What My Two Year Old Taught Me About Marketing Online and Offline
by: Douglas TitchmarshWhat can you learn about marketing from a two year old?
Quite a lot actually.
Two year olds are humans and will show you exactly how
they will react to a situation without any false ideals
or actions to mask their true feelings.
My own two year old responds to emotions, so I figured
that so would my customers in my business. When I need
her to do something, my daughter will stubbornly refuse,
but I can often remind her of the fun she had last time
we done it, and she will happily go along.
If you can setup a similar emotional response in your
customer, they will be more likely to purchase your
products. Try to remind them of something you know
will bring out a positive response in most people, a
time when they were young and enjoying a ball game
or when they first succeeded in riding a two wheel
bicycle. Relate this to your products effect on their
life.
My toddler doesn't like having her hair washed, to
convince her to have it done we use a bribe we know
she will want to have. A sweet, or a story book
usually does the trick.
Our potential customers like to think they're way
beyond the antics of a two year old, but how many
will resist this old marketing ploy of a free gift?
There is a potential flaw here, my daughter has learnt
to try to checkout the goods being offered first
before she agrees to the bribe, and your customer
will need some kind of assurance that the gift is
worth whatever effort you ask in return, whether it
is to entice them to your site or get them to sign
up to your email list.
Make your bribe more than worth the required task
for your customer.
Stories draw in my little girl like nothing else
(except maybe television but I digress) and
her attention can be held for quite a long time
by an involving tale.
But our customers won't be interested in stories
right?
Wrong, by painting a picture in words of how your
product came about, or why your ebook was written
you will involve your potential buyer more in your
copy. Making the story descriptive, and emotive will
gain your customers trust, and empathy.
If they can relate the story to their own problem
(perceived or real) then they will be more prone
to buy.
My daughter also likes to feel special, using
her name will draw a smile and a response every
time. She can never ignore us when we call her
name out whatever she is doing. Her attention
is gained even when she hears her name on the TV
and she will look around.
Yep you guessed it, using your customers name
will gain their attention too. In an email subject
they will pick out their own name readily among
all the other subjects. Using the name within the
email also develops a feeling of one on one chat
and intimacy which will gain their trust. It's
a little more difficult on a webpage, but can be
done still, using a script to request the name
and then personalise the page for the potential
buyer.
As you can see my two year olds actions and reactions
mirror the results we will see in all of human life, and
can be used in our marketing efforts to increase our
sales.
Try using some of these ideas in your marketing, and
thank my toddler if you see your sales rising.
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