It’s been a big year, would you agree? With lockdowns causing havoc with consumer spending habits, major shipping delays making getting product to stores an impossible feat and quite simply, a consistent and overall state of flux adding stress to any good marketing plan, anyone and any brand that is feeling a little beaten but not yet defeated deserves to celebrate. It’s nearly time. But for now, let’s reflect on the lessons, the trends and the moves that winning brands are making right now to maintain market momentum and secure the winning edge over competitors as we head into a new phase.
Christie Nicholas is the Chief Growth Partner at Mumpower, Australia’s leading agency shaping brands that speak to Mums. Christie joins The Bugg Report as an exclusive guest writer and will share important intelligence that will help your brand prosper in a changing market.
Over the years, Mumpower has partnered with over 350 brands and monitored exactly what the industry leaders do to get ahead of the curve. Here are their 8 sure fire strategies to gain outstanding market share, and fast:
1. Debunk assumptions about customer
Customers buying behaviour has changed significantly. Now is the time to review what you don’t really know. A great start is via a brand and market health check, SWOT analysis, NPD Concept testing which all validate profitable opportunities.
2. Turn pain points into talking points
Due to world events and the endless consequences on everyday lives, your customer is dealing with things they have never had to deal with before. Find out what their current pain points are then – address them in your dialogue with them. This is an opportunity to fast track connection, prove relevance and move customer to desired state.
3. Get stuck in people’s heads
Despite the doom and gloom, consumers are still spending with many categories in incredibly high demand. Studies show that people buy the last brand they remember hearing from, so consistently keep your brand comms alive and be the one that is bought.
4. Create aspirational AND relatable credibility
Successful brands have an Influencer Marketing plan that is both aspirational and relatable. For example the brand will align with influencers (aspirational) to create content and they will also align with real consumers (relatable) to share reviews. Collectively it’s a much more powerful way to boost brand awareness and compel customers.
5. Review a 5 Star buyer journey
When was the last time you genuinely put yourself in your customer shoes to look at her entire buying journey with you, from before she even realised you exist until post purchase? This is the easiest yet most often overlooked way to optimise the existing buyer journey and profitable gaps to fill. By listing the steps, you can see where you can remove barriers to make buying easy and pleasurable and then go above what customers expect from you.
6. Cement a unifying thought into everything you do
There are so many competitive brands out there vying for your customers dollar. Reflect on what your brand stands for and simplify this down to a few words. Then, use these words as the foundation of all your strategy, marketing and comms execution. It will ensure your brand messaging is consistent and ultimately more memorable. This becomes the backbone of everything you do.
7. Move towards triple P bottom line
Consumers and staff expect brands to have a bigger ‘why’. What do you do to take care of planet, people and profit? Not only is this important to today’s customers, there are more and more brands that deliver in this area and in doing so, create a more compelling reason to choose them. Can you afford not to have a bigger purpose?
8. Follow a predicable — and sustainable growth framework
Marketers are faced with so many choices and ways to promote a brand to consumers; it is easy to get distracted by the next shiny activation. But – follow the customer, not the hype. For example, when Mumpower partners with brands, we give them access to a marketing power plan that is quantified to efficiently compel and convert more buyers and generate higher ROI for them, without costly trial and error. If you use a proven model and laser targeted systems, it’s easier to capture new audiences.
And there you have it. 8 sure fire strategies to implement into your marketing power plan and gain market share.
For more tips, trends and case studies, be sure to connect with me on linked in, or check out the Mumpower website:
