The Nimble CRM Blog carried this article by Kathy Klotz-Guest ...
Marketing has always been about people. Yet, it’s a pretty un-human marketing explosion out there. There is too much content and jargon-laden stuff chasing too little mindshare. In 2010, Google’s then CEO, Eric Schmidt, proclaimed that there is more content created every two days than in all of human history up through 2003. More recently, IBM stated that 90% of content today was created in the last two years alone.
The annual Edelman Trust Barometer continues to show a steady decline in customer trust of companies. And along with the decline in trust, we have a growing deficit in attention span. We’re on social overload and it isn’t pretty.
We’re filtering for our very survival. That means way too much information is being created and yet, simultaneously, we’re facing a paucity of meaningful marketing. Against this backdrop of marketing ‘Big data,” marketers are fighting to be heard. This can a good thing – it forces companies to rethink how they are communicating.
It’s time to change the marketing game to one that is more human, relevant and purposeful.
The Buying Journey Has Changed
The buyer’s journey has changed. According to Forrester (October 2012), buyers are approximately 67% – 90% through their decision-making process by the time they contact the company for information. That means they are doing self-directed searches, talking to their networks and getting information from your detractors and advocates. This has huge implications for advocacy today. Forrester’s data shows that 94% of us trust advocates compared to 18% of us who trust influencers. Why? Because unpaid advocates are believed to be “people like me.” I don’t trust corporate spokespeople and media ‘influencers,’ but I trust people just like me.
Make Your Marketing Work for People
While there are a lot of ways to humanize your company and content, here are three ways to stand out.
1. Tell Stories.
Tell simple stories. Humans are storytelling animals. Stories simplify and cut through the noise in ways that data alone cannot. According to Jennifer Aaker at Stanford’s Graduate School of Business, stories are remembered up to 22X more than facts alone (Stanford studies). Stories give us reasons to care where facts fail. Neuromarketing – the intersection of neuroscience and marketing – tells us that humans make decisions with emotions and facts. Yep – emotions are critical. Stories that answer “why,” and that tell your market who you are and what you care about are more powerful and meaningful. Even in B2B. It’s time for business to stop thinking it is above the rules. Most of us don’t check our humanity at the door when we go into a work building. Surveys show that 92.3% of audiences are, in fact, made up of people (we really don’t know about the rest)!
Companies today need to elevate the discussion of what they do to a discussion of who they are. It’s not about products and services today; it’s about standing for a purpose that is bigger than the company. For Zappo’s, it’s delivering happiness and great customer service no matter what it takes. For Patagonia, it’s the environment. For IBM, it’s being part of an ecosystem that creates a smarter, better planet with technology. Find your higher purpose, and you’ll connect in a more meaningful way. Products come and go – movements have longevity.
