Marketing Communications in the Twinsumer Future

“Another nail in the coffin of traditional marketing.” Hmm. Thats how trendwatching.com describes the so-called Twinsumer trend—customers relying on purchasing advice from like-minded fellow consumers they don’t know personally but are connected to via virtual communities, collaborative filtering software, and online personal profiles.

You’ve probably had a taste of this via your favorite e-commerce and news sites (e.g., “People who have purchased/listened to/traveled to your selection have also…”). According to Amazon.com, responses to recommendations based on collaborative filtering “vastly exceed” those of more traditional promotions. And according to trendwatching.com, we’re still at the beginning of the Twinsumer phenomenon, with more sophisticated tools and communities fast coming online. But so what? Does this really matter for marketing technology services and solutions for business?

Well, yes. Word of mouth is enormously important for business buyers. IT services buyers have always relied on references and recommendations from trusted colleagues and advisors; that reliance has only increased in a time of information overload. In fact, ITSMA’s latest buyer behavior study, Connecting with Customers, shows that 35% of buyers cited recommendations and references as their most important information source about services providers, compared with only 17% or far fewer citing other sources such as the Web, analyst firms, sales calls, advertisements, or research.

Meanwhile, the Internet explosion is dramatically amplifying that word of mouth for business buyers by facilitating much wider and deeper online conversations among buyers and influencers. According to Rachelle Spero, vice president of Digital Influence Group, the “new spheres of influence” for technology marketers include online executive communities, business reputation aggregators, and the spreading-like-wildfire blogosphere.

Buyers of your services and solutions are checking you out on the Web, talking to their peers, listening to your critics, and gathering input from an endless array of online sources—and you are probably paying too little attention to this conversational whirl that can make or break your sales and reputation.

In other words, the Twinsumer trend has a business analogue and technology marketers would do well to consider the implications.

Practically speaking, three C’s become central to marcom success.

• Content. Thought leadership is a hot topic in marketing these days, but too often companies fail to invest adequately in developing and communicating their ideas. What is called thought leadership is often thinly disguised product or service pitches, which have little appeal for prospective customers. But clear ideas about business and technology challenges, well researched and developed, help engage potential buyers, deliver real value, and provide context for specific offers. The best ideas actually spread themselves, and you reap the benefits.

• Conversation. Shifting from monologue to dialogue is critical. No technology company has all the answers, and your customers know that. They’re not interested in a lecture or a sales pitch, but they do want to talk…if you have good ideas and demonstrate a commitment to collaboration. The growing appeal of blogging for business comes precisely from its encouragement of more “real” interaction with customers, employees, partners, and others. Especially as we contend with longer and more complex buying cycles for more elaborate solutions, building ongoing dialogues is the only way to create the confidence and trust it takes to make a sale.

• Community. The greatest challenges in IT today demand the most substantial collaboration. Businesses looking to improve customer loyalty, refine their supply chains, secure their information and networks, and otherwise use technology for competitive advantage are tapping into increasingly powerful networks of expertise to understand their options and possibilities. Marketers in this environment have two important goals: join and contribute to those existing communities that prove so influential in buyer thinking and action, and host and build your own communities of influence around the key issues and markets you serve.

Ultimately, marketers need to think differently about marketing communications in a digital word of mouth world. The emerging reality is that marketers have less and less control over their messages and how they make their way through cyberspace. Rather than fretting about that loss, marketers should instead focus on participating in and influencing the much larger discussions that shape customer thinking.

IBM’s new guidelines for company bloggers get at this newer approach by encouraging IBMers to blog for two main reasons: to learn and to contribute. Rethinking all our communication programs from the perspective of learning and contributing will go a long way toward success in the Twinsumer future.

Is the Twinsumer phenomenon for real? Does it matter for IT services and solutions? What are you doing to rethink marketing communications?

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ITSMA specializes in helping companies market and sell services and solutions more effectively. We work with the world's leading technology, communications, and professional services providers to generate increased demand, strengthen customer relationships, and improve brand differentiation. ITSMA annual program clients include business leaders such as AT&T, Cisco, Deloitte, EMC, Fujitsu, Hewlett-Packard, IBM, Microsoft, SAP, and Tata Consultancy Services, among others. Our comprehensive research, consulting, and training on topics including ITSMA Account-Based Marketing℠, Brand Positioning, and Solutions Development provide the insight and experience companies need to improve business results. ITSMA is based near Boston, and has offices in London and Tokyo. Learn more at www.itsma.com.