This is the core
of marketing
Marion Buur
JULY 2020
We believe in connection!
Connection is the core of all marketing. It arises when a brand, and its target audience both give and take, see, and hear each other, and are stronger together than apart.
But connection does not just happen! It requires mutual trust, and consumers are clever. They are unerringly aware when an attempt to gain trust is actually a cover for a completely different ambition. For example, to persuade someone to purchase.
No, winning trust is something “interpersonal”, and can only be originated by authenticity, honesty, and sincerity. From this basis, look for commonality. What does your brand have in common with the target group? Where do you touch? Which point of views overlap? What emotions are involved in this?
Thinking mistakes
For many years, marketers have been searching for the holy grail; a formula that shows why consumers buy something. Most make the fallacy by looking at a consumer through the lens of a product. Marketers start with the functionalities, and benefits of the product, and then assign entire research departments to search for matching consumer wishes, and needs.
More recently, in the current internet, and data era, marketers are busy predicting consumer behavior. This approach sees the consumer through a lens of digital technology. However, just looking at data skips an essential piece in order to know why a consumer is making a particular decision.
The core of marketing
A consumer does not show a Pavlov reaction to products or to marketing. Nor will it conform to any latest digital innovation. But, it is precisely “connection”, and the accompanying emotions, that most influence consumer behavior.
It is clear: give the similarities between your brand, and the target group a leading role. Let them shine in the spotlight. Challenge your target audience to discuss these agreements, to share opinions, to ask questions, to share experiences, and to exchange emotions.
This creates a connection, and your brand becomes a friend, a confidant, and a first-choice of your target group.
Put similarities in the spotlight
Let them shine
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