Friday, December 18, 2015

My favorite answer to almost any marketing question? It depends.

Photo credit: inc.com
No, really, that’s it.

I don’t mean my answer depends, I mean that’s literally what I say:

It depends.

Why? Despite the rumors you may have heard, I don’t do it just to be annoying —I swear. It’s simply because there’s usually not enough information to be able to provide a meaningful answer.

For example, as soon as I hear people ask things like, “What content marketing tactic works best?” I just have to cringe. It’s not the fault of the person asking, of course, they’re just trying to learn. But the question tells me they don’t quite understand content marketing (or marketing in general), because the answer to that kind of question will always be — brace yourselves — it depends.

When these kinds of questions are asked with very little specifics provided, like what you’re selling, how or to whom (when, where, etc.), it simply doesn’t make sense to give an answer.

Unfortunately, many still do. “Infographics!” they say. Ugh.

This problem only exists in marketing

Think about it, would you ask your auto mechanic, without giving him any other information, “What’s the best way to fix my car?” Or a doctor, who hasn’t examined the situation (or you), “What’s the best way for me to get healthier?” Of course you wouldn’t, because it depends. Right?

People, it’s the same with marketing a product or service.

Before you can recommend anything tactical, you need to know much more about a brand/product/company’s situation. Are they an established brand in a niche market (they may want to promote the category) or are they an up-and-comer in a crowded field (they will want to look for ways to stand out)? Are they a value brand (Wal-Mart) or a premium brand (Saks)? Big difference.

There are two things of importance here: the message and the delivery. And one of the best ways to start looking for both is by focusing on your audience. Deciding whom you’re trying to attract will tell you a lot about what/how you should say and when/where you should say it.

Let’s start with the delivery
If you’re trying to reach senior citizens, that’s very different from trying to reach families with small children…these people do different things, get news and information from different sources — heck, they’re even awake at different times of the day!

Back to the auto mechanic; if your car won’t start, that’s a very different problem (with a different solution) than if your car gets you from point A to point B, but has been making a funny noise since it’s gotten colder outside.

This is why sophisticated brands choose target audience segments — some even develop specific types of targeted consumers, called personas — so they can best reach the folks who may be interested in what they have to offer. And it’s not just about how to reach people; it’s what you say to them, as well.

The message also matters
Let’s go back to the senior citizens and families with small children, but now let’s say we’re trying to convince them both to do the same thing…we wouldn’t be very successful to do it with the same message, right?

Because, say it with me now, it depends!

If we’re promoting Disney World our message should be very different, depending on which group we’re trying to attract, right?

For the senior citizen group, it may be something like: Create a trip your grandkids will never forget; while, for the family with small kids, it may be something more like: Start a family tradition.

[Of course, there are those few great messages that somehow magically work for all, like: We’ve got fun for all ages. But that doesn’t make my point, so let’s not talk about that here, okay?]

The bottom line is this: focus on your audience at the beginning can help you hone both your message and how it gets delivered, making them both more effective.

That, my friends, is why it depends.

Friday, December 4, 2015

What bananas can teach us about content marketing


Photo credit: livescience.com
In case you haven’t heard, the world’s supply of bananas is under attack. According to The Washington Post, bananas may be going bye bye altogether because of a disease called Tropical Race 4.

But fruits and vegetables face diseases everyday, right? Is this simply a case of the media hyping a story for the sake of attention?

This time, I’m afraid not.

The disease is a problem because almost all of the world’s bananas are not only grown in a relatively small geographical area (most of them are grown in Latin America), but they are almost all the same variety.

The same thing that makes our bananas reliably healthy and abundant — that they are essentially all clones of each other, according to The Post — is the same thing that makes them all vulnerable to the same disease.

What’s happening with bananas is that growers removed variations to simplify things for themselves, reduce inconsistencies and make more money. But, those variations were the very thing that protected their crop — their livelihood — from disease.

How on earth does this relate to content marketing?
While this is very sad news for those of us who love bananas, those of us in marketing should take a lesson from this pending disaster and try to learn from it. That’s what marketing is all about, right?

Even though brands today have access to tools that enable them to create and publish their own messages, many of us are still doing the same things. It’s not quite as bad as the banana issue (yet), but as marketers continue to follow each other with the same messages, the same infographics, the same videos and the same blog posts, they risk extinction.

Why?

Because consumers like solutions. They already know what the problems are and they really don’t have the time or patience to connect the dots between what they need and what you’re offering. They want someone to help solve their problems so they can get back to living their lives.

So stop talking about what you do and talk more about how you can help people. In other words: use more #contentmarketing!

Brands like Blendtec are a great example. Could they have done the standard product promotions about how fast their blenders spin and how much torque they can deliver and all of that? Sure.

Would anyone care? Nope.

Instead, they chose to show how they can help by blending just about anything they could get their hands on. Do most folks really need to blend a cell phone down to a pulp? Of course not. But when you do need to blend something, aren’t you going to consider the one that can? You bet you are.

There are many other great examples of content marketing, too. I'm sure you've seen many of them.

The point here is that, while most brands can’t rely solely on content marketing, the vast majority of brands can benefit from using content marketing more as part of their overall marketing mix.

This is the point of the banana analogy…content marketing can help by providing your brand with needed variety.

And we all know people like variety in their lives. And bananas.