Digital Attunement: Creating Marketing Harmony

I wrote a post a few months back titled: Blurring The Lines Between Paid, Owned and Earned Media – 2013 is All About Integration. In that post I spoke about how there isn’t as clear cut a line between the three types of media as there once was. The reason is because each part can and should be used to help support the other. I pushed forth the idea that instead of thinking in terms of silos, you should instead, think in terms of how each part can support and help grow the other, I even gave some examples.

In this post I want to talk more about Digital Attunement and why you should strive to create marketing harmony. But first, I want you to take a piece of paper and draw a line about half way down, from edge to edge. On the top part of the page I want you to write down all the marketing tools that you are currently using on the top half. While you can do this with both traditional and digital marketing let’s just stick to digital.

Also, don’t just write a list, write them all over the page (the top half) and then put a box around each one. I know that sounds a bit weird but in a moment this will all make more sense.  Next, I want you to draw a line between the boxes that have the same message. For instance if you are using PPC (pay-per-click) to sell cars, that is you are creating a standard ad that directs people to inventory, I want you to draw a line to the box with newsletter if you are using that to sell cars as well.

This will be a little harder than it sounds because I want you to really think about the messages that you are trying to convey. Odds are that most of your boxes are connected around sales. Am I right? I know what you are thinking, marketing is about sales, and you would be right, but what is the overall message that you are trying to get out?

If you spend all your time trying to sell, that is, you are spending your whole digital marketing budget on trying to get people to your inventory page then you are, more or less, acting like the salesperson who spends all their time chasing lot traffic and no time follow up building referrals and repeat business. Did that hit home? Think about it.

So, what exactly is Digital Attunement? It’s all about the harmony that you created between the digital products you’re using. It’s all about conveying a message that goes beyond sales. I know that may be a sticking point with most of you, but think about the value proposition you give your customers. You sell the same product as the competition, you even sell them for the same price, so where is the value? Why are they shopping your online prices? Because you are giving them no other reason to do so! Digital Attunement is all about stopping the shopper from shopping and getting them to buy… from you!

So, what is the message that you can push besides sales? How can you make sure that there is harmony between social and SEO,  PPC and your newsletter? Here are a few interesting stats from the GoodPurpose study performed by the Edelmnn PR group.

If quality and price are equal:

• 53% of people say that social purpose ranks as the most important factor in selecting a brand.
• 72% of people said they would recommend a brand based off of their social purpose.
• 71% of people said they would promote a brand based off of their social purpose.
• 73% of people said they would switch brands based off of their social purpose.

Those are some pretty interesting stats aren’t they? So how can you use your dealerships’ social purpose to create Digital Attunement? Here are a few examples:

PPC

2013 Ford Escape Hybrid
www.ABCMotors.com/GoGreen
Best Selection In The Springs!
Check Out Our New Green Dealership

Social

Have a contest on your Facebook page where you give away prizes to people who show commitment to living green in the local community. (This is a whole other post!)

Newsletter

In your monthly newsletter share the pictures that were posted to your Facebook page showing people being green, and then talk about your dealerships commitment to being green.

Website

Have a page dedicated to living green, maybe even a whole blog! Create a slider on the front page directing people to it and a top level link in your navigation, you can even put it in the header so that everybody sees it.

That’s Digital Attunement! You’re pushing a harmonious message, across all of your digital platforms, a message that resonates with your target audience.

So David, What About The Bottom Half Of This Sheet Of Paper?

You thought I forgot didn’t you? Well, I didn’t! On the bottom half I want you to brain storm your dealerships social purpose and write it in the center of the bottom half, then circle it. Then, I want you to arrange all of the boxes you wrote on the top half, by rewriting them, around your circled social purpose. Next, I want you to draw a line from those boxes to the center circle. Finally, on the lines you just drew, write a short message about how you are going to convey the message on the attacked digital product. If you need more space you can turn the piece of paper over or grab a new one.

The whole idea behind me having you do this is to get you thinking in terms of how you can create a more harmonious marketing plan. If you look at your piece of paper all I had you create was a mind map or a bubble diagram. You’ve been creating these since grade school, what else can you add to it?

I’d love to hear your thoughts on Digital Attunement, leave them in the comment section below.