Brilliantly bespoke marketing
How do brands usually market to you?
I’m going to guess that email is a prime contender to be first on that list, because it’s super-cheap, can be tailored to segments of clients or customers and is quick to create and send.
All good reasons.
How do you feel as a potential customer when you receive these emails? Special? Like the brand has really reached out to you personally? Errr… probably not.
When I see an unsolicited email in my inbox, do I punch the air with delight before rushing to open it? Does opening it give me a little frisson of pleasure? Does it make me smile? (Clue: no).
Small businesses can of course, do good things with email marketing.
But do you have dream brands or people you REALLY want to work with? You know, that ‘OMG, if only I could work with [insert someone’s name here who works at a company you really admire]’.
If so, ditch the email and get creative.
(Just a point of order: I am not not saying DON’T use email as part of your marketing mix. Just clarifying as I can feel the ire of all those lovely email marketers from here).
I am a huge fan of physical marketing. I don’t mean running up and down and doing weights kind of physical, I mean getting something physical into their hands. Get that person to touch… and they will FEEL something.
So get an address for them – usually a fairly simple process if they have office premises, and this opens up the power of brilliantly bespoke marketing.
💡 The key is to create stand out. You have to assume they get a steady deluge of cold approaches from your competitors, and if you are just another person sending just another email, will they remember you? What can you do or say that your competitors wouldn’t?
💡 Do a stick person drawing of your specific prospect and around it, jot down everything you know about them and the business they are in. If you spotted on LinkedIn they’ve been to an art gallery, write that down. If you know how many people work in the business, write that down. Dump all your facts and insights onto the page.
💡 Now think about what might bring a little seed of joy to that person that you can deliver them. What would make them smile? What would really resonate with them? If your marketing approach can do this, you are a long way into being remembered. So if you want to work with a specific architectural practise, you could mail them your pitch on a rolled up blueprint. If you want to work with a particular snack brand, you could create something on edible paper, or mail a postcard that has a bite cut out of it. Or use a gold frame with your pitch letter in it for the art gallery lover.
💡 Use a creative thinking tool to help you switch perspectives and get fresh ideas. Brand Swap is where you think about another brand you know, and ask yourself how they would market to your specific prospect. So Spotify could inspire you to create a playlist just for them, with relevant song titles or bands… including You’re the One that I want from Grease, maybe?
💡 Focus on the outcome. Show them what will change if they work with you – make the transformation compelling. Send them a case study of their business for one year in the future after working with you. Create a beautifully designed infographic mapping the impact working with you will have. Mock up an industry magazine from their world with an amazing headline on the front involving something amazing their business has achieved with their help.
💡 Get personal. Create a QR code on your bespoke marketing that links to a video where you greet them by name and give a quick intro to how you can help. Or hand write your marketing: make it purposefully low-fi, handmade and very much from you.
💡 Or just make it fun. We are allowed to have fun in business. What about a small puzzle in a tin that reveals your marketing message as they complete it? You could hold back a piece and be the metaphorical final piece in their puzzle…
Spend some time getting creative with how you can approach your dream prospect, Get them to feel something, give them a tangible sense of you and your brilliance. They may not be ready to buy the minute your marketing lands on their desk, but you will be remembered. Because no one is going to forget the person that sent them a small rubber duck with a phone number stamped on its arse.
If you like these ideas, I hang stuff like this every month onto the Tool Rack, the Allotment’s monthly missive. It’s packed with ideas and insights to help you run and grow your business creatively. Subscribe here and get those creative muscles flexing.