Hi
Well, I could not let the week pass without comment on a world changing event like the election of Mr Trump – and the possible connection to you and YOUR magnetic business.
So – I think from an outside point of view, we can agree that out of the 2 candidates on offer for US President, Donald was suitably unqualified. He also has big question marks hanging over him about ethics, none payment of taxes, misogyny, making stuff up to suit himself, racism and a number of other undesirable qualities. He would probably say – and has said – that Hilary has equally undesirable qualities, but no-one could argue she was the more qualified for the job.
So how does that relate to you?
Well – apart from the fact that it is probably good for Britain from a trade perspective (I think we just jumped to the top of the queue for trade agreements), there are 2 big lessons to be learned from what just happened. And I don’t mean ‘don’t be complacent’ and ‘make sure you vote or you may be very sorry’.
No, the lessons I am referring to are self belief and marketing/ understanding your customers.
Let’s take marketing and understanding your customers first.
This is something that Donald did very well, and I perhaps Hilary didn’t do quite so well. He understood his avatar. He knew exactly who his ‘customer’ was, what their concerns and fears were, what keeps them up at night, what they care about, what they like and don’t like and what will make or stop them ‘buying’. He knew what magazines they read, what news channel they watch, what social media they are active on. He knew what their mobile network was. He knew if they were married or single, had kids, what their education level was. Let me tell you, “he knew them like he made them” which is a French expression, but really applies here.
Do you know your customers that well? Do you have your customer avatar in mind at all times?
Because Donald did. He knew what to say to them, he knew what they wanted to hear and he therefore made an emotional connections with them. Sure – he p****d some people off, but he didn’t care because THEY were never going to vote for him. And one of the biggest rules of marketing (including social media) is that you CANNOT be all things to all people. And you cannot be afraid of putting some people off. Those people are NOT your customers and if they became your customers they would be your biggest pita (Pain in the a), because you would never see eye to eye. They would never understand you and you would never understand them. I bet you have had some of those?
So – he knew his customer. He knew what messages they wanted to hear and he gave that to them. And therefore – he made an emotional connection. People do not buy on logic. Let me repeat that. People DO NOT BUY ON LOGIC. They buy on emotion and then they search for the logic to justify their decision whilst conveniently ignoring ALL facts or evidence that does not back up their emotional decision.
Donald spoke to the very hearts and souls of his audience (a worrying bunch they are! ) and they connected with him. They bought into him. They believed in him because he seemed to understand their pain. And therefore – no matter the evidence that he has less than pure white ethics, that he has some questionable opinions about women, black people and Mexicans, despite the lack of paying proper taxes to the American government – despite all this those people who bought in were bought in. So they were going to conveniently ignore or disbelieve these factors and look for evidence to support their decision.
Hilary speaks ‘politese’, Donald speaks from the heart. He had correctly judged the state of the nation and the fact that the average man or woman on the street no longer trusts politicians and political correctness.
Do you speak to the heart of your customers or do you speak to their minds? Are your messages ‘we’ based or ‘you’ based. Is it “We make the bestest brightest widgets and have been going for 20 years and our customer service is brill”. Or is it “ You need a hole in the wall, you need to make it with the least mess possible so you don’t get shouted at for ruining the lounge, and you need to make it safely without hitting any electrical wires. You need an X because it has a built in wire detector, makes 80% less dust and is 3 times faster”.
Don’t be ‘we’ing all over your messages. You have heard the old expression “There is no ‘I’ in team”? Well there is no ‘I’ in Sales and Marketing either.
Donald – whatever else he is – is a business man and he understands marketing.
The other lesson we can all learn from him is – no matter how huge a goal looks, no matter how ‘impossible’ people tell you it is, no matter how hard the task looks – if you want something badly enough, and you are prepared to be brave, to put your neck on the line, to ignore the ‘who do YOU think you are?’ comments from others and perhaps from your own inner devil, then you can achieve anything.
Who (except for the Simpsons), would have predicted Trump for President? Only Donald himself.
So – are your dreams and goals big enough? Do you look at that uphill struggle and want to give up. Well give yourself a proverbial kick up the backside, because if a dodgy, misogynist, racist can become President, think what YOU can achieve.