Marketing that breaks through all the other messages consumers are bombarded with every day and resonates with consumers is built on insights obtained by listening, said Andrew Grinch, content director, Woodruff Sweitzer, at Petfood Forum 2017 on April 4 in Kansas City, Missouri, USA. Grinch outlined four steps pet food marketers should follow.
1. Listening to gather data
Listening to feedback about what your customers are saying from your sales, customer service and quality assurance personnel should just be the first step in the data gathering process. Grinch said your social media accounts and website can provide customer comments as well as analytics on what content is getting interaction.
Monitoring chatter on social media outside your channels is important as well. You need to track what customers are saying about you and your competitors. What are they discussing on forums? What are they saying to their followers?
2. Sorting through the data
After gathering data from all your sources, the next step is to sort through or filter the data to find insights. Grinch said an insight is a newly discovered truth about your target market that inspires opportunities to set your business apart from competitors.
The first step in filtering data is to consider the source, is it credible, influential, thought provoking and/or forward looking? If something is it thought provoking or forward looking, even if the source isn’t influential or credible, you might consider it.
Next, you should categorize the data and put it into buckets with shared characteristics. The third step in filtering is to consider the frequency at which a given topic came up. You might think that topics with the highest frequency of mentions will provide the most significant insights for your pet food marketing program, but Grinch said that sometimes low frequency items can provide the best opportunities. You are trying to differentiate yourself from the competition with something unique, not follow the herd.
Andrew Grinch, content director, Woodruff Sweitzer | Terrence O'Keefe
3. Match your insights with experts
Once you have identified your insights, you want to identify your internal experts who are knowledgeable about the insight topics. Grinch said the best experts will be passionate, knowledgeable and able to break complex concepts into understandable explanations. Experts won’t always be expert marketers, they may not be the usual suspects, he said. You want to get your experts talking while keeping them in their comfort zones.
4. Create breakthrough marketing
You want to pick a pet food marketing strategy where your expert can shine though. If your expert is a good speaker, do a video or get them on an agenda at a conference. If they are a good writer, let them write an article. The goal is to develop your story using the trusted source your customers can identify with the most: a credible expert.
Petfood Forum 2018
Petfood Forum 2017 was held April 3-5 in Kansas City, Missouri, USA. Petfood Forum 2018 will take place at the Kansas City Convention Center in Kansas City on April 23-25, 2018.
