You’re on top of it… Or are you?
The vast majority of business owners eat, breathe and sleep work. You know your product. You know your industry. You have great relationships with your clients; even prospective business; BUT business isn’t as boom-boom-boom as it could be.
Insert question marks here… Sometimes even the odd exclamation mark for frustration’s sake.You spend all your time on your business, client relationships, communications. You’re investing a lot in your marketing to spread awareness and build a reputation. Where’s the conversion? Where’s the new business? Where’s the Twitter following? Where are the likes on Facebook?
Know. Like. Trust.
No matter how big and experienced you may be, a lot of people don’t know about the X-Factor of communication - that recent Chanel ad featuring Brad Pitt is a great example (making it to the ‘Business Insider’s 10 Worst Ads of 2012’ list). Before you sell anything, you need to get known, you need to be liked and you need to be trusted.
How?
Clarity. Be clear and speak to the people you need to be speaking to – your target market. Despite being Chanel’s target, Brad Pitt wasn’t speaking to me in that ad. I don’t even know what he was talking about or what he might have been trying to say. In fact, I’d go so far to say that I’m not even sure how I feel about him anymore after having seen him in that ad. Your target market is not the world, so don’t speak to everyone. Profile your target market. Is it mums who don’t have a lot of spare time that need concise, helpful information? Is it CEOs that should be addressed with the respect they’ve earned to be where they are? Position your content specifically to your target to develop a clear, well-received message.
Repetition. Just as it takes 28 days to create a habit, a one-time communication is not going to get you results. Don’t bombard your target market by emailing them links to your latest campaign every day for a week, but create a channel that positions you as the helpful, respectable option for their requirements. A blog is a great way to do this. Frequent and relevant updates will help to build awareness, a following and trust.
Authenticity. Don’t commit to capabilities beyond what you can offer. Be clear on what you can deliver and how well you can deliver it. Endorsements and ambassadors are a great way to do this – and are great to tap into the markets associated with them.
Niceties. Someone once discredited me with “being nice is a sign of weakness”. It’s amusing when we look at where he is now versus where I am. Don’t bitch or badmouth people. Be helpful, responsive and generous with your time and attention.
Interaction. Everyone loves their 5 minutes of fame and contributing their 2-bob’s worth. Open the forum for two-way communication with your clients through the likes of social media or your blog. Essentially you’re developing relationships.
Relevance. Back to that Chanel ad… “It’s not a journey. Every journey ends but we go on. The world turns and we turn with it. Plans disappear. Dreams take over.” Even with my creatively interpretive mind I have difficulty drawing any parallels between this dialogue and a scent. The delivery is equally as confusing. Is Brad happy? Is he sad? Does he make me want to buy the product?
Credibility. The proof’s in the pudding when your happy clients offer compliments testament to their dealings with you. They also pave the way for a different dimension. The “word of mouth” dimension.
Reassurance. If you’re as sure of your product as the sky is blue, try the use of a ‘guarantee’ about your product or service. The word itself does half the work for you with its meaning and strong, positive associations.
These factors singularly won’t get you known, liked or trusted. The secret is commitment, blood, sweat tears and combination. Be real. In a world full of fake it will cut through the clutter.
- Sofia Margelis
Leave a comment
Make sure you enter all the required information, indicated by an asterisk (*). HTML code is not allowed.
comments ( 3 )
Emma
06 Feb 2013There are so many factors that need to contibute and work together for a product/business to succeed. Many of which are stated above. Without say targeting the market, creating relevance, having a clear message repeated to consumers as well as many other contributors will determine whether a product in a business will succeed. Without the right stretegy and marketing a busines may have a great product but without clear communication towards consumers how will they know about the product and its benefits? On the other hand with good a marketing streategy a not so good product will succeed as they are able to communicate to their target market the value their product has over the competition.
ReplyChanel is lucky that it has an almost untouchable reputation becuase it is obvious that the image they were trying to convey did not go to plan. This is becuase they didnt follow clarity of a message or even really targeting the message to a target market. To this day having had many conversation about this ad I still and many others dont know who the ad is targeted for. Chanel did not follow clarity, relelvance or authenticity to name a few but it did get people talking. The chanel brand name has been thrown back and forth a lot more than it was before this ad was aired. In some ways it was a bombshell but in others it was genius. As some people say 'Any publicity is good publicity'.
Owen
04 Feb 2013I certainly agree with the points on clarity and relevance. If the message is not providing the customer with information about the product, then it is not helping to sell the product.
ReplyHaving said that I have to agree with the comment above. The ad may not have had the best message, but they got Brad Pitt to do the ad and it has certainly increased the awareness of the product.
The music industry is similar to this. Nicki Minaj's lyrics are often non-descriptive and irrelevant to almost everyone. However, she sells more records than the Arctic Monkeys who are famed for their lyrics and providing a 'story' with their albums.
This is why companies pay such obscene amounts of money to have people like David Beckham in their ads.
madara
30 Jan 2013This ad makes no sense at all and didn't strike any emotion. However, it certainly got everybody talking and served its purpose.
Reply