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Head Smacking Consumer Purchasing Strategy – Do Your Research First

As Chief Online Marketing Technologist for our little internet marketing firm I’m aghast at how people want to complain about pricing, quality, and poor customer service after the fact, Do Your Research First.

Laziness. It all boils down to laziness. If I search for a product or service and only read reviews from one source and then base my purchasing decisions solely on that metric, shame on me. Here’s a little secret: Online reviews are still broken beyond belief. We see bogus negative reviews and comment review spamming run wild, Do Your Research First.

Buyer’s remorse is normal. But ask yourself, “Why am I sorry I bought?” Have 10 people told me I could have gotten it cheaper after the fact, elsewhere? Where were their opinions when I truly needed them? Do Your Research First.

Time sensitivity and emotional purchasing control all our buying decisions. We, as people are very predictable. The only thing that will ever change advertiser’s methods is the very market these advertising agencies rely on to survive. The short answer is that we tell the marketers what works by the results of their marketing and advertising. So we must change our behaviors to change the market.

I’ll say it again. Do Your Research First.

Hey, who wants to change the world?

Steve Jobs photo courtesy of Wikipedia

Steve Jobs, deep down, wasn’t a tech guy, or a business guy. He was an artist - an exceptionally great one. His paint brush was technology. His canvas was all of us. With it, Steve painted a masterpiece. In a world that just talks thinking different, Steve Jobs did different. And a whole world loved him for it.

Where most of Steve’s contemporaries simply wanted to make products under the “façade” of different, Steve’s longing was to change the world and be that “different.” And boy, did he do it. In a high-stakes game of focus groups, market research, product research, you name it, Steve said nah, not me. He “painted” what he loved and the world will never be the same.

Invite someone for the first time to Steve’s Art Gallery - we call it an Apple Store, let them experience the genius of a Steve Job’s masterpiece, and probably, what you’ll hear, without hesitation, is, “I gotta have that.”  His  creations had  to always be something he loved, so we could love them too.

But there is one more thing...

Love, Love, Love - All You Need is Love

All You Need Is Love Image courtesy of Willie Simpson

I don’t know if you saw the Sci-Fi flick Serenity with Nathan Fillion. Anyway, at the end of the movie Mr. Fillion tells his co-pilot, River, what it really takes to pilot a ship. Here’s how he put it; “Love. You can learn all the math in the 'verse... but you take a boat in the air that you don't love... she'll shake you off just as sure as the turn of the worlds. Love keeps her in the air when she ought to fall down... tells you she's hurting before she keels.”

Mr. Fillion may have just described what’s at the heart of the potential Social Media presents and what it offers to help keep your (brand) “boat in the air” – nothing guaranteed mind you, but a good shot - and that’s love. If this sounds corny, think a minute, how many times in business have you heard somebody say, “Hey, we need to show that client some ‘love’ or “that customer needs some love,” and blah, blah, blah. Maybe you consider this “figurative,” but really, is it? One thing’s for sure, if you’ve been in business a bit, you’ve heard it, and maybe said it yourself more times than you care to remember.

Deep down, when an ad agency’s client asks them about including digital, Social and anything else Internet into their marketing mix what I believe they’re really asking, and they just may not know it, is, how can you, the ad agency, help us earn a seat at the Social Media table so we can show our customers we “love” them in ways that traditional advertising just can’t.

You can show a client the metrics, measurements, reports, and connections, or “all the math in the ‘verse,” and that’s all good, but it’s not going to mean much without that little 4 letter word. Besides, this is Charlton Heston – Biblical – Matthew stuff, which, of course, he made sure was on record… “And the greatest of these is love.” So there you go. If you want argue with him on that, be my guest, I’m not.

This can be pretty scary for some enterprises. Here’s why I think that is. And it has to do a lot with the word “distance.” Automation, mass production, and mass media, introduced by the industrial revolution has incrementally put up a healthy sized chasm between brands and the people they want to talk and sell to. As a result, for the past who-knows-how-many-years, brands, for the most part, have had the luxury of selling to people at a distance, with their advertising strategies coming along for the ride. A brand didn’t have to get “that” close – only perceive to. We all got used to being sold to at more than just arm’s length. All of a sudden the Internet, with its Social Media sidekick shows up, and subtly and methodically hands people the means to close that distance. And close it well. Power to the people, and all that jazz you could say.

Peeking at the brand/Social Media situation from a familiar angle might go like this; how many marriages or relationships have broken up because one party felt that the other became “distant” – even when the other party was there.

Brands have to genuinely get close now - or again – if they want to compete and grow. Just showing up and expecting your message to be heard doesn’t cut it anymore. Every day it’s getting more and more difficult for brands to sell at the distance they’ve been accustomed to. And brands are feeling it.  Ford, Dell, Zappos and Starbucks are some examples of brands that know and go all out to understand this. Enjoying more than just reasonable and continued success, these brands use Social Networking outlets to help them close that gap, build faith, and invest in their customers – their true capital. And, like what love can imply, these are brands which apply their Social Media efforts with a seemingly genuine no-strings approach.

Moral of this story: if you’re going to take a crack at Social Media, maybe start with a little John Lennon and add some Social Media Love to your marketing.

http://www.williesimpson.com - Credit for image