Ask 100 computer consultants what they want to accomplish with their marketing and better than 90% will say they want to generate more “awareness.” While this is a worthy goal, many do not realize how difficult it can be. The average American is bombarded with over 3,000 marketing messages a day. With so much advertising barreling down on us, most people have developed “marketing calluses” that make them completely immune to the messages these ads are sending.
But it doesn’t end there. Add to that a demanding job, a family, bills, and a home to take care of and you can see why getting someone to pay attention to your marketing message and generate awareness is so difficult. You’re not only battling your direct competition, but you’re fighting a battle for your prospect’s attention against a mounting pile of distractions.
So how can you cut through the clutter and get noticed?
For one, make sure your marketing is not boring. In his book Marketing Outrageously, Jon Spoelstra says that outrageous marketing is the opposite of “professional” marketing. In fact, it may get you laughed at, and it might be politically incorrect, but it may truly be the only safe way to spend money on marketing. I couldn’t agree with him more.
That is not to say that you should set out to offend people with your marketing, but if your marketing looks like every other ad floating around, it’s going to slip by unnoticed by the masses.
Here are 3 things you can do to make your marketing more memorable:
- Send your message in a hard to ignore format. One of the most successful mailers I’ve ever sent was a “message in a bottle.” I purchased large, amber cough medicine bottles and inserted a rolled up message (I played up the “doctor for bad marketing” angle). A label on the outside of the bottle with $.60 postage and the responses poured in. The Nashville Predators had couriers dressed in full hockey gear deliver hockey sticks to their corporate accounts. They sold hundreds of thousands of dollars in box seats. A restaurant owner friend of mine mailed out aluminum takeout trays to local event planners with a sales letter inside offering a free lunch delivered to their office to taste his incredible bar-b-q. He sold well over $100,000 in catering services. Another colleague of mine mailed out a crumpled letter in a mini trash can to sell tickets to an event. The message was, “Since you will probably throw this letter out anyway, I thought I’d do it for you. Now, since I’ve got your attention…” Before you send out a bland postcard or sales letter on your company letterhead, stop and think about how you could send your message in a way that cannot be easily, casually, or guiltlessly discarded by the recipient.
- Make an incredibly juicy offer. Gevalia coffee will send you a free coffee maker just for trying 2 lbs of coffee. A local plumbing company here in Nashville offers to pay you $100 cash if they are late for an appointment. The offer of a free lunch delivered to your office, as in the case of my restaurant friend mentioned above, is a big, juicy offer. Trying to get a prospect to take their valuable time to meet with you or spend time on the phone is a big deal. It is completely unreasonable to expect someone to take time out of their busy day just because you want to sell them something. If you are not willing to make an offer in your marketing campaign, much less an irresistible one, don’t waste your time or money on it.
- Make an outrageous claim and then back it up. Dare a competitor to offer a better guarantee or service. Guarantee to respond to any computer emergency within 60 minutes or less or you’ll pay $100 to a legitimate charity. Give a service away free to prospective clients. I’ve had clients give away 2 free hours of computer support very successfully. I’ve seen carpet cleaners give away a free room of carpet cleaning with a $20 donation to the Make a Wish Foundation.
Many businesses will not try outrageous marketing for fear of looking “unprofessional.” They believe their clients are too sophisticated for this type of marketing. Phewy. professional, corporate marketing is boring and blends in with every single competitor. If you don’t stretch your imagination and look for new ways to stand out more, command attention, and present your ideas in a more dynamic way, you are fighting a battle for your life with a very dull sword.
This article was written by Robin Robins, President, Technology Marketing Toolkit, Inc.
