Who Cares

July 19, 2008 · Comments

shrugAs a guy who does technology, but has somehow found himself in a marketing-heavy role, I’ve got a lot of opinions. Some might be wrong. You’re always welcome to correct me if you disagree.

Marketers: please, please, please think really hard about the recipient of your message. It seems SO easy, but I find that people talk about how amazing they (their company/product/etc) are. I’m glad you’re proud, but is that what you want to tell me? Because if I’m the customer/consumer/user/partner, you know how I’m thinking, right?

  • What’s in it for me?
  • How does this impact me?
  • Do I have to do something?
  • What’s this going to cost me?

The other thing is this: please re-think which details you think I might care about. I passed an ice cream truck the other day on the road. The side of it read: Serving fresh ice cream since 1934. First, your ice cream better be fresh. Second, I don’t care when you started. I want ice cream. Finally, ice cream is fun. People LOVE ice cream. Why not talk about the fun?

Please. Ask yourself after every little scrap of copy you write, “Who cares?”

—

The Social Media 100 is a project by Chris Brogan dedicated to writing 100 useful blog posts in a row about the tools, techniques, and strategies behind using social media for your business, your organization, or your own personal interests. Swing by [chrisbrogan.com] for more posts in the series, and if you have topic ideas, feel free to share them, as this is a group project, and your opinion matters.

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  • Hi Chris,

    I'd prefer to eat ice cream from a company who's been producing it since 1934, than a company who started making it last week out of the back of a truck, has a website and NING community.

    --Steve
  • Let me please add one more layer to this topic. I currently regard it from the view point of an agency thinking about my message to my (potential) clients. And I don't think about a slogan or kind of a tag here. I think of my impact for them (as this was one of the things you raised in your blog entry, Chris). In Germany, we are mostly 1-2 years behind the US internet-wise. Soft facts (eg. message transfer, building brand reputation, etc.) don't help. Almost any client in Germany would ask: What is in it for me? What do I get in return for my money? Hard facts are required: more traffic, more sales, etc. Otherwise you don't get your services sold.
    What is your experience? How long does it take to see results in form of hard facts? What is your reply to such customers? Any interesting use cases from the US?
  • Hey Chris, in the future, I expect free ice cream with every click on this site =)
  • I couldn't agree with you more. Marketing in today's day in age is about engaging suspects/prospects/leads and customers in an ongoing discussion. Unless you're selling ice cream, just telling people about your product probably isn't going to be much help. Even with ice cream, you have dozens of choices where you get it. I agree with you, many marketers haven't adjusted to this fact.
  • Could you post an image for that truck?, maybe a contextual view put some insight. They are making something very well, surviving almost 80 years is not easy. So I think we need more about that ice cream makers to judge its mkt.
  • Well said, Chris. The title actually caught my eye. hehe

    Yup, WIIFM is the radio station most everyone is tuned in to. To be effective, marketers need to focus their message on BENEFITS not FEATURES. This is marketing 101, but so many peeps online are clamoring for attention for themselves and forget to think from the perspective of the prospect.

    Learning how to write good sales copy is a skill every marketer should have in his/her toolkit. Good peeps to follow are @rayedwards @michelfortin and @mike_morgan.

    Cheers!
    Mari - your fellow Frienderati member ;)
    @marismith
  • I have seen some effective combination of "what we do that is great and how it benefits you" but it has to be done carefully.

    For example a lot of established companies talk about "30 years of work experience" which is a classic "Why we are awesome" line... but if you were to phrase it as "With 30 years of experience we have been able to perfect our product, and you know we will always be around to support you."
  • Good stuff Chris. Absolutely true.

    Also, great point Patrick about blending the "30 years" statement with something that is meaningful to potential customers.

    Everything in your messaging should speak to the need, and even your differentiating qualities (years in business, special certifications, etc) should to be positioned as explicit benefits to your customers, not just a pat on your own back.
  • Being conscious of this fact has allowed me to write better posts and incite more interaction from my readers. So is it an important step to answer this question when marketing your business? You bet your @$& it is!
  • Always feel better if a peer recommends a product or service than hearing it from an ad that interrupts me.

