The world of online and the changing customer journey
There has been some interesting thoughts raised recently on the changing relationship between businesses and their customers as more and more people look to online channels as a primary source of information. According to a recent survey of 5,003 consumers by Google, 84% of respondents said that online feedback and research helped to influence their purchase decisions, suggesting that online is becoming more influential in a customer’s decision making process, with obvious implications for marketing for businesses.
As Google goes on to further explain, the traditional “First Moment of Truth” i.e. when a customer first interacts with a brand through a product on a shop shelf, has now become more like the “Zero Moment Of Truth”, a stage of decision making when the customer is assessing a product’s value and drawing on their own information before even going near any marketing from the business. As a result, Google says businesses need to look at new ways to engage consumers at a much earlier stage of the decision making process than they do currently. This is where PR can add real value to the marketing mix; since engaging with issues of concern to customers while subtly presenting a solution in the form of a company’s product offering is something that PR is very good at. Online forums, blogs, comment pieces, video and an ever growing list of social media platforms are all contributing to the decision making process, meaning PR will have to play a more a more diverse role and cast a wider net to reach the right audience.
Of all the new online channels that customers utilise to inform their decisions, social is by far creating the most change, with consumers now engaging with brands directly over social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook. Some organisations have looked to promoted tweets and Facebook posts to get their messages out there, but still run into the same issue presented by advertising over editorial in print media i.e. users are much less likely to pay attention to promoted tweets than normal messages in their feed. A one way line of messaging via social media also has limited effect to engage consumers and this includes simply updating a business profile with messages and content. Businesses using social the right way realise they need to create a conversation to engage their audience and promote their business, and PR is now providing a greater role to help them achieve this.
Through managing a company’s social media messaging PRs can make sure they are engaging with the issues that are of interest to their client’s audience, as well as conveying key client messages and creating a conversation around new products and services. PR can also can play an invaluable role in managing a crisis over social media, since a suitably controversial story on Twitter now has the potential to damage a company’s reputation in a matter of minutes rather than months or years. Responding quickly and effectively when a crisis looms on social media can go a long way to limit the damage to a brand’s reputation and alleviate the concerns of customers, with an end result on the bottom line.
The combined effect of online and social has meant it is a very interesting time to be working in the PR industry. In coming years the role of PR within the wider marketing process will become more diverse, but what will remain key throughout are the skills that currently remain at the heart of good PR practice. The aim of promoting the client’s interests while retaining interest from customers is still the same, but the ways in which this is achieved may become much more diverse in years to come.