Moving Beyond the Sale: How Marketing 4.0 Shapes Customer Engagement and Advocacy
Lately, I've been diving into Marketing 4.0 by Philip Kotler, and it's reshaping the way I think about the entire customer journey. Traditionally, marketers focus heavily on the sales cycle guiding customers from awareness to the act of purchasing. However, Kotler highlights an often overlooked but crucial phase: transforming customers from first-time buyers into loyal advocates.
In today's digital economy, advocacy is amplified exponentially by mobile connectivity and social media communities, making it a powerful stage that sets digital marketing apart from traditional methods.
The Power of Advocacy in the Digital Age
Converting customers into advocates involves ongoing engagement, and Kotler reveals three key techniques proven to boost this connection:
Mobile Apps: Serving as convenient and personalized channels, apps create seamless interactions and enrich the customer experience.
Social CRM: Leveraging social media to hold real-time conversations, solve problems, and build relationships.
Gamification: Employing game mechanics to drive customer behavior and loyalty.
These techniques are most effective when combined, creating a holistic and engaging brand experience.
Enhancing Experiences with Mobile Apps
Smartphones have become nearly ubiquitous. According to the Ericsson Mobility Report, by 2020 over 70% of the global population owned smartphones, which they use for everything from social media to self-service.
Top brands now use apps not only as content platforms but also as self-service tools and integrated product experiences. For example:
L'Oréal's Makeup Genius app uses augmented reality to show customers how cosmetics will look on them.
Toyota's Financial Services app lets users manage payments seamlessly.
The My BMW Remote app integrates with the car itself, allowing functions like unlocking and locating the vehicle.
Building an effective app requires understanding customer pain points, designing user-friendly interfaces, and seamless backend integration with physical outlets and services.
Driving Loyalty Through Gamification
Gamification taps into human desires for achievement and recognition. From airline frequent-flyer programs to TripAdvisor's badge system, rewarding customers for engagement strengthens brand affinity.
Kotler emphasizes gamification's role in:
Encouraging continuous interactions.
Providing measurable, budget-friendly incentives.
Collecting rich customer data for personalized marketing.
This alignment with digital technologies makes gamification a cornerstone of modern engagement strategies.
Engaging Customers with Social CRM
Social media isn't just for marketing messages anymore. Kotler points out how social CRM involves listening, engaging, and resolving customer concerns in real-time, turning interactions into advocacy. Unlike traditional CRM, social CRM operates 24/7 with conversational, multi-directional dialogue.
Successful social CRM requires:
Social listening tools to filter actionable conversations and potential crises.
Skilled social CRM agents empowered to respond empathetically.
Loyal advocates within communities who help moderate and support peer interactions.
Reading Marketing 4.0 has deepened my understanding that closing the sale is only the beginning. To thrive in the digital economy, brands must foster advocacy by creating engaging apps, offering attentive social CRM, and building loyalty through gamification all while learning from leading global brands that excel in these strategies.