Do you have the right material
Having a great product or service is nothing unless you can let people know. An old tale I used to enjoy as a kid was this:
there were once three brothers who all had businesses in the same town. Being brothers they were highly competitive and when a new shopping mall was being built they all secured new premises. What they did not know was that these three new premises, each designed to drive the other brothers crazy with envy,were situated in a line, right next door to each other. Upon finding out this incredible stroke of bad luck, each brother went to work trying to outdo the other brothers.
On the day of the new mall being opened each brother wore a smile of smug satisfaction thinking they had pulled off a marketing master stroke that their siblings would not expect.
The first brother opened his store with fanfare and unveiled a new sign which read ;
‘Best quality tailor in town’ ( They were all tailors)…
the second brother smiled and with a grand gesture and knowing wink towards his brother unveiled his sign, it read;
‘Cheapest prices for miles around…’ The first brother was more than irritated as he had not seen this coming. Neither of the brothers had however seen what was to come next. As the third brother unveiled his sign the groans of frustration were clear and long, it read;
‘Entrance’
As I have often said it is no good having great stuff if nobody knows you are there or what you can do etc. This week a report was published which revealed that , amongst other statistics, that 99% of people earning over $50,000 per year shop online. Not only that, the steps we take before we make a purchase decision are less and we are doing all this on mobiles in increasing numbers.
The report can be found here.
What is interesting is that ANY business operating a glorified catalog online and skimping resources on making their web presence dynamic , will ‘as sure eggs is eggs’, be out of business in the very near future. The people who will be gaining market share and growing their businesses are the ones who understand what a properly integrated content marketing strategy can do for you. If this is done correctly, not only will business improve in the shorter term but long term stability is far more achievable because you will develop a meaningful dialog with your customer through a multi point exchange of ideas and emotions as they help shape your brand.
Take a look at this short video from Woolmark..if you are not sure who they are, you will in around 3 mins!
Woolmark: ‘Feeling connected to wool’
I bet you are thinking about some luxurious wool scarf or jacket right now, which you could spice up your wardrobe with. In an age filled with high tech sports related garments this campaign was not only justified but expertly conceived as it did not try to compete with other materials but merely demonstrated it’s passion for wool. Simple, as all good things are!
see you on the long and winding road…. Patrick