Flipping the script on marketing

Diana Wolff, President of LRG Marketing Communications discusses how companies can better communicate with potential customers.

Have you ever met someone who talked nonstop about themselves? Who showed no interest in you, didn’t listen and didn’t ask any questions? Well, that’s the impression your brand makes when your customer-facing information is all about your products and services.

The way people find, choose and purchase products has changed. Typically, their journey begins with a problem. For a hotel, it might be too much noise in the hallways; for an airport, too many suitcases getting lost; for a casino, compliance violations for drop box handling. They’ll go online and do a search to discover how to solve that problem.

Your company might have a product that solves that problem. But if your website only talks about features and benefits from a product perspective, chances are it will never come to the attention of that potential purchaser. Even if they do land there somehow, they may never come across the specific information that answers their questions and turns them from a site visitor to a lead.

Today, instead of using marketing to push information about your company and products, flip the script. Try using it to help your audience, provide them with value in the form of useful information, and help them solve their problems. It’s not about you – it’s about them.

In 2017 Best Buy launched an “in-home advisors” programme, offering free 90-minute house calls to help people with the electronics in their houses. Their goal is to establish long-term relationships with customers; there is no sales push at all. The company is stronger now than it has been in years, even as Amazon and Walmart are pushing other competitors out of the market.

The new paradigm works; more importantly, it is essential in today’s environment where customers make their own choices about where and how they find information and solutions. When you flip that script, you’ll be the answer they’re looking for.

www.lrgmarketing.com

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