Consistently working towards your goals, spreading your message and building trust in your audience can become a superpower for your marketing, says Chris Ashton, director of building and interiors marketing specialist Time54.
Would you ask the person you’re on a first date with to marry you? No. Or if you’re thinking of doing so, I’d prepare yourself for a ‘no’. Equally, is your target audience going to engage with what you’ve got to say, and ultimately buy from you after one or two social media posts, or an email shot, every now and again? Highly unlikely.
It’s no secret that construction is currently on a high and professionals are busy. They don’t always remember to do things in a timely manner even when it’s of benefit to them. With that in mind, presenting your company’s message or sales promotion every now and again just won’t cut it. If you confuse your audience, you will lose your audience – it’s as simple as that.
Purchasing is done with emotions and justified with logic. So for example, if you manufacture balustrade handrails and an architect has the choice between your product and your competitor’s products, which are essentially the same aesthetically and technically, how will the architect choose between the two products? They will generally choose the brand they have a relationship with. But if they don’t have a direct relationship, they will opt for the brand they have more trust with.
Trust is the major barrier to a sale. The only way to build trust is by being consistent with how often you communicate with your audience, while also making sure your message (e.g. tone, language, benefits) is consistent too. Your audience might come to trust you through your brand’s thought leadership articles; by seeing and engaging with your social media posts; by reading email shots from you; and by finding your brand high up in a Google search. All of these elements combine to build trust. And trust will help you to build relationships and ultimately increase your sales.
Here are some points that will help you to build trust:
* Create a marketing plan and schedule, and stick to it. For example, if you like to send out email shots to your audience, send them at a similar time every week or month. So your audience will start to expect them and it won’t feel as intrusive.
* ‘Doing’ social media for two or three months isn’t really ‘doing’ social media at all. Build consistency and routine into your marketing habits to bring about the best results. And think about the long term.
* Be consistent with your message i.e. how you are promoting to your audience. It needs to feel like your audience recognises your business’ personality to help build that relationship.
Bad marketing is product-focussed or self-focussed. Good marketing is customer focussed and problem-solving focussed. So don’t just list your product’s features – tell your audience how they will benefit from using it.
And finally:
* Don’t be disheartened when you’ve been carrying out your marketing for a few months and you feel you’re not getting any results. It takes time to build trust with your marketing communications, and the benefits of being consistent will compound over time.
If you want advice about your marketing strategy, get in touch with Chris Ashton at Time54: time54.co.uk.
