As we work to figure out and put together content that is not only engaging, but also compelling, we've got to get very clear about what our Unique Selling Proposition is. Without that, what will guide the messaging that we generate? How will we be able to stay consistent, and how will our prospects and leads know that what we offer will satisfy their needs? How can we nurture our leads effectively?
Last night, I was watching the first and second episodes of Season 1 of Mad Men -- about the advertising industry on Madison Avenue, NY, in the 1960's. In it, the main character was troubled and having a block about how to create the messaging for a tobacco/cigarette client. The tobacco industry could no longer point to "health benefits" - so how would they differentiate themselves from any other cigarette.
Through different suggestions of his creative team, and the researchers, it was suggested that they approach it from "Hey, you're all going to die some day, so why not go ahead and enjoy your cigarettes now." -- Yeah, not a good idea... but why not? For obviously a number of reasons, because people ultimately want to be happy. People will take action when the bottom line is they'll be happy. You don't sell doom and gloom -- happiness is much more effective. But what makes people happy? It may not be what you think.
Then, I was driving on some errands at lunch today, and listened to an MPR Midday program. Speaking was Daniel Gilbert -- the author of "Stumbling on Happiness" (excellent book if you're interested). He studies why people sometimes incorrectly predict their reactions to future events, and why we often guess wrong about what will make us happy. You can check out the MPR story, and listen if you'd like, at the URL:
minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2009/08/10/midday2/
And I started really thinking about what we offer - increased effectiveness, freedom from reliance on IT, easier to manage and launch marketing efforts, and I realized that behind every one of those is the alleviation of some pain -- some gloom and doom -- with what? Happiness.
You'll be more happy if you're more effective with your marketing efforts, right? You'll be more happy if you pass true sales-ready leads to Sales, right? And they will be too! You'll be more happy if you can launch your marketing campaigns on your timeframes without relying on the schedule of your IT or webdev folks, right? And you'll be more happy if you can get more done with less -- especially in the resource-strapped economy we're experiencing.
Bingo -- it's all about happiness... the key is how you tie into that in a way that compels leads to take action and move forward.
What do you think? Let me know -- I'd love to hear your thoughts on this. Just getting this simple point and translating it to your marketing and content efforts could make a HUGE difference in how you distinguish your offerings from the competitors.
Here's to spreading some holiday happiness!
this is a very brilliant post.. i must commend, marketing in a new way... very informative
Posted by: Acai Optimum | January 20, 2010 at 09:50 PM