In the spirit of the holidays let’s talk about how to put others first. Don’t you want to empower your audience and create relationships based on real value?
Naturally we are narcissistic, but as marketers we must fight this urge to talk about ourselves endlessly. It is not inspirational to hear someone brag about themselves. Sure it is our job to create demand for our products, but that doesn’t mean we simply talk about how wonderful our products are.
I know there are some real Apple haters out there, but most agree their marketing strategies are well executed. They seem to inspire unprecedented brand loyalty among their followers. The following video is a good example of a typical commercial of theirs:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fDUKt_XgfJ4
The focus is completely on the customer. Apple doesn’t spend the entire commercial talking about how great the iPhone is. Rather than glorify the specs of their product, they show people being empowered by their product.
Don’t get me wrong, there is a time and place to talk about the capabilities of your products and services, but you must keep it under the umbrella of customer value.
If you want to create brand loyalty or internal vision and unity, you have to inspire your audience. You inspire an audience when you empower it. So when you are writing sales collateral, deciding on the creative for a banner campaign, or talking to a prospect at a trade show, ask yourself:
“Am I empowering my audience or am I talking about how wonderful I am?”
This all has led to the obvious question: Where does my product or service fit into the sales pitch?
Your products and services are tools that help your audience accomplish their task. Your audience is King Arthur. What you are offering to your clients is the sword in the stone. King Arthur is the hero of the story, not the sword.
Here is a video that explains it really well:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sgTlSJ9KJ-0
Now wasn’t that inspiring?
It’s important that we as marketers make our audiences the heroes of our stories. That is how we inspire and create relationships that last.