Nobody Loves You.

From the Roster Marketing Institute

OK, we’re a little disingenuous with the headline. Of course you’re loved, respected and admired by a wide circle of family, friends and peers.

But when it comes to potential customers, the sad reality is that nobody really cares about you or your business.

What people do care about is … themselves. Me first. It’s in our DNA, and there’s no getting around it. When you grasp this basic concept, you then realize that people don’t read or view advertising. They read things that interest them, and sometimes (but not very often) that includes an ad or other type of solicitation. So then, the purpose of ads should not be to simply inform or entertain; it should be to compel.

Any part of your marketing communications – an ad, email, postal direct mail, broadcast commercials, billboards – is not at all an important thing in a person’s life. So your communications had better be relevant to a person’s existence and have impact on that person’s life. Remember, people buy benefits; they do not buy features. They don’t love you, or any other company, for that matter.

What they do care about is “What’s in it for me? How is Amalgamated Widget going to make my life better? And not whack me in the checkbook?” Understanding, appreciating and applying this most basic marketing tenet to all your efforts will go a long way toward your business success. Really. To ignore it is to invite risk. It is in our nature to talk about ourselves. And to talk about our companies and the many features offered. So, it’s worth repeating: people purchase benefits, not features.

Consumers, for example, do not buy shampoo. They buy the promise of great-looking, manageable hair; they buy sex appeal. We do not buy cars solely for transportation. We purchase status, style, performance, and lately, economy. If this was not true, we’d all be driving the exact same black, no-frills vehicles. With all the features in today’s automobiles, notice that most manufacturers advertise benefits such as satellite navigation, MP3 jacks, under-the-seat-storage, manly horsepower, and cup holders. It’s always the benefits – not the features – that sell products and services.

It is a natural human condition to want to talk about your company (Look at us! Established in 1889! Great service! Wonderful employees! etc.). It just seems counter-intuitive to market any other way. But “the other way” is precisely how you’ll entice potential consumers to pay attention to your message, and to become profitable customers.


Feel the Love.

People drive the marketplace. They have myriad choices for products and services. So why would anyone buy what you’re selling?

They’ll pay attention to your advertising and marketing when it’s constructed to reflect the view of the customer. Create your messages backward, from the consumer’s perspective, and not from your firm’s point of view. And because nearly all purchasing decisions are essentially emotional ones, be sure to touch those emotional buttons that demonstrate how you will help fulfill their psychological desires (happiness, vanity, security, wealth, convenience, etc.).

There’s a whole lot more that comprises an effective marketing program, but the first step, the bedrock of your program, is understanding that it’s all about the customers, and not about you.

© Copyright 2008, Roster Associates