Our next event will be at Indigo Blue on
9th November. The topic will be 'Having
established demand and support for our product what else should we do to ensure
commercial viability?" We hope to see you there!
People won’t buy something that they don’t know
that they want yet. So don’t start by selling your product; start by marketing it.
Most successful brands, from Apple to Nike, aren’t
selling a product, they’re selling a lifestyle. One pair of trainers doesn’t
really differ that greatly from the next and yet Nike manage to convince their
customers that a new pair of kicks will change their lives. The same goes for
the latest iPhone. It’s not that different from the one that came before but
everybody wants it, just the same.
People need to want to live the kind of lifestyle
that your product offers. And when they do, you don’t need to directly sell to
them anymore. Start as you mean to go on and create an effective communications
campaign to drive sales without direct marketing.
Start with Your Customers
Communications is all about storytelling and there’s
no point in telling stories that your audience can’t relate to. Make sure you
know who your target market is. Think about age, gender, location, etc. What
music are they into? Where do they socialise? What are their favourite brands? Look
at on demographic at a time – never try to be something to everyone all at
once.
Now You Know Who You
Want to Talk to, Decide Where to Talk to Them
The next step is to decide which channels you want
to use to connect with your prospective customers. Will your target demographic
respond best to social media or more traditional channels? Do you want to talk
to them directly or via journalists? Or is it your existing customers who will
introduce new business?
There are more channels open to you than ever
before so be smart about making choices. Don’t try to use as many as possible;
decide which ones will be most effective when communicating with your customers
and focus on those.
For example, platforms such as Snapchat and
Instagram Stories are very effective for energy drink brands, like Rockstar or
Relentless, who market to young, active customers who enjoy high-energy and
easy access content. However, older, more experienced customers might prefer
platform such as LinkedIn or advertorials in magazines and newspapers.
Think About Your
Content
With the advent of the internet and smart phones,
you have all you need to create quality content in your pocket. All Macbooks
have free video editing software as standard and your phone provides a decent
quality video camera. There are hundreds of apps offering free photo editing
software and we all have word processors coming out of our ears, on our phones,
laptops and tablets.
People love to have things and knowledge that they
can share and pass on. Ask yourself whether the content you’re putting out has
value to others? Does it tell them something that they don’t already know? Why
should they share it with their friends?
It’s also worth thinking about what makes your
content unique but balancing that with making sure that you stay topical. No
one wants to read about Christmas in July but equally, no one wants to read the
same information over and over again in different words. Choose something
relevant that no one else is talking about – what makes your product unique and
why?
Don’t Be Afraid of
Change
If what you’re doing isn’t working, then change it
up. Another advantage of the internet age is that we all have instant access to
metrics telling us exactly what works and what doesn’t. Identify what your
customers engage with and interact with the most and do more of that. Then look
at what they don’t like and either scrap it completely or change it. There’s no
shame in being wrong about something as long as you are able to move on and find
the right thing for both you and your customers.
Please comment
below with your thoughts on generating custom for small business and effective
communications campaigns. We always love hearing from you!
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