It’s a fact that the companies who truly value their customers, and selflessly show that value through tremendous deals… bonuses… and follows through guarantees…
Are companies that will stick around for a very long time.
Relationships form the crux of profits – without a reason to buy from you, people won’t. That’s why the “big dogs” at faceless corporations have hated the world over. And still, their marketing heads are wondering what’s going on, choosing to pump millions of dollars into their ad campaigns instead of improving their customer service.
Show Some “Flavah”
Hey! Guess what? Most ads are interchangeable, created by people who are scared of annoying strangers – people who don’t give a damn about ads.
How do I know this? Because we’re bombarded by online ads… and I study them.
More often than not, if you took the name out of a promo, so consumers were watching/reading just the ad itself, all mentions of a business removed… Would those consumers still be able to tell which company made which ad?
In all likelihood, no. Not at all. In most cases, anyway. (I always think Coca Cola when I see polar bears, don’t you?)
Chances are your promos are plain-jane vanilla, stripped of OOMF and flavor. Are you content with being replaceable and interchangeable? Do your competitors’ ads speak on your behalf?
Dare to be different. Dare to strike some individuality in life. History remembers people who do – and society favors the bold.
(Am I angry? No. Am I being realistic? Yes. We have to be: we’re marketers. The reality is our domain.)
Stand Your Ground
These days, consumers desperately want to believe that a business, large or small, won’t abandon them. Being and one is a fear a lot of us have. I personally have never bought from a company, ever again, because their products were less than the “picture of freedom” their ads painted.
(Ads paint pictures in minds, don’t lie. We’ll talk about that later.)
Most marketers remind me of politicians – they’ll say whatever you want to hear to get your cash/vote. Average consumers expect to be fed a lot of manure.
Shake things up and inspire lives, thus motivating people to buy from you, by having an ideal – a dream, SOMETHING to stand for. We, in this world, crave sharing experiences with someone. How awesome are organizations that donate to charity? Be awesome and take a stand.
How Inspiring Joy Invites Customers
We both know the importance of making people feel happy. When we’re at our happiest, we’re liable to subscribe to something more. After all, who doesn’t enjoy being happy? (It isn’t unethical to persuade someone to be happy and buy something. It is our duty to make our customers’ lives easier, better, and relieve them of the burden of one more thing to do.)
That’s why focusing on positive emotions in promotions, rather than focusing on doomsday scenarios, often helps to engage viewers more.
That isn’t to say positive defeats negative – not by a long-shot. Painting negative pictures have their proper place: such as… Let’s say you’re running a promo for dog food. Now, how effective do you think images of a sick dog will be? It’s obviously ill, lifeless and mangy. You can tell the dog is breathing its final breaths. Only your dog food can rejuvenate its spirit and fix whatever sickness is inside the pup.
Most problems are negative – play on them, and present them informs your ideal customers will understand. (Preferably as visual as possible, as Twitter, TV, and Twitch streams show that we’re a predominately visual culture.) This will make it “easier” for them to see how your product/service is the exact answer to their problems.
Negative and positive emotions both have their own uses. Figuring out which is appropriate for the promo is the hard part.
Value Of A Smart Marketing Company
Sometimes we need the help of marketers who’ve been running brand promotions longer than we have. And that’s perfectly fine – I’d say they’re worth the money, much like world-class copywriters (who charge $40,000+ for a sales letter) who bring back millions of dollars in profits.
Whichever company you go with, be sure they have a firm understanding of integrated SEO, social media, and CRO.
Are You Selfish? (Yes You Are!)
It’s a fact that most people are vain. There’s no shame in this and is gold knowledge for most marketers.
So, when people see products and services that closely resemble them, how they feel about themselves, and obviously show them how their lives will be easier or improved…
Usually, the 2 qualities most consumers look for in products…
(Isn’t social psychology great?)
…If they see those products that “are them”, you’re opening more avenues for them to buy. This is why identifying the customers you want to buy is important – and then zeroing in on them. Make your ad campaigns, ads, and web content as tailored to your customers’ lives as possible.
If you’re a freelance writer who enters a judged competition, you’d read everything the judges read to make sure you write material they like. Apply the same tactic to win sales and see your ads score greater results.
Listen To Feedback
If you want your customer base to grow, keep growing, and increase their LTV… listen to them. Your ultimate goal should be to transform your customers into the brand evangelist.
Set up a customer service department, hire some people-pleasers, and listen to the feedback and complaints from people. Why disregard them? They tell you what they aren’t happy with.
And, since you’re targeting ultra-specific customers, you know right away how to make them happy: because they are telling you how to make them happy.
A lot of the big boys make big mistakes by treating their customer base like statistics instead of valuing them. Don’t be those faceless corporations – because those soulless, evil (and faceless) corporations don’t listen to…
- Surveys
- Email/Web forms
- Small business social media
- Major customer service
Plus, another disadvantage that happens when you ignore customers… is… they spread nasty words about you! And word of mouth advertising is a successful platform for advertising. If bad words about you are said? Kiss your business bye-bye.
Last Thoughts
Throughout this venture, always be sure to run several A/B split tests. You will never build relationships with people, or run successful promotions, without knowing what strikes a chord in the heart of people. A/B tests let you run various aspects of a promo, at once, and compare results.
This makes it even easier to forge connections with your potential customers, which means a happier life.
