We read a lot about engaging customers, cutting through the clutter, getting our message across… the truth is that we only ‘get through’ when the potential client is ready, able and willing to buy.
When a person is actively looking for a solution, a product or a service, they will come looking for you. The rest is interruption and they will ignore or miss most of it.
And when they come looking, they will usually grab the first cab off the rank – don’t we all?
In a way, good marketing is a bit like the taxi business.
You have to be there (you have to pay to be there as at Auckland airport); you have to be near the front of the queue; you have to be presentable and you have to be ready to go (this is particularly true of the B2B, services and big ticket items – not so much FMCG).
In essence, good lead generation marketing is mostly about being PRESENT and PRESENTABLE.
Content marketing, SEO and brand journalism have enjoyed the meteoric rise that they have because they’re ideal vehicles to achieve PRESENCE – low cost, durable, value-added and loved by search engines, which is essential for being near the front of the queue… which reminds me, where do you hide a dead body? On page two of Google.
Unlike paid advertising campaigns, content marketing is not transient. Done right, an article or a video, for example, can carry on adding value and achieving presence for ages when Ad campaigns come and go when the budget is blown.
Being PRESENTABLE though, that’s the tough part.
PRESENTABLE content marketing is marketing communications that is relevant. It adds value. The customer sees it and thinks: “Yes, they know what they’re talking about, they’re experts, they’re credible; I can get into their back seat and I’ll be fine. I can trust them. They’ll get me to where I want to go.”
Once that happens, the customer will search no further. You’ve done the job marketing was intended to do, and now it’s over to sales.
Good content, good SEO and constant and consistent activity are essential because its not about cutting through the clutter, its about being the first cab off the rank when the customer rushes out.