When brands are trying to appeal to their customers through outreach, they might encounter a strange dilemma – how do they encourage audiences to choose their business over others without inciting cynicism?
Today’s Audiences are so overwhelmed by advertising in all its forms that brands have a difficult time making their own marketing shine through – competing with all businesses rather than just within their own industry.
With that in mind, you might decide that the best way to market yourself is to do so in a way that doesn’t feel as direct, almost as though you’re making the customer think deciding to choose you was completely their own instinct.
Word of Mouth
You might think of user reviews first when it comes to more subtle, indirect forms of marketing. In order to get strong user reviews and strong of word of mouth in general, though, you need to be able to deliver consistent quality. While you might think of curation of your central service as distinct from marketing, the latter is how you draw attention to the former; in this instance, they are intertwined. Remember, though, it’s not just enough for you to have a product or service that you’re sure customers will love. You also need to ensure that your customer service is as strong as possible, and for all other elements to be equally robust. If delivery is essential to your brand, you might consider using companies like Shiply to ensure the experience doesn’t falter at the end.
The Self-Aware Approach
There is a risk in trying to circumvent the foundational issue because, to a cynical customer, trying to hide your intentions can only make the marketing seem all the more manipulative. A good example of this is by catering your marketing to be self-aware. You might be self-referential about how audiences feel about your marketing or draw attention to what’s different about this advertising compared to what your competitors are doing. In either case, it’s a balance that you have to be conscious of striking – and you have to understand whether or not it’s a tone that your audiences are going to appreciate in the first place.
Promotional Offers
You might think of taking the opposite approach in that case – an approach that requires you to do as little talking yourself as possible.
A promotional marketing campaign is often successful because it showcases confidence in your own product or service. Letting customers sample what you’re all about for a discounted rate allows your customers to form their own opinions based on nothing but their own impression of your service. This can be especially effective in combination with a strong social media marketing campaign, as the offer can be shared amongst different pages, potentially introducing your brand to several customers who feel as though this is a good time to see what you have to offer. Once you have your foot in the door, you might find customers willing to pay full price in the future.
