CHANGE YOUR VANTAGE POINT
Stop trying to convince us! Your job as a marketer isn’t to convince or to make anyone believe anything. Your job is to make it easy. Easy for us to find you, your blog, book, newsletter, products and company. Easy to access it all. Easy for us to understand your ideas, brand and the value or benefits of whatever you are selling. And should we decide we want what you are offering, make it easy for us to act.
People-centric companies and great marketers understand this subtle nuance. Their job is not to sell, it’s to reduce friction. So...
Make it easy to find
If you believe you have something of value that could solve people’s problems, delight them or even change their lives, then you owe it to them to make it easy to find. Is your company or store easy to find? Do you have good signage? Is it easy for people to find your online store, website, book, blog or newsletter. Are you using the right channels to reach your audience? Do you rank high in a Google search or would people have to scroll all the way down or, worse, go to the second page? Advertising and SEO (Search Engine Optimization) were never meant to harass and manipulate people. In their purest form, they are a service to customers. They are meant to make it easy to find you for those who could benefit from your offering.
Make it easy to access
Once people find you, is it easy to access what you are offering? Is it easy to find parking? Is your store handicap accessible or is it on the third floor with no elevator? There are multiple ways to think about access beyond physical limitations. Can everyone you are trying to reach afford or fully enjoy the benefits of your offer? Is your website easy to navigate? Is your blog or newsletter easy to read? How is it formatted? Is your font big or legible enough? Is your piece of content engaging, delightful and aesthetically pleasing? Does your video have subtitles for people who might have to listen without sound, hard of hearing or deaf? Think about your customers and the multiple segments you want to serve, and figure out the various ways you can accommodate their different needs.
Make it easy to evaluate
You created something that is easy to find and access. But is it easy to understand? A very important part of communication as a marketer is making sure customers and audiences have cognitive ease because it not only helps with comprehension, it also fosters trust. Is it easy to understand the layout of your store? If you are running a sale or have a new special, is it easy to understand? Do you present your ideas in a clear and simple way to make it easy to grasp? Is it easy to understand your brand, your positioning, as well as the beliefs and values embedded in it? Lowering the barriers of comprehension is one of the most important steps you can take.
Make it easy to act
Ultimately, as a marketer, you want people to take action. May we choose to buy or sign up for whatever it is you are offering, is it easy to act? Are the lines in your store so long people will give up and leave? Will they abandon the items in their carts and exit your website because your check out process is too difficult, long or cumbersome? Is it easy to donate to your charity if we feel compelled to act? Is it easy to act on your calls-to-action? The worst thing that could happen is that someone wanted to buy from you, donate to your cause, take your survey, share your ideas, but gave up halfway because the process was too difficult. If you want people to act, you absolutely need to make it easy for them.
Something magical happens when we stop making marketing about what we want, to focus on how we can help our customers/audiences. Make it easy to find and you will have our attention. If it’s easy to access you will generate interest. If you make it easy to understand, it will stimulate desire. And ultimately it will compel us to act, so make it easy for us. It’s only fitting that the sales funnel acronym AIDA (Awareness, Interest, Desire and Action) also means “helped” in French, and to move people along that funnel requires a great deal of empathy. So stop trying to convince us and, instead, make it easy.