'What's The Best Way To Reach My Customers?'

Here’s a question I get a lot, in one form or another: “What is the best way to market  my company?”

When people ask that, they are expecting me to say something like “targeted Internet ads; better collaterial material; less scattershot approaches.”

Well, I am not that smart.  When it comes to marketing, I haven’t figured out a one-size-fits-all  approach that actually works.

But I do know this. No matter what approach you take, it needs to appeal to BOTH sides of your customers’ brains.  The logical part as well as their emotions.

Everyone gets the “logical” part intutively.  Of course, you want to give customers a concrete reason for doing business with you. You offer high quality. Faster service. Lower prices. Whatever.

But I strongly suggest you wrap those rational messages in emotional clothing. No, I am not talking about showing lots of kittens and toddlers for no good reason. I am advocating you have a very clear central idea that is simple to communicate and understand, one that contains a bit of humor, surprise emotion, feelings or whatever.

Yes, your customers are customers (or potential customers.) But they are also people. And people get bored with a just-the-facts-approach.  And bored people buy less.