It’s time to start thinking deeper

We get it, in business we all want to make some good cash money, but before you start making that cash money you need to convince other people why you’re worth it. The whole “I want to make more money, so I need to make a social media post” attitude is not the answer. Good marketing is.

With the shift in marketing we’re constantly hearing things like “we made it this far without doing anything, why should we spend now?”. Well, Steve, there are a few reasons:

1. Just because you rate your product or service, sure as hell doesn’t mean other people do. You need to give them a reason to buy.
2. People these days have a range of options at the tip of their fingers, what you can’t offer them, someone else can, so you need to continuously showcase value.
3. Marketing isn’t just slapping on a ‘buy now’ sticker and crossing your fingers. It’s strong creative thinking paired with a clear understanding of your market, their purchasing habits and internal decision making.
4. Social media isn’t the answer, you need strategies and objectives before throwing out random messages to market.
5. Lastly, imagine where you’d be if you had spent some money investing in a solid marketing strategy, to begin with.

People see marketing as a convenient spend or a simple DIY. Let me assure you, marketing hasn’t been more important. In order for your brand to reap a good ROI, top-level decision makers and business owners really need to start thinking deeper. By that, we mean constantly reassess business goals and aligning them with a strong marketing strategy.

So, let’s talk about some of those steps involved between wanting a sale and delivering a message.

Know the importance of psychology in branding

There are so many psychological reasons involved in buying, in fact just Google the subject and you’ll be met with an array of articles. For now, we’re going to give you a scenario. Let’s think about your choice of simple household items when you first flocked the nest to move out on your own. Chances are, a lot of the products you purchased were the ones that you had at the parentals house. Things like washing detergents, butter, cleaning products etc. There are a few reasons for this and it certainly isn’t because we were loyal to those brands to buy them, it’s because those brands had a strong association to our upbringing. It’s what our parents bought, therefore, the product reminded us of home. And the most important part about all of that, the decision probably would’ve been made unconsciously.

Have a look at the brand Thank you for example. They sell household goods; soaps, body wash, nappies, but the most important message being sent to market about these products is that they ‘give back’. By buying their products you?re contributing to a bigger cause and donating to help people less fortunate. People buy for the association; you buy this brand, you do good for the world.

When communicating with an audience, you need to have a basic understanding of the emotional elements involved. Why are people buying? Is it because of what they want to be associated with? Or a memory that reminds them of home? Dig a little deeper, you can find out.

Truly understanding your target market

This follows on from the above and it is SO important. We’re not talking about you taking a punt and assuming you know, really put the effort into finding out who is buying from you and their needs:

• What do they actually want?
• How do they buy?
• How old are they?
• Where do they live?
• What do they earn?
• What do they want to associate themselves with?

On top of all of those questions, find the niche. Aim for the few that will buy, not the masses that won’t. As they say, 80% of your revenue comes from 20% of your buyers.

Build a strategy

After you find out who your people are and what they need, work on a strategy that will bring them in.

• What is it you’re wanting to achieve?
• Where is the best place to be? 
• What is the right messaging for that market?

Do you want a sale or to educate them about your brand? Because both are completely different objectives and can’t be placed into the same marketing message. Do one thing and do it well. You can?t expect someone who knows nothing to buy from you first go, that doesn’t happen. It works in an order:

1. Brand Awareness
2. Acquisition
3. Conversion
4. Retention
5. Referral

Figure out who you’re targeting, where they fit within the scope of things, then create messages that are catered to them.

We actually deep dive into all of these things in our Understand the Brand course launching in October. Get on the list to be one of the lucky 8 selected.

Stop expecting people to just buy from you

You need to earn their trust. Work at it and engage. Build a conversation, educate and show them why you’re worth investing in. If you invest your time and money into really understanding who your audience is, the results will show. People will engage because you’ve shown interest in them and taken the time to do it. It’s not rocket science.

Think about how you feel when you have a one-sided discussion with someone, it becomes boring, you tune out and you feel they don’t give a crap about you at all. That is exactly how you should look at the way you communicate with your audience. If you hard sell without taking an interest in them, you brand is that one-sided discussion hogger and people will not engage. One of the biggest things you can do as a brand is listen.

• What are people saying?
• What problems do they have?
• What can you solve?

Be proactive, then TRY, TEST, MEASURE.

As you can see, there is a little bit involved in getting someone to buy from you. And even after they have, you need to really work on building that ongoing relationship. Let’s not skip the important parts that matter, the strategy.

Work on how you can build a start to finish customer experience from all aspects of the customer journey. By that we mean, understand where certain people come in (do they know you already or not?) and know how to speak to them. Then once you’ve built that area of trust, then they will buy, until then, it’s time to look at the way you do things.

If you have any questions or want to know more, click here and get in touch. Or check out the services page to see what’s on offer. Alternatively, head over and follow us on Instagram and see what’s happening with us daily!