In order for your campaign to really cut through the noise,
you need to know what your customer wants--not what you want.
Often, businesses market themselves without the prospect in mind.
But successful marketers align all their marketing efforts with a prospect narrative.
Creating a prospect narrative is an easy and powerful way to put yourself into your prospect's shoes--and ultimately increase the effectiveness of your marketing.
Here are five questions to consider when developing a prospect narrative for your company's next marketing campaign:
1. What is your customer doing during his day?
Most organizations create their marketing materials without considering what the potential customer will be doing when he receives a marketing message. People are busier than they have ever been. In fact, they are spending over a quarter of their day just responding to emails. In order for your campaign to break through the clutter, you must consider how the person you are trying to reach is spending his time.
2. What is keeping her up at night?
Usually, a company centers the majority of its marketing efforts around the company itself or the features and benefits of a specific product. However, no one cares about your company. All they care about are the issues they are dealing with right then and there. What are the challenges that your potential user takes home with her each night? If you want your marketing to elicit a particular behavior, then spend some time matching your message to the challenges your audience cares most about.
3. What will catch his attention?
Most organizations are so focused on broadcasting how great they are that they don’t think about what will most effectively catch people's attention. Most commercials, for example, are generic and not memorable, so in order for yours to stand out, you need to develop a message that is so appealing or jarring to your audience that he has no choice but to react to it.
4. What action will she most likely take?
So many marketing campaigns are solely focused on increasing awareness of an organization, rather than encouraging someone to take some action. This is like burning cash. Think about what action someone would most realistically take after absorbing your message. Would she most likely go to a website, send a text, pick up the phone, or find you on Twitter? Once you know which medium the person is most likely to use, then you can develop a call-to-action that aligns with it.
5. How will you keep him engaged?
Rarely do companies develop marketing campaigns that create long-term engagement. However, those that do receive dividends over and over again, all from that initial investment. Therefore, the question great marketers want to answer is: What are realistic ways to engage him in the long run? This will be the difference between developing a one-time customer and a long-term fan.
By formulating answers to these five questions, you begin to create a story of what your potential customer is doing and thinking about.
BY MARC WAYSHAK
The above is an excerpt from WORK SMART a blog post by Marc Wayshak.
Marc Wayshak is the author of two books on sales and leadership, Game Plan Selling and Breaking All Barriers, as well as a regular contributor for Entrepreneur Magazine and the Huffington Post business section.
you need to know what your customer wants--not what you want.
Often, businesses market themselves without the prospect in mind.
But successful marketers align all their marketing efforts with a prospect narrative.
Creating a prospect narrative is an easy and powerful way to put yourself into your prospect's shoes--and ultimately increase the effectiveness of your marketing.
Here are five questions to consider when developing a prospect narrative for your company's next marketing campaign:
1. What is your customer doing during his day?
Most organizations create their marketing materials without considering what the potential customer will be doing when he receives a marketing message. People are busier than they have ever been. In fact, they are spending over a quarter of their day just responding to emails. In order for your campaign to break through the clutter, you must consider how the person you are trying to reach is spending his time.
2. What is keeping her up at night?
Usually, a company centers the majority of its marketing efforts around the company itself or the features and benefits of a specific product. However, no one cares about your company. All they care about are the issues they are dealing with right then and there. What are the challenges that your potential user takes home with her each night? If you want your marketing to elicit a particular behavior, then spend some time matching your message to the challenges your audience cares most about.
3. What will catch his attention?
Most organizations are so focused on broadcasting how great they are that they don’t think about what will most effectively catch people's attention. Most commercials, for example, are generic and not memorable, so in order for yours to stand out, you need to develop a message that is so appealing or jarring to your audience that he has no choice but to react to it.
4. What action will she most likely take?
So many marketing campaigns are solely focused on increasing awareness of an organization, rather than encouraging someone to take some action. This is like burning cash. Think about what action someone would most realistically take after absorbing your message. Would she most likely go to a website, send a text, pick up the phone, or find you on Twitter? Once you know which medium the person is most likely to use, then you can develop a call-to-action that aligns with it.
5. How will you keep him engaged?
Rarely do companies develop marketing campaigns that create long-term engagement. However, those that do receive dividends over and over again, all from that initial investment. Therefore, the question great marketers want to answer is: What are realistic ways to engage him in the long run? This will be the difference between developing a one-time customer and a long-term fan.
By formulating answers to these five questions, you begin to create a story of what your potential customer is doing and thinking about.
BY MARC WAYSHAK
The above is an excerpt from WORK SMART a blog post by Marc Wayshak.
Marc Wayshak is the author of two books on sales and leadership, Game Plan Selling and Breaking All Barriers, as well as a regular contributor for Entrepreneur Magazine and the Huffington Post business section.