I just finished reading Jay Baer‘s new book, Youtility: Why Smart Marketing is About HELP and not HYPE, and I’m really, really excited about reviewing it. It fits so nicely into our theme of rewarding loyalty this month. Baer actually outlines several strategies for those who want to offer “marketing so useful, people will gladly pay for it,” which is the core of Youtility. What got me excited, however, was the overall focus on what marketers and company leaders can do to earn loyalty.
Click To Learn More About Youtility
Breaking down the strategy of Youtility is really about this – earn your place with relevance, and don’t break people’s trust. There is a lot here – and I’d recommend anyone interested in how to get into customers’ hearts and minds read this. The points about loyalty made me sit up and take notice, however, because as we keep saying – the ways we are earning loyalty from customers is changing.
A few of my favorite key points from Youtility:
- People used to earn loyalty. Now information does. B2B customers will only contact a sales rep after independently completing 60 percent of the purchasing decision process. Your sales reps aren’t introducing your ideas and products, your information online is.
- Map customer needs to useful marketing. Can I be honest? This one spoke right to my heart. There is a whole chapter on useful case studies here, but to quote Baer directly:
“Understanding what people need to know from you is only half the battle. You also have to know how they consume information…”
- Your employees are your most important–and most overlooked–audience. I may have uttered an “Amen” as I read this. In so many discussions about what earns loyalty, employees are totally ignored. And while Baer focused on marketing, and the vast audience your employees potentially bring, the same rule can be applied to customer experience.
- This type of thinking needs to be a process, not a project. A main point about why focusing on the customers’ needs requires an ongoing focus is because customer needs change, even if your marketing doesn’t.
Full of hand-drawn charts and graphs, along with great case studies, examples and guides, this is a very helpful book. And that’s the whole point, isn’t it? If more companies thought along these lines, we’d all have better days.
Enter Our Contest to Win Youtility!
So to extend the helpfulness to you, we’re offering chance to win a copy of Youtility as part of a contest for the month of August. Our obsessive focus on microinteractions – those small moments that can make or break an experience – has prompted some of our audience to send the ones they’re finding. The good, the bad, and the not-even-trying. We want to see more! By sharing what works and what doesn’t, our hope is other companies will learn and we, as customers, will have fewer ruined days. So get ready to capture that unbelievably bad sign on your mobile phone or grab a screenshot of the web site message that made you smile. We want companies to take a little more time with the small stuff. Will you join us?
Here’s how to enter:
- Email [email protected] or [email protected] with your picture and/or story.
- Post it on our Facebook wall with a short description
- Tweet your picture at us @360Connext with #CXIcontest
- Instagram it and tag us @360Connext with #CXIcontest
Spread the word! Microinteractions are great conversation starters and fun to share!
