Perhaps you have created a truly great product. But then you have to market that product. Where do you start? A marketing campaign isn’t as simple as you think. The marketplace is packed with products, more ideas are introduced every single day. If you don’t get seriously creative, your product will lose its way and fail to grab the attention of your target audience. Many small businesses misunderstand the significance and importance of marketing. Read our blog on how to use marketing to your advantage for some insight on using marketing tactics for your brand.
Always remember that your potential prospects are human.
How does group mentality help you as a marketer? Well, when you are baffled by the abundance of choice when you are doing the shopping you may think you picked the product based on aesthetics but what you were actually doing was making a decision using heuristics. We use heuristics, which are simplified methods for finding a solution, when finding the perfect solution is either impossible or impractical. What this basically means, is that you frequently choose products based soley on what everybody else is doing, through things such as current trends and influences.
Harnessing the brain’s physical, emotional and rational parts
The brain is divided into three “parts”, a physical, an emotional and a rational part. And knowing how to affect these parts can help a marketer better develop campaigns to effectively motivate a potential customer.
Physically, our brains react to certain material which can afftect our person or lives.
How to utilise this: Marketers can harness the physical part of the brain by channeling any of the six “S” words in a marketing campaign: survival, safety, security, sustenance, sex and status.
The brain’s emotional part controls memories and feelings, allowing a person to make a connection with a certain brand.
How to utilise this: A marketer can tap into this emotional well to encourage people to buy a product.
Finally, the brain’s rational part is responsible for higher cognitive functions, such as problem solving. We use this part when deciding to buy a certain product, perhaps by comparing prices.
How to utilise this: To stimulate this rational region, marketers can use figures, facts or other comparative information in brand campaigns (i.e. promoting price savings).
Targeting all of these areas will help your target audience choose your product over the others in the market.
Think outside the box
In contrast to ‘pleasing the brain’ if you are able to provide information that does not fit expectations you are also in a position to grab the attention of your target audience.
The human brain follows patterns which help us recognise objects and actions in our daily experience. As a marketer, if you interrupt these patterns you can grab attention and make your product stand out.
We feel, therefore we buy
A great marketer doesn’t sell a product or a service, but an emotion. Our behavior is nearly always driven by our emotions. Thus it is incredibly important that you consider your customer’s emotions when developing campaigns. Emotions guide what we do, including what we buy. Marketing Campaigns can take advantage of this by pushing a message that says a customer will feel good when he/she buys a certain product.
Nike, for example, is more than the product it sells. When you buy a pair of Nike shoes, just the act of purchasing makes you feel more fit, given the strong connection between your sporting dreams and the company’s brand message of successful, self-confident and athletic individuals.
What many successful brands have in common is that they address people’s emotions. Apple has a very powerful brand. When you buy a Mac, for example, you’re not just buying a computer but joining a club of like-minded people and a larger mission. Purchasing and owning a Mac affects you as a person and influences how others see you too. This connection isn’t simply about the product, but about what you, and the people around you, feel.
Developing a marketing campaign can seem difficult especially to the more practical thinkers. We have more information to help with marketing to your target audience in our recnt blog, ‘Change Your Brand’s Public Perception Through Marketing.’ Alternatively, contact the Chilli team and let us help you with a marketing campaign that will WOW your potential customers!
