There Oughta Be A Law

By Bob Goranson, Managing Partner
Mobium Integrated Branding

Some B2B marketers have this need to create ads that are basically spec sheets, brochures that are instruction manuals and corporate videos that run on like a biblical epic. The ad, brochure and video are loaded with all kinds of details and information that marketers feel the buyer just has to know -- now. My guess is this kind of information dump causes the print ad to get skipped over, the brochure relegated to the circular file very quickly and the video paused forever at the 1:39 marker by the B2B buyer.

No Dumping Zone

It is a waste of your marketing communications dollars if these communications pieces do not achieve their objectives. In fact, to help you avoid this information overload, you should consider posting a “no dumping” sign in your communications department as a reminder. That’s because you simply can’t dump everything about your brand and all the details of your company on your prospects all at once and expect them to remember and comprehend it all.

Introducing the No Dumping Law

Thou shalt not dump all your brand and product and service information on the B2B decision maker all at once, but instead, move them along the purchase path in a more orderly, organized manner by parceling out the right information at the right time to the right person.

This law includes 4 main tenets:

1. Simplify all messages in the early stages of the buying process to engage prospects in a dialogue with your brand.
2. Prioritize messages according to their relevance and importance to different audiences who are involved at different stages of the purchase process at different times.
3. Spread out your messages along the buying path to take each audience from awareness through purchase or repurchase in a logical manner.
4. Make each and every message highly memorable, engaging and identifiable with your brand.

Planning Zone

What this really means is you need to seriously plan out your messaging strategies to tie in with what the buyer needs to know at each stage of the buying process. Help them navigate conveniently through all the emotional and functional details of making a decision. Make it easy for them to understand who you are, what you can offer them and why what you offer is better for them than what other brands offer.

Sounds easy, but it’s not. It’s all about knowing what is important to the prospect and what they want to hear at each stage of the purchase process. It’s about giving them just enough information, incentives or offers to push them to the next stage. And that’s how you begin the dialogue with the prospect that hopefully leads to a successful customer relationship.
 

Need more information?
Bob Goranson
Managing Partner
Mobium Integrated Branding
200 South Michigan Avenue
17^th Floor
Chicago, IL 60604
312-422-8954
mobium.com