Because apparently, customers have opinions, and now they have Wi-Fi. There was a time when businesses had rather more control over their reputation. You created the advertising. You wrote the brochure. You chose the photographs of suspiciously happy people shaking hands in meeting rooms. Then you told everyone how wonderful you were. Today, things are…
Which is slightly inconvenient if you work in marketing. Marketing departments are very good at telling stories. We write campaigns. Create videos. Develop case studies. Carefully craft brand messages and spend unreasonable amounts of time deciding whether “transform” sounds more impressive than “improve.” But some of the best marketing stories aren’t created by marketers at…
There is a wonderfully comforting moment in marketing when somebody becomes a customer. The lead converts. The CRM changes status. A dashboard turns slightly greener. Someone in Sales says, “Got them.” And Marketing quietly wanders off to find another unsuspecting prospect. Job done. Except, of course, it isn’t, because getting someone to buy from you…
Because eventually someone actually has to deal with you. There’s a comforting idea in marketing that almost any business problem can be solved with more marketing. Sales slowing down? Advertise. Competitor getting noisy? Advertise. Customers unhappy? Advertise harder. Unfortunately, there comes a point where another campaign is rather like putting a fresh coat of paint…
Because “we provide excellent customer service” has never caused anyone to phone a friend. Businesses spend an extraordinary amount of time trying to get people talking about them. We advertise. Post on LinkedIn. Send emails. Produce videos. Attend events. Occasionally invent a new acronym and hope everyone looks impressed. But perhaps we’re asking the wrong…
Why customers refuse to behave properly. Marketers love funnels. They’re neat. Logical. Comforting. Someone becomes aware of your business, develops interest, considers their options, makes a decision and eventually becomes a customer. Lovely. This model has only one significant flaw. Actual human beings. Customers have an irritating habit of behaving like people rather than obedient…
Your customers are already talking about you. The interesting question is what they’re saying. There was a time when an unhappy customer had relatively limited broadcasting options. They could complain to their spouse. Tell a colleague. Mention it to a neighbour. If particularly annoyed, they might tell somebody in the queue at the Post Office.…
Why saying you’re brilliant is considerably easier than actually being brilliant. Marketing is, when you strip away the dashboards, funnels, algorithms and suspiciously complicated diagrams, essentially a promise. We can help you. We’re good at this. You can trust us. Businesses spend enormous amounts making these promises. Advertising campaigns are created. Websites redesigned. Brand propositions…
Why your beautiful brand guidelines are powerless against Dave in customer service having a bad Tuesday. Businesses spend a remarkable amount of time deciding what their brand should be. There are workshops, mood boards, strategy documents, brand guidelines, colour palettes, and font discussions of such astonishing intensity that you’d think civilisation itself depended upon whether…
Why buying eyeballs is much easier than winning hearts. There is a thriving global industry dedicated to attracting your attention. They want you to click on something, and they want it to happen right away. Google would like your attention. LinkedIn would like your attention. TikTok would like your attention. Facebook would like your attention.…