and 16 other countries (including France, Italy, Spain and Japan) and aims to provide concrete information on the British communications sector as a basis for future government policy development. For the marketing-minded, however, it also provides substantial insights into the behaviour of communications consumers- including the much-coveted 18-24 market.

Young people in the UK, the report concludes, are among the earliest global adopters of smartphones and mobile internet technologies. More than half of Britons aged 18-24 routinely access the internet via devices other than a desktop PC, while around 45% of the same group are likely to use their mobile phones to visit social networking sites. 86% of 18-24s overall are identified as online social network users- suggesting that, for any organisation keen to market its goods or services, social media tools are a particularly effective means of initiating dialogue with young people, wherever they are.

The UK, the report observes, also spends more money online than any other European nation. UK-based internet users make more web purchases than users from neighbouring countries, paying an annual average of £1031 per user for online goods and services- a statistic which surely demonstrates the logic of organisations and corporate bodies investing at least a portion of their marketing budget in a functional, attractive and user-friendly web presence.

Most interestingly, the report also indicates a strong unwillingness on the part of UK residents to sacrifice internet and communications technology access, even amid the recession. British people of all ages were found to be reticent to cut back on communications (and particularly broadband) expenditure, even when cutbacks to other non-essential and luxury items were deemed necessary. Between 29-51% of those surveyed, for example, anticipated reductions in spending on holidays, while 39-56% predicted spending less on nights out over the next 12 months. Only 6-7% anticipated reducing their spending on broadband services- again suggesting consumer attachment to web-based services, and so the possibility of reaching individual consumers through online marketing means.

As the presence of this blog- and of our website and Twitter account- perhaps demonstrate, we at Stockdale Martin invest heavily in the development of a strong online profile, and in the communication technologies which facilitate this development. Given the findings of the Ofcom report, we can only encourage other organisations and businesses to do the same.