This is a follow-on to the last post, ‘Honest and Transparent Marketing’. A buddy of mine pointed out that what successful marketers do is not just compile and deliver the unvarnished truth. It’s much more complex than that. And he’s right. There’s a lot more that goes into it than just straight reporting. There are a number of necessary steps and inputs that result in content that’s relevant and useful to its target audience, enjoyable to read, and gently (almost imperceptibly) persuasive.

Research

You have to know who your target audience is. It may be helpful to develop a persona. For example, in a recent assignment the target prospect had the following characteristics (and this closely aligned to the reality):

• middle-aged (between 45 and 60 y.o.) white male
• living in second or third tier city in the midwest or southern US
• VP administrator of a small to mid-sized community bank
• upper middle income
• college degree
• married with children
• country club member.

I named him Eric. It took time to find all that out, but it made the job of communicating to Eric much easier.

Next is the product or service. You have to understand, at a deep level, the features and the benefits (specifically for Eric) of your products and services. I always spend time with the sales force to gather this research. It’s best to interview people at different levels in the Sales organization because you get different perspectives and that leads to insight. In this case, the bank would accrue several benefits. I discovered that the major benefit to Eric was that his career might be enhanced. We could make Eric a hero.

Building a Staircase

Different tools are used at different steps in the buy cycle. Designed to get their attention, direct response tools - direct mail and email - are most effective when used together. Only reveal enough to whet their appetites, and then make an offer for more detailed information.

Those most interested will visit your website to request more information. Build a landing page that’s specific to the information offer and the interested prospects (Eric). Give them enough ammo (answers to first level objections and a testimonial or two) so that they can influence other executives who have input into the decision.

Depending on the cost and complexity of the purchase, there may be several go rounds here. More information is delivered over time to keep Eric warm and engaged until he’s ready to buy. There may be different flavors for different roles involved in the decision. The point is to keep them interested, give them information of value, and build trust.

In this case, we allowed Eric to download a case study without registering. Then we offered an ROI caculator for which Eric needed to give us his contact information. The contact info was given to Sales and they followed up by phone to schedule appointments. The first sales call was designed as a relationship builder. The second call was the closer. On the second call, I equipped salespeople with a folder of newspaper clippings. Six of the eight previous purchasers were promoted within a few months of product installation. The salespeople shared that truth with the ‘Erics’. And they happily bought.

Full Disclosure

Not all products/services have such a clearcut trail of evidence to communicate. The point is to do your homework. By spending a significant amount of time and effort upfront researching and prepping, you’ll know which story to tell. The story must be truthful, we live in a transparent world. But you’ll be able to select the story that is most likely to persuade the individual making the purchasing decision.

Tags: authentic, honest, more than truth