Yesterday, I popped into Marketing Week Live & Insights at Kensington Olympia in time to catch Tim Fidgeon talk about Psychology for Digital Marketing. 45-mins of great insight into how the elements of ‘thought’ and ‘feel’ contradict much of how we engage as consumers.
It got me thinking about how I willfully buy overpriced treasures based on perception, how I’m intrinsically prompted by evolutionary characteristics, and how you are too…
I started thinking about marketing tactics I often reject based on these same principles; in this instance, your blog and why I’m probably not reading it. Here’s why:
1. I don’t need your blog
I think of your blog like an iPhone. To be clear, nobody needs an iPhone. There are other phones. There are better phones. There are cheaper phones. There are prettier phones. But look, I need my iPhone. How else will I seamlessly sync it with my mac, Beats By Dre headphones and the old iPod I never use anymore?
2. I don’t care about your blog
And why should I? Of my many subscriptions, it’s hard to recall those that conjure up feelings of nostalgia, connect with me emotionally or build me up mentally. I need to care to commit and there’s an easily identifiable reason that I don’t…
3. You don’t care about me
I don’t mean to sound needy but it’s true. If you cared you’d show me. You’d create content around the stories that resonated with me, you’d respond to my questions in the comments section personally, you’d accept my request to connect on LinkedIn.
Instead, I get a triggered email because I accidentally clicked a link, or a sponsored InMail because my job title is relevant. *sigh*
4. I don’t care about you
You, the author. Give me a profile page that includes a short bio, maybe a quirky photo that changes on hover, or perhaps a personal email address I can reach you on. I want to know you better.
Shall I tell you who I do care about? Tim Cook, Bill Gates, Oprah Winfrey; people who aren’t, but seem – accessible.
Fidgeon presented a quote by Jean Giraudoux yesterday: “The secret of success is sincerity. Once you can fake that you’ve got it made” – Look, I don’t want to feel lied to either, but if you’re a good liar, I’ll never know.
5. You’re inconsistent
Weekly updates that fill me with insight and then nothing for 3 weeks. I feel cheated. Stick to a schedule or tell me there isn’t one. I need something I can rely on.
6. It’s too much
Conversely, bombarding me with updates, random thoughts and general fodder daily is too much. I can’t, and won’t, keep up with you. This supports Sheena Iyyengar’s famous study: ‘When Choice is Demotivating‘ which proved that when overloaded with several choices of gourmet jam, shoppers engaged with the product much less than when given fewer options. Less is more.
Although perhaps I’m wrong. Convince me?
Categories: ? Digital marketing advice
Martina
Martina is a Digital Marketing consultant, developing cross-channel techniques since 2010. This blog explores industry developments with real-life application.
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