Before digital, the marketer’s role was pretty clean-cut: Tell people about the product and get them to buy it.
Post-purchase, maybe you’d get a warranty card, Applause CMO Charlie Ungashick told me. His company offers customer experience testing for software products.
Now, he said, “as physical products are becoming digital, there’s a new relationship with the buyer,” whether B2B or B2C. Marketers, along with customer service, are providing a continuing stream of content and communication with the customer and have the added responsibility of keeping in touch.
But it’s not just when there’s some constantly updated software component in the product, like a printer that reports back to the manufacturer your need for new ink cartridges or a smartphone that receives updates and notifications. More and more, all kinds of products are getting wrapped in a digital framework of continuing offers, service, updates, warranties, tips and other benefits: a girl’s doll that has a website-based community of users, for example, or a lawnmower that has an online maintenance manual.
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