Want To Win Customers? Have Something Interesting To Say.

“I’m not interested in what you have to say!”

Ever had a conversation with someone where they insist on telling you everything they want you to know, but you really don’t care? I’ve had a few this week. I’m always amazed at how people just start talking and never read their audience to see if they’re listening to them, or more importantly, even care about what they have to say.

As I thought about it, this is so true of many brands. Marketers have a tendency to use advertising to spew massive amounts of information about their product or service regardless of whether anyone is interested. An enormous amount of energy is wasted on messages that fail to register with their intended audience.

So my thought for the day to all who are responsible for marketing a product or service – never underestimate the power of one of the most powerful human behaviors, curiosity.

Humans are naturally curious. Curiosity develops early in life. Those of us with children know it all too well. The game you play with your child in the car on the way home from work, often referred to as 20 Questions. Why is the dog’s nose wet? Why is the grass green? Who lives in the sky? You get the idea. It’s called curiosity – and it’s a big part of what makes us tick. If you’re a marketer, use it to your advantage.

So why do so many marketers fail to leverage this human behavior? In most cases, it’s because the logical lobe of our existence trumps the emotional section. We tend to subscribe to the notion that we must tell people what we want them to know about our brand instead of making them interested enough to inquire about what we have to offer.

Great marketing grabs your attention and sparks curiosity. It’s important to make people interested first. Then, once you’ve captured their attention, you can begin a conversation. A conversation that is likely to have a much greater impact.

As I’m reminded by Bill Samuels, Jr., President & CEO of Maker’s Mark bourbon, “you can’t bore people into wanting to learn more about your brand. Do something extraordinary and unexpected to spark interest. Now they’re ready to engage with you.”

If this post has engaged your curiosity, go to http://www.doeanderson.com/house-of-brand-enthusion.aspx.

IMAGE: “Just Me” by Brian Moore on Flickr.

CMO Survey: Traditional Branding is ‘Broken’ (marketingvox.com)

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