If you’re trying to get people’s attention for any reason, you’re a marketer. Business, blog, lemonade stand; makes no difference. If you want people to know you, marketing is on your radar whether you’re aware of it or not. And if you’re engaged in marketing, you’re probably thinking you should be screaming the same message louder than you are right now.
It’s the wrong move.
In my experience, even the people who’s job it is to help other people with their marketing often do not understand this. Such was the case in a meeting I attended recently.
They’re Not “Getting” It!
Here’s what happened:
One person suggested that clients “were not believing” or “not understanding” the data about their radio station’s audience. They felt the client was assuming the audience was much younger than it actually is, and therefore, not a good fit for their businesses’ marketing efforts. When it came to understanding the facts, this client just wouldn’t listen.
So … how to address that? How to make them understand?
The immediate solution that was offered: present even more data. More facts. More and different graphs and reports and research.
Sigh.
Sadly, that seems to be our default conditioning, both as marketers and consumers: we just expect people to scream louder. What we end up with is, well, just more noise.
The Hammer & The Nail
If someone is not understanding something, giving them more of the same thing and expecting a different result is like hammering a nail into a block of wood, hitting a knot or a snag and deciding your only option is to hammer harder. It rarely works. Instead, you run the risk of wasting a lot of your own energy, hurting yourself or end up breaking the block altogether.
The question, then, is what will work?
Well, first off, make sure you’ve got the right block of wood. Are you even talking to the right people? It doesn’t matter that you have the best lemonade stand in the world if I only ever drink water (and maybe coffee). You can hammer me all you like: I’m never going to buy. Instead, I’m just going to become more annoyed with you.
And what about the hammer?
A New Tool
Perhaps it’s time for a new tool. As marketers, it’s a good idea to keep this thought in mind, from Seth Godin: “Interaction is better than interruption.”
We have created a culture of constant interruptions. And when the people we think should be paying attention to us are not, what do we do? We scream louder. We hammer harder.
“Check us out!”
“Come on down!”
“Limited time offer!”
Please. Stop. It’s white noise. I’m guarding against that now more than ever. So are your potential customers.
If you want a chance at my attention, stop constantly screaming at me about how great you are and what you want me to do. Remember, as Godin says, interaction is better than interruption.
Ask. Trying asking about something that matters to me instead.
And put the hammer down.
For any entrepreneur or small business owner looking for help with online marketing and sales, I highly recommended the Wealthy Affiliate community. From SEO to social media to affiliate marketing, building and maintaining your own websites and just about any online-related marketing topic you can think of, you’ll find more resources there than you can possibly use. It’s like having your own team of online experts. It’s what I use and completely recommend.
To learn more about how I use it, visit my Wealthy Affiliate page on this website. – KB
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