Why am I bringing this up?  Well, for several reasons.  First, it is incredibly easy to fall into this trap ourselves.  And this can be dangerous because we might miss reality and therefore hurt our businesses and/or our lives.

Second, you need to understand this because your customers, clients, friends, prospects, and well—just about the whole world will fall victim to it.  If you bring up an idea that is contradictory to their previous experience they will, at times, discount it without giving it a proper thought or acknowledgment.

Another thing you’ll hear people say is, “we tried that and it didn’t work.”  I’ll address that mistake later, which is closely related to “small sample size.”

Anyway, I highly recommend you study and learn about confirmation bias.  It really is fascinating and a good conversation starter.

• Message
• Market
• Media (delivery method)

As I have mentioned before, you must have each area, much like a 3 legged stool, or else your marketing won’t stand up.  So, in other words your marketing needs to say the right thing, to the right person, in the right way.

Today, I would like to delve into the market a bit more as I have had several questions about how to craft an effective message to the right person.  So, in honor of the great band about to play the Superbowl half time show, let’s delve into “The Who” of your marketing.

Now, there are a lot of things that go into the make up of your customer database.  I can hear some of you out there right now saying, “Sarah, everyone is my potential customer.”  To those people I say to read my puddle jumping blog post and then come back.    To everyone else that understands the need for marketing to a niche, let’s start by looking at your average customer.

Your average customer is the type of person that has bought from you most.  Every business has this in some way shape or form, you just have to look at the commonalities.  Maybe all of your customers tend to play golf.  Or maybe they all are females.  There is something out there that will make your customers into a group and show you more of their mindset.  To help clients with this I take them through an exercise called, “Who Are You?”

In this exercise we ask questions about our customers such as:

1. How old are you?
2. What gender are you?
3. What education level do you have?
4. Are you married?
5. Do you have children?
6. Do you have pets?  What type of pets and how many?
7. Do you own your own home?
8. What income level are you?
9. What career are you in?
10. What type of car do you drive?
11. What is your favorite kind of restaurant?
12. What are your hobbies?
13. What side of town do you live on?

This may seem like overkill to some of you, but let’s think through this.  Would you rather attempt to craft a marketing message to simply females, or would you like to craft a message to:

• a 31 year old female
• who is married
• with 2 young children
• has a golden retriever named Lilly
• owns her own home
• lives on the north side of town
• graduated from IU (go Hoosiers!)
• with a degree in accounting
• makes greater than $40,000/year
• drives a Toyota Rav4
• loves eating Italian
• enjoys running, hiking, and reading

Do you get the point?  It is much easier to write a marketing message when you have more information about the person whom you are writing to.  Otherwise, you are merely shooting in the dark as you try to connect with the core beliefs and values of half the population.

For more on this topic, be looking for our audio series on the 3 “M’s” of marketing.

Happy Marketing!

Sarah

1)  You must know the area around your puddles.  Look for any potential obstacles that might cause a problem and any props that could make puddle jumping even better.

2)  You must know what is floating in the puddles.  Let’s face it, we’ve all seen the neighbor boys taking turns throwing whatever they can get their hands on into puddles or the stray dog from around the way relieving itself in a puddle.  You don’t want to be splashing through a puddle that Rover just warmed up, now do you?

3)  It’s all about the distance.  What do I mean?  Well, some of the most experienced puddle jumpers in the world can thoroughly soak all onlookers within a 4 foot radius!  Now that is some distance.

4)   The deeper the puddle, the more fun!  I mean seriously, would you rather jump in a piddly puddle that barely wets the tread of your sneaker or would you rather feel the water sinking up and over and into your socks?

Now what is all of this talk of puddles and what does it have to do with marketing?

Pretend each of your clients is a puddle.

1) Now, tell me about the immediate area around that “puddle.”  Are there any obstacles that you can see that may hinder the relationship you have with your client?  Maybe they just lost their job and they are going to have to cut back.  Will you be the service they cut back on?  What about props that may help you with the relationship?  Maybe they just had a baby and it just so happens that you have a new product out that is perfect for new parents.

2)  Now tell me what could potentially be floating in your puddle.  This is all the crap…all the baggage that may make them a bad client to have.  Maybe it is that they don’t pay their bills on time.  Maybe it is that they can never make a deadline.  Or maybe they are like Nelli from Little House on the Prairie and just plain annoying.  Whatever it is, be sure to examine your puddle carefully to make sure there aren’t any floaters.

