“Consumers hate us – the marketers and advertisers who invent new ways to spam them”, says Bob Gilbreath, Chief Strategy Officer at global marketing agency Possible Worldwide.

Increasingly people will find ways to avoid unwanted marketing, Gilbreath believes, and therefore argues: “Instead of fighting this and finding new ways to annoy people, we, as business people, have to ‘give in’ and actually create ‘marketing’ that people choose to engage with.”

Such thinking drives a new era of marketing: ‘content marketing’, ‘marketing as a service’ and ’utility marketing’ are terms that express the notion that marketing should provide useful or valuable content to consumers. In doing so, people will choose to engage with marketing rather than try to avoid it. It’s a simple concept that represents a win-win for both marketers and consumers.

One example is how supermarkets have been marketing themselves in recent years. In-store marketing offers meal suggestions and recipes, and television ads feature famous chefs showcasing creative cooking ideas. It’s marketing content that’s of course designed to sell more products – but by providing meal suggestions it’s also providing practical use and value to consumers.

In recent years marketers have in some contexts been forced into providing more useful content; use and value have become expected by consumers. For instance, because people can unsubscribe from email marketing so easily, marketers have been pressed to keep people engaged, doing so in various ways such as providing informative newsletter content or special offers.

A similar challenge exists for businesses when marketing via social networks, where excessively or overtly promotional content would be unwelcome. In an article discussing the business use of Twitter, Gilbreath advises companies to “follow the 80% (value add content) / 20% (marketing) rule… When you execute the 80% well, people accept the 20% marketing because it’s genuine.”

In essence it’s about finding a balance between ‘value added content’ and ‘marketing’ – especially when working in contexts where consumers can easily switch themselves off from marketing. As Gilbreath says, people are more likely to accept self-promotion if a brand has also been selfless enough to provide some kind of useful and valuable content.

Some brands go further than others when balancing value added content and marketing. Take Nike+, a concept which is more of a ‘service’ than it is ‘marketing’. Nike+ combines gadgets and online services which allow customers to track run distances and set challenges to stay motivated. An ecosystem has grown around the service, in which Nike has kept customers regularly engaged. ‘Mobile apps’ is another area where businesses are experimenting. For example, a UK insurance company’s app provides driving tips and reminders for maintaining one’s vehicle; it’s useful content with a hint of marketing.

‘Useful marketing’ seems logical and mutually beneficial to both marketers and consumers. The big question for businesses is execution – how to provide use and value while at the same time obtaining marketing value. To start, consider how your existing marketing scores on the 80/20 rule, and from there work to add value one percentage at a time. Creative thinking may also help to go further and conjure up exciting new services which provide value added content first and marketing a close second.

Educate salespeople

In an age when consumers research online before purchase, many retailers assume that customers walk into shops purely to buy products they already know they want. But McKinsey research indicates that “as many as 40 percent of customers remain open to persuasion once they enter a store, despite undertaking extensive product research, reading online reviews, and comparing prices”. “Retailers that fail to have knowledgeable staff on hand to help customers make decisions, or even to create arresting in-store visual marketing materials, are losing sale after potential sale”, McKinsey warns.

McKinsey continues: “While selling is an art that can be approached in a variety of ways, it boils down to four basic steps: open, ask for needs, demonstrate, and close… Having staff that understand and enjoy the sales process is paramount, and that means attracting the right employees, training them effectively, and rewarding them appropriately.”

Create engaging in-store marketing materials

McKinsey provides examples of simple but effective approaches to visual merchandising, such as signage that allows customers to make product comparisons; for example – signage which compares memory cards by the number of photos they can hold rather than their size in gigabytes. “Because sales staff could use the visual displays as a way to sell products to customers without having to memorize technical details, they were more confident and achieved more sales per hour”, McKinsey observes. Examining consumer decision-making behaviour also reaps rewards: McKinsey cites a company that regrouped shampoos and soaps ‘by scent’ rather than positioning on shelves by product type; the company found that this approach better suited people’s decision-making and buying behaviours.

Secure online retail websites and customer data

The recent theft of customer payment data from a South West based retail website underlines the importance of online security for businesses of any size or profile. It’s an imperative, an unavoidable cost of doing business online, and it should be a top priority before – not after – cybercrime hits. Priorities include protecting the collection and ongoing storage of customers’ personal and payment data. Web developers or specialist security experts can advise on the best systems to adopt for protection in key areas including data security, storage and legal compliance, payment processing, and website hosting. As a precautionary measure, some consultants can also test the security of existing websites.

Connect with smartphones

Facebook Places and Google Coupons are services that attract mobile smartphone users to nearby businesses by offering discounts and vouchers. Such services, which will grow in number and popularity as more people use smartphones, allow retailers to connect with and attract people who are physically close-by; the modern-day version of market traders shouting deals to passers-by. An upcoming technology called Near Field Communication will also allow communication directly with nearby devices in new ways, from taking wireless payments to broadcasting special offers and product information. Such trends make new connected technologies a relevant opportunity even for offline retailers.