Brand Strategists: 3 effective ways to keep consumers engaged in the age of technology

As a Brand Strategist in the age of technology, it is becoming increasingly imperative to ensure that new developments in technology don’t alienate your consumers from your brand. As a graduate student of Integrated Marketing Communications at Northwestern Medill interested in brand-consumer relationships, I have found two articles on technological trends and their implications that you will find interesting.

In the article Hourglass brands and blurred reality: The top 5 trends for marketers in 2017 published on Campaign US, Mark Curtis, Fjord’s Chief Client Officer, writes about the predominant undercurrents identified in the Fjord trends 2017 report. In this article, Mark Curtis describes the influence that emergent technologies will have on marketing, customers, and society, and the shifts marketers need to make to form new types of relationships with their customers. He also stresses the importance of staying in touch with technologies and practices, and devising flexible strategies to reach, engage, and captivate audiences.

Image source: Hakisa

In the article Why the Most Important Word in 2017 Will Be ‘Experience’ published on Adweek, David Shing, Digital Prophet at AOL, writes about why ‘Experience’ will be more important than ‘Disruption’ and how going forward brands will find their space for differentiation in experience. In this article, David Shing details his predictions for the future of marketing trends around experience. He explains how brands can leverage technological innovations like IoT, VR, smart watches etc. to create better experiences and how these new technologies can make old experiences better. David Shing also stresses that while consumers will enjoy new and unique experiences, they will punish bad experiences.

Based on my review of these two articles and relevant studies I have done in the Northwestern Medill Integrated Marketing Communication program, here are 3 effective ways to keep your consumer engaged this year:

• ENRICH ROUTINE EXPERIENCES - Take the fuss out of daily decision making and make things more convenient for the consumer. Turn tools into gadgets to simplify and enhance routine tasks.
• CREATE STORY-MAKING MOMENTS - Hand over control of your platform and let consumers shape your brand story. Don’t tell consumers what your brand can do, let them experience it for themselves.
• DEMONSTRATE EMPATHY - Respect consumers’ need for space and privacy, and strengthen your relationship with the consumer by taking a step back and earning their trust.

The next time you want to enrich consumer experiences using technology, think about these three ways to keep your consumers engaged.

About The Author: Hello, I’m Rujuta Gandhi. I am currently pursuing a Master’s degree in Integrated Marketing Communications specializing in Brand Strategy at Medill at Northwestern University and will graduate in 2017. I am an experienced advertising professional committed to changing consumer behavior with actionable insights. You can follow me on Twitter @TheLittleGandhi or find me on LinkedIn.