Do Your Customers Ignore Your Marketing? We're all drowning in advertising messages! It's everywhere: people trying to get their products in front of you on television, radio, in the newspapers and magazines, through your letterbox, on every wall of public spaces, toilets, cashpoints, airport check-in terminals, taxis, trains, buses, on websites, Google, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, LinkedIn, YouTube, at sports events, music events, on your mobile in apps or text messages.
It can be intrusive and is often poorly targeted. At best it reaches a few people who are already looking for the product, otherwise it is ignored by most and at worst it is actively rejected.
To get through this white noise created by the big corporates, the marketing for your small business has to be smarter.
The problem is that most marketing is designed to build awareness, create an open-ness to considering the products you provide, help product selection, create the desire to buy from you and then build loyalty to your business to encourage customers to refer others to you.
This is the "journey" you want to take people on.
However, this is not the journey people want to go on. They want a simple life, to have fun, make friends, enjoy themselves, relax, achieve more in less time, save money, have fewer hassles, forget their problems, etc., etc.
If you can create ways to help people achieve this so they go on your journey without even realising it then you're well on the way to cutting through the white noise of marketing that's out there.
To do this, your marketing first of all, has to be targeted. Which means knowing who your target market is, specifically. In the extreme this might be even a single specific person. Then you need to create useful messages for them, that you can get in front of them when their mind is on a relevant subject.
In other words, how can you integrate information about your products and services into people's lives in a way that improves their lives?
Here are four areas you can start to think about that might help:
1. Where could you put your message so that people see it when they are actually thinking about your product or something related. Get creative, like Zappos putting their shoe adverts on the boxes you put your shoes in to go through the X-ray machines. Or Starbuck's handing out hot drinks in the street on a cold day.
2. How can your product placement help people to create or improve their social lives? With friends, family, colleagues? Perhaps think Budweiser's "Whassa!" advert or the Old Spice and Bodyform YouTube videos. Gaming sites are doing this very effectively (rightly or wrongly) at the moment. You could do this simply by capitalising on gifting opportunities:
3. Could you create an informal club for people to belong to? The benchmark here is Harley-Davidson, Oakley or even Starbucks. How can you capitalise on people's tribal nature?
4. How can you tap into your target's emotions? The big boys do it with simple phrases like "Just do it", "Think different", "Don't be evil". Hook into positive emotions like the small T-shirt manufacturer that went viral with their "Life is Good" branding.
It's certainly takes much more thought and creativity to market yourself like this. Like any approach to marketing for small business, you should measure the results, and then you'll know if it's been worthwhile.
If you need more customers for your small or medium sized business in the North East of England then contact us to find out about business coaching for growth. We specialise in building stronger businesses that deliver more to their owners, staff and customers in Newcastle and the North East, using the tried and tested methodologies of the World Number 1 business coaching organisation, ActionCOACH. Request a free business e-book to deal with your most pressing challenge, today.
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http://ezinearticles.com/?Do-Your-Customers-Ignore-Your-Marketing?&id=7546388
http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Gareth_L_Shackleton
http://EzineArticles.com/7546388
It can be intrusive and is often poorly targeted. At best it reaches a few people who are already looking for the product, otherwise it is ignored by most and at worst it is actively rejected.
To get through this white noise created by the big corporates, the marketing for your small business has to be smarter.
The problem is that most marketing is designed to build awareness, create an open-ness to considering the products you provide, help product selection, create the desire to buy from you and then build loyalty to your business to encourage customers to refer others to you.
This is the "journey" you want to take people on.
However, this is not the journey people want to go on. They want a simple life, to have fun, make friends, enjoy themselves, relax, achieve more in less time, save money, have fewer hassles, forget their problems, etc., etc.
If you can create ways to help people achieve this so they go on your journey without even realising it then you're well on the way to cutting through the white noise of marketing that's out there.
To do this, your marketing first of all, has to be targeted. Which means knowing who your target market is, specifically. In the extreme this might be even a single specific person. Then you need to create useful messages for them, that you can get in front of them when their mind is on a relevant subject.
In other words, how can you integrate information about your products and services into people's lives in a way that improves their lives?
Here are four areas you can start to think about that might help:
1. Where could you put your message so that people see it when they are actually thinking about your product or something related. Get creative, like Zappos putting their shoe adverts on the boxes you put your shoes in to go through the X-ray machines. Or Starbuck's handing out hot drinks in the street on a cold day.
2. How can your product placement help people to create or improve their social lives? With friends, family, colleagues? Perhaps think Budweiser's "Whassa!" advert or the Old Spice and Bodyform YouTube videos. Gaming sites are doing this very effectively (rightly or wrongly) at the moment. You could do this simply by capitalising on gifting opportunities:
3. Could you create an informal club for people to belong to? The benchmark here is Harley-Davidson, Oakley or even Starbucks. How can you capitalise on people's tribal nature?
4. How can you tap into your target's emotions? The big boys do it with simple phrases like "Just do it", "Think different", "Don't be evil". Hook into positive emotions like the small T-shirt manufacturer that went viral with their "Life is Good" branding.
It's certainly takes much more thought and creativity to market yourself like this. Like any approach to marketing for small business, you should measure the results, and then you'll know if it's been worthwhile.
If you need more customers for your small or medium sized business in the North East of England then contact us to find out about business coaching for growth. We specialise in building stronger businesses that deliver more to their owners, staff and customers in Newcastle and the North East, using the tried and tested methodologies of the World Number 1 business coaching organisation, ActionCOACH. Request a free business e-book to deal with your most pressing challenge, today.
Article Source:
http://ezinearticles.com/?Do-Your-Customers-Ignore-Your-Marketing?&id=7546388
http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Gareth_L_Shackleton
http://EzineArticles.com/7546388
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