For most companies, the fastest route to effective marketing is just a subtle shift in understanding. Let’s start with a quick quiz, and then review. Your subtle shift could be waiting for you in one of these answers!
1. What is the primary goal of effective marketing?
a) Maximizing profits.
b) Motivating people to buy what you have to sell.
c) Identifying and meeting the needs of those who require your product or service.
d) Creating clear differentiation from your competitors.
2. What is the most important thing your marketing can do to support sales?
a) Generate new leads using promotions and discounts.
b) Reaching a large audience … sales is a numbers game!
c) Thoughtfully address customer motivations and concerns.
d) Provide beautiful images to tap into consumer emotions.
3. Which of these concepts holds the most power for effective marketing in a highly saturated advertising arena?
a) Mass advertising
b) Targeted marketing
c) Brand awareness
d) Video marketing
4. Why is it important to focus on the underlying motivations of potential customers in marketing?
a) To stimulate emotions
b) To create a sense of urgency
c) To build trust and address genuine needs and concerns
d) To create a sense of scarcity and FOMO
5. Which misconception about the role of marketing is the most costly?
a) Marketing is solely about convincing people to buy.
b) Marketing has low impact on building trust with customers.
c) Marketing is only relevant when you have a specific sales goal.
d) Marketing is not for addressing customer concerns.
Correct Answers:
C, C, B, C, A
Give yourself one point for each answer, and then let’s review!
1. You don’t need all the customers. You need the right customers.
The reason so many marketing dollars are wasted is that companies advertise to the masses in the hope they will persuade a sufficient number of viewers to buy. It’s far better to feed the quacking ducks.
At any time, approximately 3% of buyers are looking for what you have to sell, and another 7% of buyers are willing to consider what you have to sell. If you put the right message in front of those 10% of prospects, you’ll sell more than if you put a more general message in front of 100% of potential buyers — and at significantly lower cost.
2. Thoughtfully address customer motivations and concerns
“Oh my gosh! I was just thinking that!”
If you’ve ever said that to another person, you know the spark of connection you experienced in that moment. When your messaging speaks directly to a specific customer motivation or concern, you build an instant bridge of credibility and resonance.
What you lose when you create messages general enough to appeal to everyone is the deep connection of delivering a highly targeted message to a specific someone.
3. Target, Target, Target
The most effective marketing in a highly saturated advertising arena is targeted marketing
The typical American consumer sees 4,000 - 10,000 ads per day. Unless you have a marketing budget the size of Walmart’s, you’ll never cut through that noise. Identify the advertising methods that give you the greatest control over who sees your message, and stick with those.
4. Dig for the Not-So-Obvious
Focusing on the underlying motivations of potential customers builds trust and addresses genuine needs and concerns.
Did that client buy a Valentine’s Day gift because he knew he better or he’d be in trouble? Because he loves giving the right gift? Or because the husbands of his wife’s social circle are his colleagues and competitors and he’s making an impression? Underlying motivations are the real reasons people buy. Message to those and your prospects will think, “Wow! They understand me!”
5. Effective Marketing is a Long Game
Remember the 10% mentioned earlier in this article? The marketing you put out today should bring in those currently interested customers in the near term, and should also be priming customers who will be in that 10% at some point in the future.
But if 3% of potential buyers are interested in what you have to sell right now, and 7% are willing to consider, then what are the other 90% doing?
Well, 30% are completely oblivious to your offer. Imagine you buy an orange car after years of only driving blue cars. As you’re driving your new vehicle home, you start noticing every other orange car on the road. Before this new car caught your eye and your imagination, orange cars didn’t register with you. Now you see them everywhere. It’s not that you hated orange cars … you just didn’t see them. Those 30% of oblivious potential buyers are a future target for you.
The remaining 60% are tougher. Half of them are opposed to what you sell, and the other half are extremely opposed to what you sell.
The solution is simple. If you understand the underlying interests, motivations, and concerns of your ideal buyers, and consistently speak to those needs through your messaging, you’ll resonate with those who have immediate interest in the near term, and will start priming those who will be interested in the long term. Relevance is the strategy for both quick and long-term success.
Too many businesses assume they know what motivates their customers, and their marketing misses the mark. Consumer feedback, online listening, thoughtful social media conversations, and transactional data are vital for effective marketing, and the key to delivering the types of messaging we've discussed here. With what you learn, you can tailor your outreach to be more relevant and foster a more meaningful connection with your prospects and customers.
