With (pandemic modified) Major League Baseball starting in less than a week, we’ve got home runs, savage plays, peanuts, and take me out to the ball game on the brain. While the 2020 baseball season will exist without fans in the stands, we’re still ready to root for our favorite home-town teams (go Twins!).
Baseball is a little bit like marketing in some ways….and YOU always have fans in the stands that are waiting to hear from you!
The success (or failure) of marketing your business depends on how your audience receives your message. Sometimes, a campaign hits a sweet spot and becomes a success. Other times…ummm…it’s a “swing and a miss.” Hey, we’ve all been there. Here are a few tips to ensure that your marketing hits it out of the park with your audience.
1. Use strong (and appealing) visuals
Along with having a solid message in your marketing, you also need supporting visuals. Did you know the human brain can process visuals up to 60,000 times faster than text? When you create content with appealing visuals, it will naturally be more engaging and exciting for users. Other fun facts —social media posts, or email marketing that include images, receive up to 5x times the engagement of those without images. Articles with visuals receive 94 percent more views. It is evident that people like visuals and prefer content that contains them. Your images should also coordinate with your brand so that your readers can easily make a connection. Lastly, when customers see images of real people using your product or service, it is much easier for them to see themselves doing the same thing!
2. Be Authentic
Marketing is balancing that line between what’s relevant and what will strike a chord with your viewer. If the communication isn’t authentic, people will see right through it. The biggest mistake we see is creating content that is focused on you and not your audience. I hate to break it to you, but your readers don’t necessarily care about you. They care about solving their problems. The more you help them with what they care about, the more they’ll come back, read your content, and ultimately become loyal followers.
One way to keep your marketing message authentic is to use the 80/20 rule OR better yet create your own ratio! Whichever ratio you use, you want to make sure your content informs, educates, entertains, and is helpful to your audience, with a smaller percentage directly promoting you and your business. Here’s a perfect example of inauthentic marketing. By providing helpful content and knowing your audience, whether, through social media or a monthly eNewsletter, you’re able to give them something of value rather than ask them to “buy”. This allows you to keep them interested and create a sustainable relationship so that they’ll continue to be loyal to your brand as their needs evolve.
3. Use humor, compassion, and empathy.
Never underestimate the power of emotions. If someone can make you smile, laugh, or even shed a tear, you know there’s potential for a pretty strong bond.
Adding emotion intrigues your audience, and it often gets them more engaged with your content. It also humanizes your brand and often makes your business appear friendlier. Humor in marketing often increases brand memorability (think funny super bowl commercials).
So the next time you create a blog for your eNewsletter and have an opportunity to make a joke that only your audience will understand, we say knock yourself out!
And because we like to walk the talk, we will wrap up by sharing a little marketing humor of our own.
Q: Why can’t the marketer go see live musicals anymore?
A: He keeps trying to capture the leads.
Stay safe everyone!
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