The Changing Landscape of Marketing has resulted in the “Confidence Gap”

 

Marketing and sales has changed dramatically since the 1980’s.  In the days of simple selling the seller had the power.  There were fewer competitors, fewer choices, less technology and lower education.   The buyers of products did not have the information available to them to make informed decisions.  Therefore, selling and marketing was easier.

Today, the power is in the hands of the buyer.  The buyers of products and services have more choices, increased information, and increased technology.  This shift has lead to increased resistance, longer buying cycles in most industries, more price competition and products and services being view as commodities rather than unique.   

So what is the result of this dramatic shift in sales and marketing that has taken place in the last 20 years?

This shift has resulted in what I refer to as the Confidence Gap.

 The Confidence Gap represents the buyer’s inability to distinguish whether any of the businesses, any of the products, or any of the services are any BETTER, any DIFFERENT, or any WORSE than any of the others.

In this scenerio, the consumer views all products and services as basically being the same.  All accountants are alike; all plumbers do the same thing.  And what is the end result when a product or service is viewed the same or as a commodity?  Price becomes the overriding reason for choosing one service or product of another.  For any business owner, competing only on price is usually the “kiss of death”.

In my next post, you will learn simple ways to avoid only competing on price and how to elevate your business above your competition so that your business becomes the obvious choice for the product or service you sell.  

      

Super Bowl Ads Flunk the Marketing Equation Test

Now that the dust has settled on Super Bowl, the Dayton Business Journal Reports “that companies that spent big bucks to air advertisements during the Super Bowl did not necessarily see those dollars translate into more visits to their Web sites this year.”  Traffic to Super Bowl advertisers’ Web sites saw no dramatic increase during the game this year, according to a figures released Monday by Akamai Technologies(Nasdaq: AKAM), a Cambridge, Mass.-based content delivery network company.

How can that be?  At a cost of $2.4 million per 30 second ad how can the ads not deliver more interest, more web trafic to the advertiser?

The answer is simple.  None of the ads I saw follow the equation for what makes an effective, powerful ad. 

Sure, some of them were cute, entertaining, comical, but how many of the ads you witnessed can you connect with a company?

If you remember from my last post, great advertising is a simple equation and here’s the equation:

Interrupt + Engage + Educate + Offer = Success      

Let’s take a closer look at the Marketing Equation.

Interrupt - The ad should get qualified prospects to pay attention to your marketing.

Engage –  The ad should give prospects the promise that the information provided in the ad will facilitate their decision making process.

Educate – The ad should identify the important and relevant issues prospects need to be aware of , then demonstrate how your company stacks up against those issues.  

Offer – The ad should provide prospects a low-risk way to take the next step in the buying process . . .  give more information to the prospect so they have the necessary information to make a good decision.  

Most of the ads I witnessed on Super Bowl Sunday only met one piece of the Marketing Equation – - -  Interrupt.  They got me to pay attention, but then, there was some much nonsense attached to the ad, that by the time time the ad was finished, in many cases, I couldn’t tell you who the company was or even what the product was that they were pushing.   

So, what is marketing supposed to do again?  Marketing and advertising should get the attention of the target market, facilitate their decision making process, and lower the risk of taking the next step in the selling process.

Did Sunday’s Super Bowl ads accomplish this?   

It’s no wonder we are confused at what company or product is any better or worse than than the others.

In my next post, I will discuss the Confidence Gap and why it is prevalent with today’s consumers.