Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/63983
MARKETING CONSULTANT TooMuch Information! BY SCOTT STROUD On the trip back from the MHI conference in Las Vegas lastmonth I shared a flight with a young woman who was studying for hermasters degree in Library Sciences. Imagine – managing a public library requires a Master's degree. And overseeing a medical or legal library might require two or more Master's degrees. Why? Because the job of a librarian is to sift through vast amounts of information to find the relevant, pertinent facts relating to a specific question. And information is something that there is an endless supply of. It's estimated that the amount of information generated in the past 48 hours is equivalent to that produced from the beginning of man's history through the year 2003! And it's accelerating at an alarming rate. This illustrates a key point that we need to un- derstand in marketing and selling our homes or communities: People are overwhelmed with TMI – too much information. That includes the typical homebuyer or prospective renter that just visited your website, saw your ad or received your email. To them, its just more information to wade through… Unless what they see stands out as important to them. 'Bad' Information Don't get me wrong, your prospects and buy- ers need information. They need to know why they should live in your community, the benefits of your home, the safety or convenience your product can give them. They need to see how comfortable your homes are for them and how happy they'll be if they choose your solution to their most immediate challenges. But too often that's not the information that we publish. Instead, most websites or brochures talk about the things we think are important with- out taking into consideration the interests of our buyers. We like to present facts and features, while prospects make their buying decisions based on benefits and emotions. Thatmay not be wrong information, but it is bad information because it gets lost in the clutter and doesn't resonate with our buyers andmotivate themto lookmore closely at our offering. Overcoming TMI. On the bright side, a little creativity and em- MAY 2012 26 THE JOURNAL pathy is all it takes tomake you stand out fromthe crowd, because nearly every one of your competi- tors are 'feature-dumpers.' Here are some sug- gestions you can readily implement in your marketing: Answer the question, "So what?" Take a look at your current website, literature or advertising and ask yourself, "So what?" From the customer's viewpoint, why will this be impor- tant to them? Can you show them real benefits that are relevant to them, and will they recognize those benefits when you show them? Are these the benefits that they're really looking for? Are they clearly stated in emotional terms? Your market research may indicate that your buyers are interested in energy efficient homes, so you feature HIGH EFFICIENCY HOMES in your promotions. But, so what? What does that re- ally mean? Why are buyers interested in effi- ciency? Aren't they really interested in cutting their utility bills? So, answer the question with "What that means for you is…" Explain why the information is relevant. In fact, wouldn't a better headline be, SLASH UTILITY COSTS BY 60% OR MORE! Now that's a benefit that will get your buyer's attention and interest! Instead of advertising that your community has 24-hour security, tell them how safe they will be. Show the benefits – in emotional terms – and your information will get through. 'Them' not 'You' Another big mistake that business owners and marketers tend to make is talking about them- selves and their business instead of about the cus- tomer. Understand this: They don't care about you, at least not until they have a reason to do so. Most websites use their most valuable home page space to say, "Welcome to ABC Homes. We've been serving the Greater Springfield area with quality homes since 1984…" That is simply a missed opportunity. Sure, you want to establish your credentials and why a prospect should trust you, but isn't that exactly the same thing that everyone else is doing? It's not relevant informa- tion if that's what they see on every other site. You only have 3 – 5 seconds to catch a website browser's interest before they're off to the next site on their list. So, make it count. If the first thing a visitor saw when they landed on your website was SLASH UTILITY COSTS BY 60% ORMORE or RANKED SAFEST COMMUNITY IN SPING- FIELD, wouldn't that be more effective than telling them about yourself? Be Interesting and Relevant Here's an exercise for you: Go to a magazine stand and pay attention to the magazine covers and headlines. The more interesting and relevant the headlines, themore chance that themagazine will get purchased. Note how those headlines are composed – short, bold and with just a splash of sensationalism to capture peoples attention. The headlines won't lie or overpromise, but they will stand out. Now, apply that same principle to your adver- tising and to your email subject lines. If you don't catch your prospect's interest there, they won't read any further. Why should they – they're being bombarded with competing information every minute of the day! But when they see something that they need or are already interested in – a promise of something that can solve a problem or improve their life – you've got their attention! Become a Librarian The librarian is generally the most avid student in the library. Their job is to sift through huge volumes of information, cut through all the clut- ter and narrow it down to amanageable amount of useful, interesting and relevant facts for their cus- tomers. If you can do that for your customers by defin- ing your benefits and focusing on how those solve the greatest challenges of your buyers and prospects, then you'll stand out as being unique and different. Instead of too much information, offer them the right information, and you'll attractmore buy- ers. T J Scott Stroud helps manufacturers; dealers and communities tell their story and better communicate their benefits to buyers. He is the co-founder of BuilderRadio.com and Q3 Marketing, teaches and advises on sales, marketing automation, and social media, and offers sales and marketing coaching through The Selling More Homes Academy. Contact Scott at sstroud@builderradio.com, or call 606-677-0447.