Driving digital marketing through Forrester’s 5Is Model

Welcome to 2021. 2020 was one of those years that a lot of people are happy to see in the rear-view mirror. However, our take on it is somewhat more positive. We figure, if you are reading this, are still in business and are looking to grow, then you got through the worst of 2020 and are ready to take off this year. And as people come back to work, ready to get stuck in, what better time than now to help you get up to speed with the evolving market.

After all, in order to stand the test of time and thrive in a highly competitive space, you need to equip yourself with the right skills and knowledge.  Arming yourself and your team with a valuable strategy-led framework will help you plan for the long term. Leading market research and marketing organization Forrester developed a new model – the 5I’s – a couple of years ago, however, we believe it hold merit event today and believe you can leverage it to benefit your ongoing digital marketing efforts.

So, what is Forrester’s 5I’s model?

Ahead of releasing the 5I model, Forrester conducted research which led them to the conclusion that the traditional marketing funnel was dead, hence they proposed ‘engagement’ as a new metric. In this, the 5 Is are basically a measure of engagement that focuses on 5 specific elements that begin with the letter ‘I’.  These are:

• Involvement
• Interaction
• Intimacy
• Influence
• Individual

The model recognised that a linear progression (a sales funnel) was not as simple as it had once been, and the more a user, visitor or customer was ‘engaged’ with the brand, the more successful the outcome for the brand.

In and of itself, engagement is not a new concept, in fact it was examined and presented as a factor by many scholars, as far back as 1991, when a team from Western Michigan University shared their research on ‘the experience of flow in computer-mediated and in face-to-face groups’. In this case, ‘flow’ is about being ‘in the zone’ or being very involved with something.

Bringing it all back to Forrester, the team there concluded that a better model upon which to build strategy relates to the level of involvement, interaction, intimacy, and influence an individual has with a brand over time.

Let’s delve into each part of the Is of the model in further detail.

Let’s take each element and understand what it all means a little better.

Involvement is tied in with getting the client or customer involved with the brand, product or service. Normally, this is measured by utilizing website analytics, for example; page views, site traffic, time spent, etc.

Interaction tends to an individual’s actions, for example, buying an item, signing up for an email, posting a remark on a social network site, photo uploads and so on. This is commonly measured through customer interaction with the company or brand.

Intimacy is the emotion that a person shows in the things that they say or the actions in which they take. A good example is how one feels about the meanings and authenticity of a product review or a comment left on a social network website.

Influence refers to the likelihood that an individual will recommend or talk about a product or service to another person in a positive way. Likewise this can also relate to brand loyalty and verbal marketing and referrals to friends, family and acquaintances. This is generally measured through share rates online, reviews and online mentioned.

Individual means the model puts the spotlight on the individual person, as opposed to a group of people or communities. In makes it more granular and less generalized.

Applying the 5 I’s of marketing strategy in today’s digital landscape

With improved traceability across multiple devices, the ability to monitor engagement is better than it has ever been, thus making the relevance and use of the 5Is more relevant than ever. For instance, the 5 Is can be leveraged to examine the behaviour of Pinterest users; where they begin looking for a particular thing, how they then search for more information and how they comment, engage and ask questions before or after making a purchase.

But the 5 I’s is not a set and forget methodology. Years’ after launching the original concept, Sean Corcoran, a member of the Forrester team, reviewed the principles in 2011. He noted: “Any good marketer knows that just getting a customer to be involved or to interact with an application or campaign is typically not enough to drive results — even basic awareness.”

He went on to clarify: While the 5Is may be useful and indeed each item “met”, it didn’t mean a campaign had succeeded. Rather, he proposed the best way to guarantee this model works is to zero in on the company’s objectives, ensuring that any campaigns or plans were based on relevant engagement (not vanity metrics), to attain results. Furthermore, Audience engagement with a brand ought to consistently be referred to against a timescale. For instance, the the Smart Insights RACE framework considers short-term interactions in social media which can prompt transformation and longer-term customer engagements.

Expanding on past research, in January 2020 Forrester published Five Consumer Lessons from the original publishing date through to 2020.

Lesson 1: Technology intimacy grows even as devices come and go

In the last decade, we saw consumer ‘flow’ advancing. Specifically, customer-centric innovations unleashed a craving within consumers for improved digital intimacy – also known as customisation. In fact, they now almost demand it.

Even as consumers cycled through devices, their dependence on personal technology has consistently grown. The proportion of consumers that acknowledge technology’s importance increased more than two-fold between 2010 and 2019.

The coming decade will see the coming of voice interaction and AI-enabled experiences for even closer digital experiences.

Lesson 2: Consumers are fueled by an “almost infinite appetite for distraction.”

At a dizzying pace, consumers absorbed new devices, experiences and services and were more willing to experiment – often at the expense of existing brands. Online, adults are happy to try out new brands and items, thus giving rise to market disrupting brands such as Uber, to Netflix, The Iconic, MenuLog and so forth, all coming at the expense of iconic storefronts.

Lesson 3: Anxious consumers crave connection

How people share, learn and engage has changed a lot since the 5Is were launched, but in a way which has cemented the relevance of the 5Is. In 2010, Facebook had overtaken Myspace to turn into the largest social networking site and was carefully watching a growing Twitter.

Today, as we know, Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn are behemoths in their own right (not withstanding the controversies and Anti-trust suits being touted) and have made engagement online even easier. In fact, consumers now crave social media so much so that there have been numerous studies showing that the first thing people do when they wake up is check social and the last thing before they sleep is do the same.

Lesson 4: Consumers internalize companies’ externalities

The political climate and, as a result, cultural and social overtones are shaping our preferences for products and services. Two presidential races shook international affairs and broke the USA’s facade of solidarity, uncovering profoundly established divisions. Across the pond, Britain’s opposing political powers caused gridlock for a nation stuck in the looming shadow of uncertainty before impending Brexit. Populist politics swept from the US to India and Hong Kong while authoritarian-driven Russia and China established new global awareness.

Brands that commonly skirt controversy jumped into the fray of contentious political and social debate. Consumer awareness about companies’ socio-political and cultural affiliations has been mounting for over 10 years. History demonstrates that consumers employ their wallets to make public statements about the qualities and convictions they choose to support. Where they feel a brand is aligned too closely with something they are not comfortable with, they will speak out with their voices (online) and their wallets. Case in point was Disney’s decision to drop Johnny Depp from a movie based on court decisions.

Lesson 5: Perception of control is the most powerful consumer motivator

Our notion of public and private. Movements like #MeToo and whistleblower prevalence began compelling the general population to confront tough conversations about how individuals act in private. Data privacy contours blurred as consumer awareness and tolerance of data sharing practices ebbed. Commercially, broad consumer exchange among a fast growing and sharing economy expanded the limits of the public arena and reclassified ideas of private property and ownership. What people are / were comfortable with is changing.

Ultimately, evolution, as always is the key to not only survival, but success. Brands that expressly welcome consumers to partake in a relationship in return for utilitarian and not just monetary gain, as well as experiential or symbolic value that strengthens consumer control will drive relevancy and through it, better customer relationships. If you want to learn more about this concept, consult the team at Three Piece Marketing, we will help you drive your strategy to new heights.