Did you know that you can change the way customers perceive your small business just by changing the stories you tell in your marketing? Take these three examples: Australian baby formula – it’s perceived as an everyday product in Australia but a high-status product in China Norwegian salmon – it’s perceived as a staple in Norway [...]
The best marketing talks not about your small business but about your customers. So don’t tell your customers that your business was founded 28 years ago; tell them that your business has years of experience solving problems just like theirs. Don’t tell customers that you’re proud of your products or services; tell them how their lives [...]
How much would you pay to get five rooms of your home cleaned? If you’ve received a quote, it’s easy to go online to compare prices and find out whether it’s a good deal or not. But how much would you pay to have more leisure and family time and less stress in your life? Even [...]
I recently had an interesting meeting with a potential supplier. During the meeting – without any pressure from me – he kept lowering his price. It happened again and again. I thought to myself that this was not only bad negotiating, it was also bad marketing. His message to me was that he didn’t believe in [...]
Here’s an intriguing fact for you about US presidential election campaigns. Did you know that the vast majority of elections have been won by the taller candidate? So why does your height have any impact on the likelihood of you becoming president? Taller people are seen to be more confident, assertive and attractive – essentially, better [...]
Here are three quick tips to make your marketing much more effective. Inject some humour into your marketing – 95% of all marketing is boring and stuffy, so if you can make people laugh you’ll differentiate yourself from your rivals. Aim your marketing at people’s hearts, not their heads, as humans are emotional creatures, not rational [...]
Would you ask a complete stranger to marry you? Probably not. Yet many small businesses do something similar when they meet a customer for the first time. “Hello! Nice to meet you! Buy my stuff!” That’s coming on too strong, too fast, Casanova. What you need to do instead is woo the other person. How? With [...]
Does your small business have happy customers? If so, do these three things: Ask them for testimonials – most happy customers will gladly say yes Publish the testimonials on your website – this will provide valuable social proof Compile the testimonials in an ebook – email this ebook whenever you reply to a customer enquiry Testimonials [...]
"People do not buy goods and services. They buy stories, relations and magic." Think about that insightful Seth Godin quote the next time you're doing marketing. If your marketing strategy is to present people with a dry list of facts, it probably won't be effective. But if your strategy is to stir their emotions, there's a [...]
We all know that sex sells – but so does fear. Why? Because humans are more likely to take action to avoid pain than to achieve pleasure. Fear can be a really effective tactic to use in your marketing, although it always needs to be done ethically. The idea is to remind customers of the bad [...]