3)  What kind of distance can you get from your puddle?  Is this client going to be a long term relationship or a one shot wonder?  We all know that it is tempting to just go for the quick sale and move on, but wouldn’t you much rather have a client that comes in for all of the accessories?  I mean seriously, how many applications can one person have on their iPhone?!  But isn’t that what you want from your customer?  You want them to not make just one purchase, but to continue to come back to you for all of the upgrades and add-ons that you could possibly dream up, just because they are available.

4)  So how deep is that puddle?  This is where we get into the psychology behind your client.  Why do they buy or not buy?  When do they feel like buying more?  What do they feel like when they buy?  This in and of itself is an entire semester’s worth of courses.  But this is where the gold is.  If you can really truly fine tune the psyche of your client then you can design your entire business around it and go to the bank all day.

Once you’ve examined all of these areas of your puddle you are ready to go puddle jumping.  But don’t forget your galoshes!

What is it? HALT. It is an acronym for hungry, angry, lonely, and tired. Now, what does this have to do with your marketing in your business? Well, people are normally put in a poor mood or a less receptive mood – or sometimes an increased mood to your marketing messages — depending on what you are selling. I would also add, ‘hot’ to the acronym.

You see, when someone is in a state of being hungry, angry, lonely, tired (or hot) then they are emotionally more apt to do certain behavior. This is why, from my understanding, AA (alcoholic’s anonymous) tells people to get assistance when they get into one of these moods–because in that case they are more likely to drink because of the negative state of mind and emotions he or she is in. Does this make sense? If you are lonely you are more likely, in general, to turn to alcohol — which is certainly bad for alcoholics.

Now let me ask you this. Are you taking this into account in your business? Are your customers or prospects generally preconditioned to be in one of these frames of mind before you are marketing or selling to them? And, if so, how can you overcome these negative conditions up front. How you pre-position yourself, your company, or your messages is certainly important.

I’d like you to do something very important, if you can. Do some self-monitoring on your mood. I find when I myself am hungry, angry, lonely, or tired my mood shifts and I tend to look at things differently. I believe almost every person is like this. It is “wired” into us. Our chemicals in our brains and bodies shift, and we become more resistant or open to certain ideas and things.

Want an interesting fact? The murder rate goes up when more ice cream is sold. Yup, ice cream equals more murders. Actually, it doesn’t. There is no cause and effect there. What actually happens is that in the summer it is hotter than in the winter, so people have shorter tempers and are more likely to explode in anger. That is one factor, and I imagine also that people are put into situations to where there is more violence. So ice cream sold doesn’t affect more murders, it is just more ice cream is sold in summer when it is hot, instead of when it is cold.

So what can you take from this? Pay attention to what is influencing your customer’s or prospects. Colors, shapes, temperatures, music, sound effects etc. There is a reason why movies spend a lot of money on the soundtrack to accompany the movie. It’s because without that soundtrack the movie, generally, would be a whole lot less stimulating.

Just one little nuance sometimes can throw off your customer’s minds from buying your product or service. And, here’s the thing. And lots of times great businesses are built upon shifting the customers emotions to a desired state.

Disney provides imagination, joy, and excitement.
FedEx provides relief from anxiety
McDonald’s (yes, McDonald’s) provides instant gratification and consitency
Staples has tried to produce, “That was easy.”

So stop, analyze your current customers, and figure out the moods people are put in before they come to your business. If you are a mechanic it will be sometimes fear of being ripped off (especially for women.) If you are an attorney it might be intimidation. The same goes for accountants, at times.

And remember, monitor yourself when you are hot, hungry, angry, lonely, or tired. See how this effects you. Because if it effecting you — it is probably effecting your customers too.

-Matt

And people generally speak using platitudes about their business. In other words they are constantly stating, “We give good service.” “We treat our customers right.”

The ultimate question you need to be answering is this: “Why should I do business with YOU…versus my competitors.”

And often times when you ask someone that question you will get… chirp, chirp, chirp. Crickets!
Or, they will revert to the old platitudes.

So, what do we need to do here?

Well, let’s imagine this. Say you were put on trial for murder.

And you were innocent. Your life depended on this. Either you get to go to the electric chair for 7 years, or you get 70 years in prison with Bubba. And Bubba likes you!

So, you know you are innocent and the defense knows your innocent. But the jury doesn’t.

What would you say or do to prove your case.

