There are
many companies that can thrive following the tried and true methods of
traditional marketing initiatives. If you are one of those companies, it makes
sense to place yourself in the most familiar arenas, where potential customers
expect to see you. That is, if your intention is to compete with Coca-Cola for
mindshare, it is probably in your best interest to utilize bold advertisements
in print and television media.
But many other companies are
learning that traditional approaches are no longer sufficient to convey their
message and effectively convert the casual shopper into a paying customer or
even better, a brand evangelist. It used to be that you could distinguish your
company through lowest prices or a sparkling slogan. Now, however, these old
silver bullets will barely leave a dent in the mind of the modern consumer.
What can your company do today to stand out above the noise and clutter?
Education-Based marketing is the act
of creating marketing materials and executing on strategies that distinguish
your company as a knowledgeable authority and resource in your area of
expertise. Notice the inclusion of "resource", as it is
uncharacteristic to antiquated marketing approaches. It follows the revised
premise that to be an active and valuable participant in the information age,
one must become an information center.
With multiple, seemingly identical
solutions popping up everyday in various industries, those that will shine are
those that can lend a hand to their audience, rather than using that same hand
to bludgeon their audience with an exhausted sales pitch.
Author David Frey has outlined [1] not only how the
average customer has become numb to the sales pitch, but also the underlying goals
and burgeoning techniques of Educational Marketing. Your mission, should you
choose to accept it, is to flip the script, and focus on the questions of
customers rather than the sensational hype associated with a typical sales
pitch.
Say you were the owner of an oil
change store. A standard approach to market your business would be to place ads
that say:
“Get
Your Oil Changed Here for Just $14.95!”
The information and help you can
provide your customer is the new hype. The emphasis of such techniques revolves
around the establishment of trust. By assisting in the open sharing of
information, you become an ally to your consumer, rather than the oft-avoided
vacuum cleaner salesman.
One main concern that can come with Educational
Marketing initiatives is "How do I monetize these new informed
shoppers?" Frey goes on to map out the packaging of one's educational
message through multimedia options such as video tapes, email courses, and
seminars which can extend the dialogue and thus your marketing window of
opportunity. Such long-term, or “drip” campaigns can have a tremendous impact
on the duration of your trust-based relationship and the lifetime value of your
prospective customers.
What is your educational message?