This month we read about the the ways that consumer experiences are predicted to evolve this year, how our industry should keep marketing front-of-mind as innovations proliferate, and why businesses should slow down to consider consumer psychology–and not get so swept up in what’s new that they lose sight of what works.
5 Technologies That Are Reshaping Customer Experience
CMO by Adobe/Giselle Abramovich
RealSelf CEO Tom Seery has discussed how “Uberized” consumer experiences with cutting-edge technologies have influenced their expectations across the board–including with aesthetics providers. Uber has conditioned consumers to expect rapid responses, on-demand service, and a near frictionless experience with the businesses they interact with.
But of course, consumer technologies did not stop evolving with Uber. CMO.com recently laid out the five technologies they think will most influence consumer experiences in 2019.
Why Great Innovation Needs Great Marketing
Harvard Business Review/Denise Lee Yohn
Yohn unpacks the root of the term “marketing”—which literally means “creating markets”–to make a case for why businesses should think more expansively about the marketing function, especially when they’re innovating. While the tactical functions of marketing are critical for acquiring patients, it’s also important to consider how marketing can grow the overall universe of potential aesthetics patients through education and awareness building. “Understanding people’s fundamental needs and drivers, identifying customers, and developing the entire go-to-market and usage ecosystem are the essential aspects of marketing—and the ones that the success of innovations, especially breakthrough ones, hinge upon.”
6 Powerful Psychological Biases and How They Influence Human Behavior Online
Buffer/Brian Peters and Hailey Griffis
Social media management platform Buffer’s podcast, The Science of Marketing, tackled the intersection of marketing and psychology, and specifically the way consumers’ biases affect their reaction to marketing messages (both for good and for bad). Co-host Brian Peters noted that in addition to being aware of consumer biases, “it’s also really interesting to be able to pinpoint your own cognitive biases to be aware of what goes into your decisions, judgements, and opinions,” in particular because those biases can engender assumptions that diminish the effectiveness of your marketing.
Martech and Mindfulness
Chief Marketing Technologist Blog/Scott Brinker
Do mindfulness and marketing go together? ChiefMarTech.com’s Scott Brinker argues that they should. At a time when tactics abound and technologies are constantly evolving, Brinker advises slowing down, being present, and approaching marketing challenges with a fresh mind. “[I]t’s exactly because of the chaos that mindfulness is a worthwhile concept to bring to marketing technology management. The principles of mindfulness can help bring clarity and perspective to the frenetic pace of change happening across our industry and within our own organizations.” (The Harvard Business Review article Brinker cites as inspiration for his post, How Mindfulness Can Help Engineers Solve Problems, is also worth reading.)
Loud Voices vs. Important Ones
Seth’s Blog/Seth Godin
Grappling with a testy interaction with a prospect or patient? While complaints or bad reviews should be listened to and reckoned with, marketing guru Seth Godin recommends being mindful about how who is doing the complaining. Don’t assume the loudest are the most representative or important–and think about ways to pursue the points of view of patients who may be satisfied, but silent. “Spend a lot of time listening to the loudest complaints and you will elevate those voices to importance, because you’re no longer carefully listening to the more easily overlooked constituents.”
