The other day I was on the road listening to a marketing podcast. I listen to a lot of them, so I can’t remember which one at the moment.
Anyway… The host told a story about a company who hired a designer to update their successful magazine ad. But after the new ad ran, the response dropped to zero.
Why?
The new design had a coupon the customer had to fill out (same as the previous ad). But this new coupon was solid black with white lettering. That meant the customer needed a white ink pen to fill it in.
Not a well thought out plan…
But they figured it out and changed it back to a white background and all was good in their world again.
What about you and your marketing path?
Have you taken the time to walk in your customer’s shoes? See where any speed bumps or roadblocks pop up along the way to buying or specifying your products?
I highly recommend it! It’s the ONLY way you can truly know if you’re making it easy or hard on me (the architect).
I’m talking about your customer’s journey. I’ll talk about it a lot more in the future. I’ve even presented to hospital leadership on the topic. (To improve their patients’ experiences…)
Are you throwing up a bunch of gates I have to pummel my way through to get to your recommended details or specifications?
Do you ask for ALL my contact information to get into your website? Why not just my name and email? (There are ways you can get more information as we build the relationship.)
Make it easy on me.
You have such a limited time to capture my attention. And once you have it, you need to make the best use of it.
Because it won’t be long before I’m distracted. By some other important piece of the building puzzle I’m trying to design and detail.
You’re spending your marketing dollars to get me to your doorstep. Why not make it a straight shot from your front door to the end goal?
To buy. Or to specify.
Of course, you need to present the benefits of your product and why I should use your product over all others.
Of course, you need to support that with the technical answers I have.
But is it obvious what my next step is throughout that journey?
What if I know I want to buy right away? What if I’m already convinced when I arrive at your website? Or your showroom? Or when I call you up?
Do you have an obvious shortcut to get there? Or do I have to find my own way down the path?
“Enough with the metaphors…”
The bottom line to all this is you need to make an appointment with yourself. (A couple times a year at least…) To go through the motions of buying or specifying your own product or service.
Or hire someone to do it with a fresh set of eyes.
After all, you suffer from a “curse of knowledge” about our own products. We all do.
You tend to have a blind spot about what should be obvious about your product or the path to get it since you created it. Or you’ve been selling it for so long.
You need to break out of that mindset and look at it from the other side of the table. Once you’ve done that, you’ll be able to see those blockages and blow them away.
If you’re ready for that fresh set of eyes from an architect, with the marketing chops to match, let’s talk. Head over to the Contact Form. Let’s smooth the path to getting your product or service specified.
Make it a great marketing day!
Neil Sutton