by Charlie Crowell
If you could sit down with your customers and ask them to bare their souls, and really tell you what they think about your marketing efforts, you might hear something like this;
“I am not a target, I am a person. Don’t market, communicate.
I don’t like to buy from businesses; I like to buy from people.
I dislike companies for the same reason I dislike people.
Stop bragging – it’s disgusting.
Why is your marketing voice different from your real voice?
Tell me what you can’t do too. Your product isn’t everything to everybody.
Stop with the arrogant, selfish inflated claims!”
Every marketing department in the world - and every copywriter - should have those words pasted to their computer screens.
There is so much silly, over-blown hype in advertising today that it truly is “disgusting”… and insulting. Part of the problem is that too many copywriters think it’s their duty to sensationalize products and services rather than simply communicate with people.
And, what business owners don’t realize when they approve this nonsense, they are degrading their business, they look desperate, and most people see right through the whole mess anyway.
It’s really no different than some arrogant, know-it-all neighbor or sister-in-law trying to force their opinions on you. You avoid them for the same reason that you avoid businesses with that behavior. They insult your intelligence. They are often so wrapped up in themselves that they can’t possibly be looking out for your best interests. They are self-serving, self-centered and self-absorbed… and it shows.
The quote above, by the way, came from a speaker at the Marketing Sherpa Email Summit & Expo held in Miami. I managed to get the quote on paper but missed the speaker’s name, for which I apologize.
Anyway, I had never heard anyone speak on the subject, from the customer’s point of view, quite so clearly. That single thought provoking quote was worth the price of admission… and now you got it for free.
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