Would you buy a Mattress direct from the manufacturer rather than going to the retailer?

It's no secret that many brands are looking to nurture and grow a more direct relationship with you and me, which is also a shift from the traditional distribution model they have worked with for many years.

Historically the supply chain has been made up of a number of layers, all in order to get you and me to part with our cash, and that funnel is about to get shorter, which could be great news for you and me, but disruptive to those companies and businesses that have set themselves up as a reseller of someone else's product. Supermarkets are a great example of a company who sells other companies brands, all manner of companies do this everyday, all around the world.

But with the huge growth of online digitally savvy, and socially connected people brands are now looking to get themselves in front of you and me (link below)  in anticipation we can deal with them direct.

For many they still see the away to do this is via the traditional 'advertise and promote' thinking that's dominated the industry for as along as anyone can remember, but all the indicators suggest this isn't the most economical way to go about it, sure you can spend your budget, accept that 50% of it will immediately go to fraudsters, and those that get past the fraudsters have to then negotiate the surge in Ad Blockers that we're all adopting.

So here's an innovative idea, how about investing in nurturing your customers via social media, joining in and creating stories and content that your prospects might actually find valuable?

Instead of using your social platforms to broadcast, try to use them to join conversations that are already happening. Listen to what your audience is already discussing, read what influencers are writing -then pitch your content to respond to these cues. 

The upside is you will learn more, and reduce your cost, and maybe, just maybe you might look to reduce your 'paid' intrusive advertising campaigns that's pissing everyone off.