Mass market, nano media: The future of marketing is engagement

A couple of weeks ago, I spoke about the future of engagement at AdWorld 2022.

If you were there, you probably left excited about the evolving world of marketing. If you didn’t make it, we’ve put together a recap so you can catch up on what you missed. Here are the top takeaways.

The age of mass media marketing and advertising is over

In 2022, we can no longer separate digital and physical business. Every business is an internet business, and as a result, is having to adapt to rapidly changing environments and concepts like:

• Atomized audiences: Internet business means global, multicultural audiences. The one-size-fits-all approach is lost on customers that increasingly value individualization.
• Atomized media: There are more channels than ever, and brands are scrambling to tailor their message to suit each one.
• Everyone is a network: Technology gives customers the power to control the content and messages they consume – it’s getting harder for brands to break through the noise and resonate with individuals.

All of this makes brand awareness more expensive to build, and brand loyalty more difficult to maintain.

The message is the medium

There are so many channels to reach your customers – your product, site, or app is the best one of all. Think of your product as not just a destination, but a two-way media channel for your customers – one that speaks directly to who they are and what they need. It’s a channel that can cater to each customer using the information you already have about them.

The future is engagement

Everybody is “doing engagement”, but few are doing it right. Building touchpoints, extending offers, and increasing personalization are all important steps, but they don’t amount to true engagement. As third-party data and cookies make an exit, businesses need a new way to learn about their customers – and use that information in the smartest, most effective ways.

“Engagement means delivering the right message to the right person, in the right way, at the right time”

Increasing channels is not the same as increasing engagement

Gartner defines engagement as the process of engaging with customers across varied channels to develop and strengthen a relationship with them. Traditionally, too much emphasis has been placed on the channels when what really matters is the engagement: delivering the right message, to the right person, in the right way, at the right time.

That means reaching your customers while they’re already thinking about your brand – on your site, or in your app or product. Done right, engagement is the ultimate use of technology in marketing.

Engagement is about your most important metric: Net Retention Rate

Engagement helps to close sales, resolve customer issues, and convert more effectively – but it’s about much more than that. It’s about increasing your Net Retention Rate (NRR).

Acquiring new customers is time-consuming and expensive, and meanwhile customer loyalty continues to fall. The easiest way to grow is by relying on your existing customers; they know you, and you know them – who they are and what they need.

Shaping your martech stack around engagement opens up countless possibilities for you and your customers. It means working from a single source of customer data, so every interaction is more personal, relevant, and engaging; and ensuring interconnection between sales, marketing, and support teams so that you never miss an opportunity for an upsell.

• Sales can seamlessly tap support for technical help on a pitch
• Support might find the best answer to an issue is an upgrade, and introduce the Sales team to implement
• Marketing can distribute surveys that automatically trigger actions in the business

When customer engagement becomes everyone’s business, retention becomes second nature. Everyone works in sync to grow and retain customer relationships, driving a better NRR. That means more growth, lower costs, and more secure revenue streams.

Now is the time to commit to engagement

The next decade calls for a new martech stack; one that offers a centralized platform for customer data and breaks down silos between functions. Markets and media channels are becoming more fragmented every day – transitioning from awareness-driven marketing to engagement-driven marketing has never been more important.

Are you ready to embrace engagement-driven marketing, sales, and support? Intercom is the Engagement OS: the customer communications platform that enables the most critical component of the modern customer journey, ongoing engagement; from acquiring to onboarding, activating, supporting, and beyond.

Learn more about the Engagement OS