Marketing Classics: The Hierarchy of Effects
I was sitting down with an advertising executive in the radio industry recently and we spent a considerable amount of time talking about marketing strategy. This, of course, is not an odd topic of conversation, but the context is what struck me. I (incorrectly) thought that broadcast advertising folks were generally predisposed to offering up a more tactical approach that would naturally include purchasing their media as part of any discussion with a local business owner or head of marketing. What I learned was that, contrary to my belief, there are actually some very strategic advertising sales people out there who understand customer behavior, marketing strategy and how their service actually fits into the mix, and more importantly, when it doesn’t fit.
The point of this is that my friend brought up the communication process that all customers go through when considering a purchase. He often explained this process (you might know it as AIDA, or something similar) as a ‘natural law’ and he further went on to explain that no one’s ever figured out how to short-circuit this natural law, so all marketers need to abide by it or risk the potential success of their marketing endeavors or worse, their whole business. What my friend was referring to was what academics know as “The Hierarchy of Effects”. There have been MANY iterations on this model, but at the end of the day, it points to a general communication process that takes place in the consumer’s mind on the way from “completely unknown” to “I must have your brand of widget now”.
Effectively marketing in and managing each of the stages of the heirarchy of effects is an essential ingredient in successful marketing campaigns, yet so many marketers ignore one or more of the stages and then wonder why a campaign or product launch produced lackluster results. Let’s look more closely at the hierarchy of effects model.
Why is it a hierarchy?
It’s a hierarchy because we lose customers as they move through the various stages. At each stage in the process, that marketer must meet different marketing objectives using differnet tools, strategies, tactics and even channels. That’s not to say that you need some elaborate plan for each stage that rivals the heft of War and Peace. What it does mean is that you need to have, in your marketing strategy, a plan that at least includes relevant elements for each stage and that you don’t skip or skimp on a stage in the hierarchy.
Do customers care about the hierarchy?
As in, do they know where they’re at? Yes, in fact, they do. And you will too if you’re measuring things correctly. In fact, if you turn the hierarchy upside down, it looks a lot like a sales funnel. Surprised? You shouldn’t be. Each organization will have a unique hierarchy/funnel that meets the needs of their prospects and customers, but once you’ve spent the smallish sum that it requires to actually sort this all out for your company, and if you’re really savvy, for each of your core target marketers, you’ll be amazed at the efficiency with which you can plan your marketing campaigns from that point forward.
How do I get started on my own or improve my current hierarchy?
This is pretty straightforward. What we generally do is:
- Look first at what you’re doing across all of your marketing activity today and map those activities to the stage in the hierarchy of effects that’s the closest fit.
- Next we do some brainstorming or primary research on customer behavior (whatever your budget allows) to determine what feelings, behaviors, information needs and actions they exhibit in each of the stages.
- We then start to look at how our existing strategy and actions meet the customers needs at each stage and start to measure (or dig up the measurements & metrics reports that we have) to determine the effectiveness
- Finally, we start working, one stage at a time, to determine the ideal strategy and marketing plan for each stage and then roll that out over a period of weeks or months.
- Wash, rinse, repeat, measure and improve!
With a full understanding of the hierarchy of effects, specific to your company and your customers, you can now truly begin to see the effects of a genuine ‘integrated marketing’ campaign and strategy. The tools, tactics and channels will all work together to meet the overarching marketing and business goals while meeting each of the sub-goals in each stage of the hierarchy. When it’s truly functioning as it should, the hierarchy of effects is a beautiful thing!
Looking for more information on the Hierarcy of Effects? Download our newest Executive Briefing Paper on how to use the Hierarcy of Effects to your marketing Advantage.
The briefing paper contains everything you need to know about the Hierarchy of Effects with tips and ideas on how to adapt the models to your own marketing strategy.
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Related posts:
- Ford’s Hierarchy of Social Media Effects
- Marketing Classics: Communications and Industrial Selling (Theodore Levitt, 1967)
- Marketing Classics: What the Hell Is “Market Oriented”? (Benson P. Shapiro, 1988)
- Marketing Classics: The Rule of Three and Four
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