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Articles filed in: Marketing
The Purpose Of Design Features
In business, we use design to differentiate ourselves in a number of ways. Design features are primarily seen as a way to attract customers and to help them decide if our product is for them. In a digital world, design is one of the best tools we have to build trust with customers we many never meet face-to-face.
But in our rush to simply stand out, we often overlook the opportunity design affords us to create deeper connections with prospective customers. Thoughtful design can show people what we stand for and what we value. When we get it right it makes them glad they chose our brand and gives them a reason to share it.
When more purchasing decisions are made online, it gets harder to justify design decisions that cost more. After all the customer is not holding the box, bag or book in their hand before they click ‘buy’. If we’ve already sold them, there’s no need to sustain the effort or increase the expense. And yet when we do it changes everything.
The quality of the packing, the weight of the paper, the colour of ink and type of materials we use—every one of these choices communicates our intention to the customer and gives him a story to tell. Design isn’t just about outward appearances and conversions in the moment. It’s a way to engage more deeply with customers in a world where there are fewer and fewer opportunities to do so and how we create great experiences that are talked about long after the purchase is made. Thoughtful design allows customers to become advocates who are delighted to pass our story or idea along and it’s often the smartest and most effective marketing investment we can make.
Image by Merlijn Hoek.
The Power Of The Customer’s Story
filed in Marketing, Storytelling
Mike, the guy who sells bus tours in Times Square doesn’t do permission marketing. He has 60 seconds to find a way to engage his prospective customer—a wary visitor in a strange city who isn’t anticipating being interrupted. Mike is competing with dozens of other street vendors. He’s also got the giant flashing billboards and a hundred other distractions in Times Square to contend with.
It’s a tough gig.
And yet he manages to out-perform his colleagues, selling three times the number of bus tickets every day by using a different approach to the standard method of thrusting leaflets at reluctant tourists, while shouting about special offers and discounts. Mike starts with the customer’s story.
He looks along the line of pedestrians walking towards him, takes in as much data as he can from their appearance and begins to find some common ground. He notices the Scandinavian features of a young man and makes eye contact, then asks if he’s from Denmark. When the tourist says he’s from Germany, Mike immediately switches to German and starts to engage. He does this over and over again throughout the day, looking for a way to understand the customer’s worldview before he begins his pitch.
Mike knows that he’s interrupting people and that this isn’t best practice marketing, but he also knows that if he is to survive Times Square he has to be better than the next guy. The best marketing (and even the best of the worst marketing) always starts with the customer’s story.
Image by Israel González.
It’s Not B2B, It’s Personal
One of the most confusing distinctions we’ve created in the business world is that between the business to customer (B2C) and business to business (B2B) consumer. It’s argued that because these two groups of customers are working towards different outcomes—efficiency vs. entertainment, expertise vs. enjoyment, that they also have different motivations.
The B2B consumer is expected to make decisions based on logic, while the B2C customer is thought to be driven by emotions. The result is that we often forget to treat the business customer with empathy and the retail customer with respect.
The people we hope to serve are not just defined by the title that’s printed on their business cards. CEO’s and Vice Presidents have just as many problems and fears, hopes and dreams as the next person. A corner office doesn’t strip someone of their humanity. Our marketing shouldn’t be designed to do that either.
Image by Chris Marchant.
Persuasion, Push And Pull
You’ve probably witnessed a mother trying to hurry her toddler along with a gentle sense of urgency. “Come on now Joe. Quickly.” she says.
The toddler immediately senses what’s important to his mum, but not necessarily to him and begins to walk more slowly. Mum’s urgency escalates and eventually her coaxing turns into a desperate, angry directive. “MOVE IT!” she yells.
The best outcomes happen when the goals of both parties are aligned. Persuasion doesn’t have to be all push and pull. We get to where we want to go faster by pulling in the same direction, so it pays to understand where and how fast the people you’re trying to influence want to go.
Image by Melanie.
The Quiet Marketing Opportunity
It was 6am on a wet and windy Melbourne morning. The two tourists wandered out of their hotel on Exhibition Street, each armed with a giant red golf umbrella plastered with the hotel’s equally giant logo.
