Is it the right time for Utility Marketing?

Digital media has always been the rising star of marketing. We are accustomed to hear shining words and big numbers in this field. While some see this field as a “gold rush” area, some others see it as a “magic wand”. Considering that Facebook users are over a billion and time spent on digital devices has reached unbelievable amounts, we had to take our place in this field. But, is what they tell us really a key to miracle or a guarantee of mediocrity? First of all, let’s take a look at the other numbers of digital, which are not that often shown us. Here are a couple of statistics for you.

Average internet user is exposed to banner ads 1,707 times in a month. (ComScore) There is such an advertisement abundance that people get more and more indifferent to them.

The rate of banner clicks is below 0.1%. When it comes to the most popular size of internet advertisement, 468 x 60 banners, the rate goes below 0,04%. (DoubleClick)

8% of all internet users account for the %85 percent of banner clicks (ComScore). Advertisement click rates are not meaningful on their own. Statistics show that it’s always the same people who click on advertisements.

31% of average advertising displays are not even seen by any internet users. (ComScore)

Almost 50% of mobile advertisement clicks are done by mistake. (GoldSpot Media)

While 29% of people trust TV spots, the rate is less than 15% for the ones who trust banner ads. (eMarketer)

In digital, the rights of yesterday easily become wrong in the current day. People don’t see your ads and the ones who click them are the same people again and again. More advertisements only bring you more clicks from the same minority. Is social media the answer? Not in the sense that we are used to. Today, the lifespan of your messages on social media is shorter than half an hour. And only 4% of your social media community sees your messages.

Marketing is about distinguishing yourself in this abundance of messages. And it doesn’t always happen by yelling at people; but rather happens by not yelling, on the contrary, by simply making life easier for them. This approach is shaped under the term of “Utility Marketing”.

Utility Marketing is about developing tools that make people’s lives easier, help them know themselves better and answer the questions in their minds. People, while using these tools, have a shortcut to brand experience and inform brands about their preferences. Utility Marketing messages are not about pushing people but about being useful and pulling them like a magnet.

Have you ever looked closer to the winners of Cannes advertising awards’ grand prize winners?

For the last couple years, none of the grand prize winners of Cannes, which is the temple of advertising and big ideas, actually looks like an advertisement. It is sometimes a shoe, sometimes an iPhone application and sometimes a payment system. You ask, “Where is the message of the ad?” but the message is hidden in the product itself. Nike+ allows people to know themselves better and get social by keeping their running records. Paywithatweet project actually allows people to pay with their influence on Twitter. Fiat EcoDrive app, on the other hand, is educating drivers without their knowledge in order to cause them to drive in a better and more eco-friendly way. All these instances make people’s lives easier in a way that has not been imagined before. They discover new ways to pull people toward themselves without yelling.

It’s possible to see the traces of utility marketing in the core of marketing and the oldest examples. For instance, in the most basic sense, the concept of “customer services”, that supermarkets offer their customers, can be qualified under “utility marketing”. However, today, advancing technology allows us to create these tools in ways we have never imagined before and to scale them.

So, as marketers, how should we get organized in this world? We’ve been hearing the term “agencies that work like tech companies” more often for the last couple of years. The need of a new kind of business development agencies, which combines the technical perspective, high emphasis on numbers and fast product development of tech companies with agency qualities such as customer management, idea development and creative strategy, has been coming into existence. Departments that are generally more inward-oriented, such as IT, CRM and business development, should learn how to collaborate with marketing departments and agencies. As statistics point out, we need to make careful reevaluations while determining our KPIs. And lastly, we should change our perspective on data and by embracing open source systems, imagine our organizations as structures that use data, instead of storehouses that keep them.

Utility marketing is the latest big wave in marketing. It’s time to apply innovation, digitalization and social to our products. In this journey, you, innovative marketers have a great responsibility to take your brands up higher. Don’t let your messages get lost in the noise. Now is time to do things that bring people to you.