Would you say, “I’m a good person, I would never do that!” And hope the jury believes you?

Not if you don’t want to be in that 8×8 foot cell with Bubba. So what would you do?

You’d actually build a logical, “defendable” position. Get this…that supports your proposition!

You would trot out evidence, testimony, witnesses, experts, etc. that state your position.

Want a real life example?

O.J. Simpson.

When OJ was on trial for murder in the 90′s his defense team didn’t say that he was a good guy by stating, “He’s a good guy. He was an NFL player. He was an awesome running back. He has a nickname ‘The Juice…he couldn’t have done it!” No, they brought out “expert” defense witnesses, analysts, scientists, investigators and truly built a case.

Now, whether or not you believe he did it, or didn’t do it…the lesson to learn here is that they built a case to give evidence for their position.

And there is no way he would have gotten off and been found innocent if they would have just said “He’s a good guy.”

Does this make sense?

Prove your “value proposition.” Show me WHY I should do business with you. And eliminate the platitudes, because ANYBODY can say those. But not everyone can whip out 323 testimonials from your current clients. And if you do just that…you’ll be leaps and bounds ahead of almost everyone. And that is just one thing to change out of 37 of ‘em.

Yeah, I know you’re gonna say that your customers won’t believe this, or that your customers are different…and they may be to some extent.

But you know what? People are people are people. And people want to know they are making good decisions before they buy or invest in something.

So, start working on proving your case. That you ain’t just like everyone else. That you ain’t no commodity.

And if you get stuck, imagine you are on trial–because you are, and the customers are the jury. And this jury is fickle, impatient, and they want what they want. And so does Bubba!

-Matt

How much did you think of that place after you left?

Did YOU go on a sales appointment today. Is that person still thinking of you? The answer is, probably not.

If there is any doubt just listen to all the noise that is surrounding you currently. Is there a fan on? A television, a computer? Is there someone talking in the background?

The ultimate issue is that most people are completely and totally overwhelmed with information so that they are unable to process it clearly.

You need a way to break through the clutter and to overcome this.

Oh, and if that was not bad enough does your “to do list” have any of the following on it?

Change oil in car
get prescription
exercise
do laundry
get groceries
go to store
drop off kids
return library book
order books
pay credit card bill
go to bank
meet so and so for lunch
return wedding invitation
get birthday present
clean garage
wash windows

Do you get the idea? If you think you yourself are busy, just remember that your prospects and customers are also busy.

-Matt

On several news websites I see the following:

Police: Man Fatally Stabs Sister, Decapitates 5-Year Old on Birthday

Gunman Kills 8, Injures 3 at N.C. Nursing Home

Boy Went for Bubble Gum – Met Killer

Migrant Boat Capsized, Hundreds Fear Dead

Chicago-Sun Times Files for Bankruptcy

The goal here is not to depress you and make you sad. Just by glancing at these things one can get an overwhelming sense of frustration and unbelief at what the world is coming to. At the same time we must remember that these incidents, while horrible, are picked from billions of daily events.

So why is everything always so negative?

Well, the news media has learned, if nothing else, to be negative because it captures our attention. The headlines almost force us to grab in and pay attention to the story. Sure, there are some positive stories, but ultimately these negative ones grab our attention better.

And if you want people to take action, or do something, or buy something, or read your story a lot of times you need to put people in pain or stroke their curiosity. Now before I go on, I really think one should be very careful in doing this because you can be highly manipulative and unethical. I think just pointing out the facts can do enough to show your point of view in my opinion

But why pain? Well, this may be obvious to some people but think about it like this. If I smash your toe with a hammer you’re going to be more likely to take action versus a pleasure. Fear of pain, fear of loss determines a lot with us.

But here is the kicker. With everything we discuss often times we do not realize that we are emotionally engaged in something. We get all wrapped up and flustered and can’t think clearly. When you’re watching a good movie and someone calls your name and you don’t hear them…your brain is so emotionally engaged. This is what happens to us all the time.

And then someone comes in to solve our problems for us.

So be careful of what emotional situation you find yourself in. And try to measure it. It is not easy to disengage and realize what is going on.

-Matt

Name an American Car Company… drum roll …. is it Chevy or Ford? (bail out / bankruptcy aside)

Most people when asked choose one of those…

Name a soft drink, or a pop, or a soda (depending on what part of the country)… Coke or Pepsi?

Most people go with this…

Name a fast food place….didja get McDonalds?

