Is indirect marketing even a thing?
In a world of overt promotion, digital obsession and our need to monitor the costs and benefits of our activities, it’s a fair question isn’t it? Is indirect marketing even a thing at all? Well, just because we are not familiar with it, it doesn’t mean to say that it doesn’t exist. Also it may not mean that it is unimportant either. Perhaps part of the problem, is that direct marketing has been with us long enough, to be seen as part of the marketing establishment now. However, indirect marketing, although really important too, seems to still have its very existence called into question, let alone allow us to be able to get into a zone where it is getting any meaningful consideration. However, could it be that this is in need of review now?
Often seen as within the realm of PR, this is where we are able to allow our story to get out there, in a way that doesn’t seem to have come “directly” from us. This indirectness somehow gives it an additional element of credibility. This takes it away from that which is associated with self-praise. In the right hands, it can do a lot of good. Of course, we tend to be much less comfortable with things that see the dialogue being diminished, or the fact that any feedback, is often much more difficult to formalise. Ironically, it is often viewed as too costly as well and after a cursory glance we just move on to the same old, same old. However, can we get clarity and certainty within this type of marketing, without us defaulting to selling? Can we just reach out to simply remind our audience that we are still here? Is there such a thing as promoting without being promotional? Can brand recognition and awareness, survive via a more subtle approach? Good questions, but do the answers stack up?
Sadly the fact is that indirect, often comes to the fore as a surprise. It arrives by virtue of it happening in addition to an intended result, often in a way that is sadly negative. Anything negative kicks in our avoidance of discomfort responses and so our gravitation is more divergent. In our interconnected business environment, where the traditional boundaries are now less rigid, our direct activities are inevitably going to incorporate indirect aspects too. While this can teach us a number of important lessons about our own conduct and our need for vigilance and care, can we actually accept that this exists and that we can choose how to deploy it?
We know that focused straight line activity, which minimises intermediaries, has a number of benefits, and direct marketing has harnessed this very effectivity. This is actually logical and easy to explain and embrace. This is where much of the success of its early adoption and inevitable onward trajectory is rooted. However, trying to succinctly identify how we will convert that associated with unintended consequences, into something that can be beneficial can be off putting. Yet indirect, doesn’t seek our permission to exist and it doesn’t spontaneously call us up from time, to make sure that we are happy with it. Left to its own devices, it can be a loose cannon, which calls intermittently and even spectacularly!
Awareness is a great place to start, acceptance is even better and active involvement can definitely be good. So what can we do to deploy this in a positive way? Reaching out to simply remind our audience that we are still here, has never been more important. However, creating something that is of the right size, tone and interest level, which is very accessible does need us to stop and think and in turn act. Sharing, stirring discussion, offering up ideas and showing that we have expertise, are always good. Placing our good works, where the relevant audience can find it, is going to be obvious and coming up with ways of tracking views etc, is our bread and butter anyway. Our brand, if it is out there in a positive way, will be enhanced. Getting others to testify for our value, isn’t new and yet is still powerful. Promoting ourselves, without being promotional though, is much more than a play on words. This is a tricky one, but potentially this could, if undertaken well, be the most advantageous of all. User generated content (especially photos), unsolicited testimonials, winning awards, doing good in the community - just for the sake of it, or establishing ourselves as credible experts in our field, can all fuel powerful and positive endorsement. This can help with brand recall and trust, and can be a useful stimulant too.
Another suggestion, could simply involve a review of how we identify with the inevitability of interconnectivity. Strengthening our acceptance of the fact that we operate in a way that those we interface with, are now very often “multi connected” is also going to be a real move forward. That supplier that we are happy to be rude to on Friday, could well turn out to be directly linked and really influential to that customer that we are trying to charm on Monday. We could be just one Sunday lunch away from seeing a lucrative embryonic contract, detonated by Tuesday. However, turn it on its head and who knows? Perhaps our indirect marketing is also about being kind, being professional and developing our reputation accordingly?