Firejuice Marketing conducted a survey aimed at exploring how small, medium and micro enterprises (SMME) in South Africa carry out marketing plans. 100% of the surveyed businesses believe in marketing as an effective tool, however, only 46% carry out consistent marketing campaigns. 

The questionnaire answered by individuals in key decision-making positions in the SMME sector highlights that half the respondents see marketing providing positive results while only 14% feel it is a driver of their sales pipeline. Another key factor is the lack of attention to marketing, as 76% do not employ dedicated marketing staff.

Positioning and morale are also notable contributors: the majority of respondents (46%) viewed themselves in a ‘growth’ phase while 14% felt stagnant.

What marketing tools are the most popular?

Graphic design is the area of marketing where the most amount of budget is spent (48%) with 25% on copywriting, 18% on photography, 4% on interior design and 30% on none of the above.

Digital marketing dominates the type of marketing tactics employed followed by phone calls and networking. 64% of respondents are cognisant of customer relationships through the usage of an internal CRM software package.

The survey shows that SMMEs feel frustrated by marketing expectations due to cost, great input and low ROI and ineffective delegation by business owners and blame ill-equipped marketing strategies for a lack of proper industry-related leads.

Bernard Jansen, founder of Firejuice said, ‘Clearly, marketing is a powerful tool for growth but this exercise found that it is not carried out consistently due to lack of knowledge and poor planning, with very few accepting outside help.’ SMMEs end up wasting resources on marketing simply because a clear strategy that commands a good ROI is not adopted. 

FIREJUICE
bernard@firejuice.co.za
www.firejuice.co.za

Paula Sartini, founder and CEO of BrandQuantum, says that to be successful today, companies need to develop a customer-centric strategy that is built from the customer’s perspective and designed to meet their needs. 

With tech-savvy customers, companies are adopting technology solutions that aim to delight their customers and enhance customer experiences. According to the 2019 Global Customer Experience Benchmarking Report from Dimension Data, ‘CX is recognised as the number one driver of digital transformation.’

Customer experience is a growing priority for organisations, and it should be as it is becoming the most critical factor for customers selecting your brand over another. As such, companies need to implement measures to meet customer expectations and deliver consistent customer experiences at every customer touchpoint. 

However, this can seem like a monumental task, particularly for organisations that work as silos, assigning specific responsibilities to specific departments. In today’s environment where the customer is king and should be central to every business decision, customer experience can no longer lie on the shoulders of a single department. It needs to be the top strategic measurement for the entire organisation.

In addition, legacy systems can also hamper companies from implementing technologies that could potentially be key in improving customer experiences. However, companies should start by putting the I before the A. This means implementing information automation which utilises intelligent automation and only once this is in place, implement AI.

Igniting customer experiences

Although technology brings great promise to companies and is able to increase productivity and drive cost-saving, customer experience is about more than the technologies that companies implement. Customer experience is about creating a customer-centric business where the customer is at the centre of everything the business does.

So while there is a benefit in giving customers the tools they need to access self-help services at their convenience, employees need to be given the tools that empower them to deliver high-touch customer experiences at critical times. To ignite customer experiences, the customer needs to be at the top of the agenda in all boardroom discussions and solutions need to be developed and tailored with the customer in mind. 

Only when the customer is central to the business strategy and employees across the organisation are equipped with the right tools to meet customer expectations across the entire customer journey, will the company be able to create meaningful customer interactions and enhance the customer experience that drive business success.

Automating functions and humanising interactions

Some technologies can sound like the silver bullet your organisation needs to improve customer experiences and drive company success, but companies should not adopt technology for the sake of technology. Rather solutions should be used to enhance the customer experience and assist employees to meet customer needs. Even though customers are tech-savvy and accustomed to using technology solutions to meet their specific needs, technology cannot replace the human touch.

Automation can enhance customer experiences by improving self-help functions that require limited involvement from employees. At the same time, by automating tasks that take time and resources but add little value to the client, employees are freed up and empowered to focus on high-quality, lasting customer engagements that delight the customer.

For example, if a customer is looking for a statement, rather than placing the customer in a queue to speak to an employee, the customer is able to help themselves to access the information they need. However, if the customer has a query on the statement, it would be more appropriate to have an employee handle the sensitive issue and spend more time meeting the customer’s needs and making a difference where it matters the most.

