I love marketing and advertising. When I’m driving down the road I am constantly studying billboards, logos, and storefronts. Always considering why people chose to use that specific model, that color t-shirt, that tag line. The list goes on and on.
I started thinking about why we do things the way we do here at Goby Creative. Why do we create the campaigns we do? Why do we say things the way we do when we write for clients? Why do we choose the colors we do? For us, it really always comes down to 3 things.
It just so happens they start with the first three letters of the alphabet, so I’m going to call these our ABC’s of digital advertising.
People are different. They learn, get motivated, and make decisions differently. How do you get both a 13 year old girl from New York City and a 32 year old man from Arkansas to download Snapchat? By approaching them differently. Both of them can greatly enjoy the features of the app. However, the benefits that each one receives are different. When you’re trying to engage people with your brand, you have to know who you’re talking to and why. You have to make them aware of the benefits they will receive by using the features you offer.
The 13 year old girl wants to connect with her friends at school, talk about boys, and make herself look pretty with aspirations of being famous someday. The 32 year old man wants his wife to send him funny videos of his toddler’s reaction to the dancing hamster while he’s at work. Two completely different types of people with completely different benefits from the same features. But if you don’t show them the benefits, and only tell them the features (leaving them to figure out the benefits on their own) you will not be able to get either one of them to download it.
Our brains are wired to conserve energy. Don’t make your customers figure out how your products and services can benefit them.
Too many times I see websites, emails, and newsletters talking about the features of a product or service and ignoring the benefits. The benefits make the sale because the benefits speak to a specific audience. Don’t genericize your message, target your message.
Like I said earlier, our brains are wired to conserve energy. The faster you can clearly articulate exactly what your trying to say, the more likely your customers are to buy from you.
Here at Goby Creative, we make sure your message is extremely clear by asking 4 questions:
We try to answer each one of these with one sentence or less. By clearly and concisely answering these 4 questions we can craft ad campaigns, email campaigns, and web pages that convert viewers into customers.
One of the most important things to get perfect from these 4 questions is exactly what they need to do to buy what you sell. What specific action do they need to take? This could be a phone call, an online form, or an online checkout process. Whatever that action is, you have to make sure that it is included on every single thing they see from you. Everything you create should have this action. Every page on your website, every email you send, and every ad you run on Facebook and Google. So many people are afraid of losing a sale by coming across too “salesy”, but if you don’t ask people to buy it, they aren’t going buy it.
Finally, brand consistency is critical. It makes you feel more dependable to customers. When your social media posts have bright colors and silly jokes, but your receptionist is strict and serious, your customers will feel like you’re sending them mixed signals. This may confuse them and leave them feeling like your brand can’t be trusted.
Brand recognition is not just about getting your name out there. It’s about helping consumers get to know your brand on a personal level.
Purchasing decisions are far more emotional than practical. Part of engaging the right emotions with your consumers is making them feel like they know your brand and that your brand can be trusted.
Brand consistency helps build that trust.
When we first hired our first employee as a web designer, I told him that there was only one thing that I cared about when you’re making client websites, style consistency. This is so important to us that we create a style guide for every brand work with.
So, if you’re ready to target your specific audience, clarify your message, and start building trust with brand consistency, today.