Everyone wants to be unique

4:19 PM 11/8/2011TRANSPROMO

Building relationships, viral marketing in social media and transparency. In recent years marketing people have had so much more to think about. But at the same time they also have more refined tools to use in their work.

Create opportunities to buy on the invoice

Magnus Widgren uses the five classic steps to closing a sale to show how easily you can maximise the value of your invoice – and how to make it encourage more sales.
“It’s all about creating purchasing opportunities without forgetting the regular information,” he says.

 

  • The observation phase. What captures people’s attention? This step is also sometimes called the battle for the doormat. “When we conduct analyses using eye flow cameras, people react to simple things such as a smiling face looking at them or a circle around a phrase,” says Magnus Widgren.
  • The introduction phase. Introduce yourself to the customer. My recommendation here is to dare to be simple and dare to be yourself.
  • The presentation phase. What does the invoice look like? You can break the 16-second “invoice hypnosis” using strong graphical elements, for example a voucher. Most people are interested in a good, clear special offer. If we’re talking e-invoice, there’s also the opportunity to make the document clickable and linkable.
  • The verification phase. The customer wants to make sure there are no catches to the special offer. In this context testimonials are an excellent solution. People love reading what other people think. The whole of  Facebook and Twitter are built on this concept, and our surveys reach the same conclusion. Statistics and bulleted summaries are another solution.
  • The reaction phase. What do I do to buy this? Here it’s a matter of getting the customer to buy what you want him or her to buy. Don’t underestimate the importance of “how to place your order”. There’s always uncertainty when it’s time to make a purchase,” says Magnus Widgren.

There’s lots of talk about social media, that’s where it’s all happening and as a Marketeer today you must appreciate this at the very least. The new channels open up new opportunities for many people. But they’re also more complicated, and place new demands on organisations.
“Consumers demand accessibility. If you move into social media, you must meet the customer’s expectations”, says Magnus Widgren, CEO of the ONE Stockholm DM agency.
He gives companies that offer customers customer service through Twitter during office hours as an example. When the companies clock off and close down communication, their customers carry on chatting.
The technology itself also makes everything simpler. What was science fiction esterday is reality today. For example,who could have imagined an iPhone 20 years ago? That only existed in Star Trek then.
“But also bear in mind that the technology has always been one step ahead of us. In purely organisational terms, companies have never been able to keep up, not even now. What everyone says is possible today doesn’t usually become reality until a couple of years later”, says Magnus Widgren.
Ultimately, when it comes down to it, communication is essentially the same as it was 100 years ago, just the channels we use to do this have developed at a rate faster than could have been imagined.
Just as before, it’s the right information in the right place that has the best effect.
 “It’s as simple as that,” says Magnus Widgren.
Understanding the customer is largely about analysis and about making use of what you know about the customer in an effective and smart way. This knowledge can help shape your communications so that they are tailored the single individual. Something described as unique is usually valuable.
“Your customers want to be valued. So by sending a communication that reads as though it is for their eyes only you will create within them a feeling that they are unique and individual. Being treated as though you are increases a feeling of loyalty and advocacy”, says Magnus Widgren.
One example might be using invoices as a communication channel, what is known as transpromo. This channel is most suitable for marketing to existing customers.
 But as with all communication, the message must be clear and correctly packaged. For printed communication, the sender has an average of six seconds longer to influence the customer. Basically, everyone opens their paper invoices. But that doesn’t mean that everyone reads everything.
 “Customers are experts at digging out what they need to know. They find that in a flash. Then they put the invoice away,” says Magnus Widgren.
 And the biggest opportunities to make an impact are often in the design. Simple tricks to increase the reader value might involve adding a note, a couple of blurbs, maybe some underlining or a P.S. This makes the message clearer and easier to take onboard.
You must also show why your organisation or product is unique. Customers want USPs.
“Look at brands such as Apple. No other brand has a laptop for example that looks exactly like theirs, making it a desirable product and so creating a high demand”, Magnus Widgren continues.
Another thing that he recommends is setting aside a little bit of the budget to test various channels and messages on a small scale before you set off on a major campaign.
“One positive aspect of digital media is that they are live all the time. If a
campaign is going badly, just make an adjustment and wait for the results”, says Magnus Widgren.

Print

Five success factors in the field of marketing

  • Target group. You must understand who you’re talking to. Ideally also what they buy from you and when they do it. Using this information you can, for example, buy a twin register, i.e. similar customers to  target. If you have no information, the easiest thing of all is to ask the customer.
  • Your offering. Do you have a good product? Dress it up in a special offer. As a consumer you often want what you can’t have. That’s a part of Apple’s success. It can also be about financing. How many people can actually afford to buy a car for more than SEK 300,000? But if you sell it for SEK 4,000 a month you’ll have a much bigger market.
  • Timing. It’s good to know when the consumer wants to buy. Have they had a new baby, just been paid or  moved house? If you understand consumers’ behaviour, you’ve achieved a lot.
  • Choice of channel. Ten years ago there were really only push channels. Now you have the opportunity to build relationships with your customers in a totally new way. The simple advice is to use the channels that give you new opportunities. The clothing industry, for example, is excellent at using social media and blogs.
  • Creative concept. The creative packaging is of course also an important element. Always aim to both sell your products and build the brand over time.

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