The business marketing hacks are effective techniques to get in front of your targeted customers. There is an old & famous marketing rule of 7, which states that a prospect needs to hear the advertiser’s message atleast 7 times before they act to buy the product or service. The marketing rule of 7 was developed in the movie industry back in the 1930s.
The studio guys discovered that they need to advertise and promote their movies several times to get someone to see their movies. On an average it took atleast 7 attempts to persuade people to watch their movies. That’s how the rule of 7 came about.
Is this rule relevant today? You bet. In today’s world, attention is a rare commodity. Brands need compelling ways to engage their audience and convert them into customers. They need more than 7 attempts to capture the attention of their customers.
Attracting a high number of leads is always rewarding for a business. The widespread adoption of digital technologies has changed the way businesses market themselves. Here’s a look at some of the effective marketing hacks adopted by successful businesses:
1. Surprise Customers
Most companies are looking to sell, very few of them are looking to connect with their customers and build deep relationships. When companies take extra care to connect, surprise and serve their customers. It acts as a great marketing vehicle for them. Great brands find ways to pleasantly surprise their customers and help them.
Take for e.g. brands like Nike were built when they connected deeply with their customers. In the early days, Bowerman, the Cofounder and famous coach designed the shoes himself.
He took extra care and attention to ensure athletes could improve their performance by wearing shoes tailored for running.
Johnson, who was the first employee of Nike, wrote letters to customers and developed a deep understanding for his customers.
2. Free Stuff
When you let your customers access your products or services for free, it helps to build confidence with them. You can opt for short periods of free trials. For e.g. SaaS customers typically provide 2 weeks of free trial period for their customers.
The customers who use the product or service are more than likely to make a purchase. It is about helping your customers achieve what they are looking to accomplish. Free trial helps you establish market value, get an entry into the prospect’s mindset and finally make a sale.
3. Videos
Human beings are driven by emotions and stories. Brands that master the art of creating content and videos that can capture these win the market.
Popular brands like Coca-Cola & Apple use videos for brand building. Coca-Cola uses the videos to spread happiness. They launched a brand where they had “The Happiness Truck” in Brazil, the truck traveled around the streets, distributing free merchandise to those who pressed the red button on the truck.
They launched similar campaigns in other countries. Coca-Cola launched 30 second videos on Youtube to popularise this campaign. The short videos with a cause, humor or a compelling story are often quite popular among users.
4. Communities & Groups
Building communities of like minded people and groups is a great way to entice your prospects. For e.g. GoPro Camera has a community of young people who like daredevil stunts digitally. GoPro allows its customers to share their videos shot by their cameras.
GoPro makes the required edits and adds logos to the videos uploaded by the customers. The user driven content is shared across the social media accounts. The community has an active presence and it also encourages others to create their own videos as well.
Creating and building communities and groups is easier than ever. Your brand could take up a social cause or something that it stands for and build a relevant community. It also creates a niche targeted group, which is the essence of targeted marketing.
5. Customer Service
Today everyone is a marketer. Right from the time, your product is sold to the customer, every interaction with the customer is an opportunity to market your company. When customers feel the difference and additional support, they tell others about it. It is a great way to endorse your brand.
When you go the extra mile to serve your customers, it will make your customers, your company’s marketers. Great customer service is an oft overlooked channel for business marketing your company, but it is a highly effective one.
6. Targeted Social Media
Social media is a necessary evil in the digital age. Brands that use social media effectively are the market leaders today. Identify which social media channels are relevant for your brand. Create content that establishes trust among your prospects, amuses, educates or entertains them.
The content can be tailored for various social media platforms. Your brand can be on top of the minds for customers with targeted messaging, improve its visibility, brand recall with repeated & personalised communication with prospects.
Brands like Spotify know how to use data creatively for their social campaigns. As per Spotify’s CMO, “For us, data inspires and gives an insight into the emotion that people are expressing.” They use data to create personalised campaigns for users.
7. Storytelling
Stanford Business professor Jennifer Aaker states, “Research shows our brains are not hard-wired to understand logic or retain facts for very long. Our brains are wired to understand and retain stories. A story is a journey that moves the listener, and when the listener goes on that journey they feel different. The result is persuasion and sometimes action.”
People don’t remember facts or figures, but they do recall stories told to them. They recall these stories more so when it touches their emotions and connects with them. Great brands have a knack of telling stories creatively and building deep relationships with their customers. What you do and why you do it matters more than you think it does.