Making magic with data and automation

Automating repetitive tasks can have a significant impact on improving customer experiences by removing repetitive tasks and empowering employees to give customers the personal touch they seek in specific instances. In addition, it can reduce costs and help drive sales and growth. 

These benefits alone present a good case for companies to adopt automation technology, but they would stand to benefit significantly more by using data to firstly determine which tasks should be automated and then understand how customer data can be used to enhance experiences even further.

At the crux, automating repetitive tasks has a significant impact on driving employee satisfaction, which directly impacts on customer engagements. However, when companies put the I (information) before the A (automation) and strategically and intelligently drive automation, this is just the cusp of how the marriage of data and automation impact the customer experience.

Customer data should be used to add personalisation into your customer engagements. By understanding your customer behaviour, you are able to target them with offers and deals that are specific to their previous behaviour. You are able to engage them when it matters most and enhance the customer experience beyond the standardised content companies have traditionally relied on to reach out to their customers.

This is supported by the Dimension Data 2019 Global Customer Experience Benchmarking Report, which states that ‘by transforming big data into customer and market intelligence, they’ll be able to align their analytics strategy with their business strategy and design personalised experiences that proactively address customers’ needs – using self-service and automation at the right time in the customer journey.’

BRAND QUANTUM
+27100450905
ignite@brandquantum.com
www.brandquantum.com

CEO of Retail Engage, Andrew Weinberg, states that 54% of the South African population falls between LSMs 3-6, with there being an estimated 13 million shoppers in the independent and informal retail sector. This is not traditional, bottom-end or emerging, this is the ‘main’ market of South Africa. 

However, despite all the research done to date about this economically active consumer base, there are still nuances and misconceptions around low-income consumer behaviour resulting in marketers generally failing to connect with this crucial market. To demonstrate the continued employment of outdated strategies by brands, the current advertising spends directed at the LSM eight to ten bracket is 70%, with over 81% of households therefore not being proactively engaged with. 

In other words, most advertisers and marketers are missing the boat when it comes to targeting South Africa’s mass market. Those in the know refer to this market segment as the mass market but we believe the label of ‘main market’ is more fitting because of the vast potential it offers to brands and marketeers who are willing to rethink their marketing and sales strategies. 

According to the UCT Research Institute’s latest report named the ‘The Top Million’ research report, South Africa’s ‘Upper Middle Class’ has the potential to make or break brands with a combined spending power of R700 billion, making up almost 40% of all consumer spend and 5% of total households. The first real data and insight into the untapped ‘mass-market’ started in 2012 with reports suggesting that 70% of South Africa’s consumer market lives in households that collectively earn less than R6000 per month. 

A lot of progress and further research has been made since then to reveal the power and importance of understanding and connecting with the mass market in Africa that moves between formal and informal retail spaces to search out the best fulfilment method for their needs. I have made it my business to understand this market and consumers’ behaviours in order to effectively provide access to brands to promote products in this growing middle-income segment across Africa.

A moving target, this main market moves fluidly between formal and informal retail spaces such as Spaza shops and cash and carry’s, trying to best fulfil their needs that include value, experience, convenience, trust and connection. This constant state of flux makes it incredibly difficult to find a strategy that works and for many brands – it is a constant challenge to find a way in. Brands need to approach this segment with precision rather than with broad-based tactics. 

Since having established Retail Engage, we have successfully implemented a consumer-facing brand, bonsella®, across South Africa, which has helped brands gain crucial data and insights about the independent retailer environment and its consumers. Technology has helped us introduce effective brand engagement opportunities that include shopper marketing and loyalty programmes in the main market. 

There is vast potential for marketers who are willing to rethink their marketing strategies and the key is going back to basics to find a solution that brings value, experience, trust and connection in the main market space. These needs are not limited to this income bracket, however, until now brands are failing to meaningfully connect here. Retail engage specialises in establishing connection points in the shoppers’ day-to-day lives by leveraging modern trade spaces to build brand awareness and loyalty through experiences while simultaneously driving penetration and consumption occasions in the informal and independent trade. 

Brands and companies need to put their thinking caps back on in order to generate relevant content. The only way to do this is by getting inside consumers’ minds to fully understand their aspirations, behaviour and what drives them. I believe the key for brands to tap into the main market, which has often been referred to as a ‘blind spot’ by big brands, is through education and working with experienced and established agencies that have a proven track record in this exciting space.

RETAIL ENGAGE
+27873102881
info@retailengage.co.za
bonsella.com