    The worst offender is the misuse of the word 'quality' as in, we have quality products at the best prices! That is so irritating and puerile it makes my blood pressure go into dangerous levels. This kind of schlock is usually found on local cable breaks where some genius, the wife and offspring advertise their ''unique' car lot....eeeewww
  • So it appears that time in the game matters to you. I'm happy to stand corrected.
  • Chris,

    I would in no way consider my mind to be great (just have a look at my Technorati ranking, for God's sake), but to some extent, great minds think alike.

    I did a post this morning http://tinyurl.com/6abrwk, in which, after some venting, I attempted to offer some advice to communications professionals on how to sit in the seat of either your audience or the person whom you are pitching when you disseminate communications.

    My night job is teaching at Georgetown University and I try to keep things as simple as possible when relating to students. One of my favorite phrases is "don't tell me how wonderful your fertilizer is, tell me how it makes my grass green."

    So if I could hijack that ice cream truck, after stealing one to two choco tacos, I would advise the driver to have a slogan along the lines of "Making people happy since 1934." It's about the ice cream consumer, not the company.

    My two cents. And have loved the PodCamp Boston 3 tweets; which I would have been there.

    Mark
  • Ashley Howard
    This is an interesting post that aligns with my role within city government. Since I'm new to the city, I am trying to change 40+ years of consistently talking at people without having any type of conversational qualities. This is just another example of how changing the focus of the conversation can change the entire context and relationship your customers [or in my case, residents] have with your business. I'm hoping that by following a similar viewpoint for communications, that we can change the relationship we have with our community members.
  • Ah, such a poignant point.

    I call this type of marketing "Inside/Out" - the marketer is looking out, making a statement from "inside" and not listening to what's going on "outside"...I think that's what I take from this.

    They're old memes that we just don't pay attention to anymore. As a marketer of 15 years, thanks for the reminder!
  • Going Gray
    Great post. Time in the game doesn't matter to me and I will venture to say it doesn't matter much to this up and coming generation. My ten year old daughter and her peers could care less about longevity and more about whether the ice cream man can carry on a conversation about Nanos or how you can build your own Coke at their interactive site or create your own ending to High School Musical. We are just a few years away from this generation being major players in our economy and one of the biggest group of consumers of goods and services. These kids are going to be immersed in a culture that is interactive and caters to their needs. We need to start speaking their language and approach marketing in new and different ways.
  • This is certainly a good test of a marketing message!
    Thanks Chris,
    JR
  • Awesome post!
  • jon
    Which audience? What the conversation here says is: 1) thinking in terms of the audience's perspective matters. 2) different audiences look for different things. I realize that the last statement is a "duh". However, the 10 year old wants something different from an ice cream experience than her 36 year old father than his 62 year old mother whose father took her to the ice cream store as a child in need of a treat.

    And it is possible that a good experience with an old slogan may give that old slogan great connotative meanings for the 10-year-old.

    In short: great principle, with an example that proves the challenge.
  • Going Gray
    Hi John-

    I was thinking more about the future. As Millenials gain more purchasing power, and us older folks fade away, our marketing will need become much more consumer-focused. And yes, perhaps with a good experience my ten year old could appreciate an old slogan. That is not to say she doesn't already (I would need to ask her to be honest), but I know she is astutely focused on innovation. We are living in age where the latest and greatest gets all the glory. To be caught with last summer's iPhone is a crime.
  • Good post, as usual. As a woman & mom, I take ice cream *damn* serious. Ranks up with chocolate, coffee and wine.

    We have a favorite frozen treat spot near us, and we travel past, oh, six or seven ice cream shops to get there, including one that looks very cute with catchy iconic cows, bright colors, and branding galore. Why? Because the place we go to produces ice cream from their own four-generation, family-owned, local diary farm. But I sure would like a Facebook group for them to know when the dairy tours are or what the latest custom flavors in the shop are. Old needs to mingle with new, even if I crave an old fashioned scoop of ice cream.

    So sometimes it matters when a company was formed, etc. It just depends on the niche of product (food being a biggie for local/longevity). Computer / gadgets, no. Please don't be around since the 1930's, that just wreaks of outdated. Key is know your market and how they live, what they value, and where they look for information.
  • Granted, that ice cream truck could have worked the slogan a little better, but personally I find nothing wrong with it. I'm with Steve Garfield on this.

    Stating the obvious,"fresh ice cream" is actually a copywriting technique when used cleverly, will actually boost sales. If this ice cream company has been selling ice cream since 1934, then they're definitely doing something right.

    I'd only be concerned if their slogan read, "Serving fresh ice cream from 1934".
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