At first glance, you might think how thoughtful it is that the hotel anticipates the traveller’s needs. How much more genuine and generous would this gesture be if the guest wasn’t forced to become a conspicuous walking billboard for the business?
We don’t have to turn everything we do into a full blown, neon-lit marketing opportunity. In fact allowing our actions to speak for themselves is the best marketing of all.
Image by Dove Lee.
The Most Underrated Sales Tactic In The World
The woman who was shopping for a travel wallet asked the assistant if there was anything available in the sale.
“Not in store, but you could try our website. There could be something there,” she said.
The customer explained that she was travelling tomorrow, and left the store disappointed and empty-handed, even though there were six different lines of travel wallet on the shelves. Meanwhile, the owner lost the sale all because the assistant forgot to be interested.
Being curious about who your customer is, why she’s here and what she wants to do next is the most underrated sales tactic in the world. When we show people that we’re interested and go out of our way to help them they often respond. I know this seems obvious, but we can all remember a time when we left a store or restaurant disappointed because the staff forgot to go beyond exactly what was laid out in the company training manual.
If we can’t give the customer the answer she’s hoping for then the next best thing is to acknowledge that we see her.
Image by Lee Martin.
Clever Vs. Consistent
The advert for cheap flights to L.A. simply read:
Los Angeles. From/one way, incl taxes.
£169*
It was clever of the marketing department to pick up on the news that’s top of mind and there’s no doubt the ad got plenty of attention in the moment. Maybe the airline even sold some extra flights.
It’s tempting to be the kind of marketer who seeks fleeting attention to boost short-term outcomes or the kind of leader who rewards it. It’s much harder to be the one who consistently delivers value by making and keeping promises to customers you care about, not just on the days when there’s a juicy headline to ride the coattails of.
Image by Tsega Dinka
Here Today, Here Tomorrow
In a digital business world where it’s believed everything can be measured there is an assumption that an action will result in a reaction. Much of our marketing is now created with the expectation that it will deliver an immediate (albeit short-term) reward. Of course, the best marketing doesn’t work this way. Immediate payoffs rarely lead to sustained results. Consider the difference between the ‘All You Can Eat’ promotion targeting casual passers-by and the restaurant that consistently delights customers who return.
When we adopt a short-term worldview it changes the stories we tell. We optimise our messaging for conversion at the expense of connection. Our attitudes and resulting actions demonstrate that we value quick wins over continuous progress.
The great work you do today might take months or even years to have an impact on your bottom line. You have the power to choose whether you’re here for today or tomorrow.
Image by Kerry Lannert.
Kickstart Your Marketing Strategy With The Right Question
filed in Marketing, Storytelling
The advert at the tram stop tells passers-by to use this brand of mouthwash if they want to ‘wake up with a bang’. How did the company make the leap from their product to that story—the one they believe their prospective customer wants to hear?
Every brand story or marketing strategy starts a question. That question is the foundation upon which your story is built. When you begin by wondering how to sell more mouthwash, you get a different answer than if you start by asking what makes people buy mouthwash in the first place. It’s only by starting with the right question that you can tell a story that resonates with the customer—one that connects your product or service with the customer’s wants and needs.
Your marketing will succeed when you understand the answers the customer is hoping to find when he looks in the mirror. Your brand story should help him to find them.
Image by Jonathan Kos-Read
Marketing Constants
If you’re running a business, you’ll hear some version of the following every other day.
Things have changed.
And there’s no doubt that they have.
Things have changed since the Internet became ubiquitous, since Facebook launched, since newspaper advertising died, since the iPhone, Amazon.com, ad blockers and on and on.
But what hasn’t changed?
People. The people who buy things for the reasons they buy things. Because they’re scared or lonely. Because they want to be seen and understood. Because they need comfort or reassurance. Because they are sad or insecure. Because they want to be happy or make memories.
These people who you want to be your customers are your constant.
As we’ve wrestled with doubts about trends and marketing shifts, and worried about which tactics will work where and when. We’ve lost sight of the fact that we’re still dealing with people whose wants and needs and unspoken desires haven’t changed at all.
Image by Scooter Lowrimore.