Yeah, I know we’re playing Family Feud here

What is this concept? It is “top of mind awareness.”

That example above is easy enough to understand, the next part took me a long, long time.

Here’s when it finally clicked…

Think of the last funeral you went to…seriously…stop and do this. It makes it a lot more profound.

Got it?

How long ago was it? How often have you thought of those people? Once a day? Not likely unless it was someone very close to you — a very close friend or family member.

And here is the point I am trying to get across. It wasn’t at the top of your mind…like it was for the people who were involved in the funeral.

Chances are those people have thought about it almost every day…or more.

But you probably haven’t. When you think about it now, it is an “oh yeah…” type of thought.

Now of course there are exceptions, but this just shows that the passing of time happens very quickly.

So what does this have to do with your marketing and the psychology of your customers.

Well, I can just about guarantee you that the second they step out of your store, or they leave your website, or whatever media you use to sell him or her, they are NOT thinking of you.

They are instantly bombarded with the new information they are processing. They are thinking of their new to do lists, their problems, their concerns.

If you doubt this I bet that in the few seconds you’ve ready this…chances are you aren’t actively thinking about the last funeral you went to. Which illustrates this article perfectly.

This is all kind of connected in a muddled way. Proper marketing achieves more relevance in your prospects minds which helps overcome the physical limitations of the information the brain can take in.

So, do you have a strategy to continually follow-up and have top of mind awareness of your customers and your prospects? If not…you’ll be going to the funeral of your business…more than likely. And ask yourself this. How many of your customers would show up? Or would have they forgotten about you?

-Matt

Here are some examples:

Death tax vs. Estate tax

Energy Exploration vs. Drilling for Oil

Stimulus Bill vs. Spending Bill

And it can go on and on. One set of words can instantly
conjure up emotions, beliefs, ideas, and feelings.

Choose your words carefully. What emotions do you want
your prospects to be feeling –

what thoughts do you want your prospects to be thinking when you are talking to them, or when they are watching, listening, viewing, or reading your marketing piece.

It is best to start with the end goal in mind and reverse
engineer this backwards.

Ask yourself how you felt above when you read the words to yourself.

Politicians know this trick very well which is why they strive to utilize it all the time. The labels we use are VERY powerful.

If you have any doubt in this, be careful or you could end up ending a marriage — or starting one, too.

-Matt

Let me explain more.

Sometimes, but not always, your prospects have a list of things or reasons they are looking for when they buy your product or service. Now, if you ask your prospects sometimes they can clearly enunciate this, and sometimes they can’t. Sure, they will say good quality, etc. but for them to express clearly what they want is a challenge to most people.

And then sometimes people do have a “sort of list” of things they are looking for.

Here is a key thing, however. People generally do NOT know how to buy your product or service. They do NOT know what they are looking for.

So how does this apply to you? Well, say you are in a business to where people do a lot of “price shopping.”

For example, lets just say you do painting in someone’s house.

Sometimes your buyers would have a list of criteria (things they are looking for) and what you need to do is re-set this buying criteria for several things.

First, make sure whatever you are resetting it is in their best interest and you are honestly protecting them.

Secondly, educate them on what needs to be done correctly.

So, if you call up and someone is asking, “How much to paint a 20×20 room?” You can then re-position it to something like this…

“Well, that honestly isn’t the question you need to be asking.

You need to ask these 3 questions to make sure you are avoiding these 3 mistakes.”

And then you educate them on 3 mistakes, or 5, or however many(as long as this is reasonable) mistakes that people make when painting.

It could include the fumes of the paint, the type of paint, allergies, health risks, lighting, etc. In other words, you actually…get this…provide value.

So, while other painters are just doing quotes, you’re educating them on how to buy.

Does this make sense?

The end goal is for you to equip your prospects so they are quizzing your competition with things that…get this…you competition doesn’t understand or cannot answer.

So, if you truly do research and understand and can create a process on the fumes from paint and you have your prospects ask your competition what system or process they have for painting and your competition goes…uhhh.uhhh.uhhh…then you know you’re on the right track.

This does take a bit of work, but once you grasp this concept it can be very powerful.

So ultimately ask yourself this question. What can you do that your competition cannot, or will not educate your customers on?

The painting example is just one I pulled off the top of my head but EVERY business does indeed have things they can do to set buying criteria in their customer’s minds.

Psychological marketing strives to help you do this.

-Matt