Hype is just an icebreaker. It puts people in the mood to hear the rest of your marketing message.
Everyone knows what marketing hype is. It has that familiar sound in your ear, whether you’re hearing it or reading it. It uses predictable adjectives and other gratuitous qualifiers that give it away – “the most robust, to rapidly achieve, never before, hassle-free.” You’ve probably used some of these yourself.
But not all hype is bad. It has a place in marketing. You can use it to start the sales process. A catchy headline or a slick demo will grab people’ s attention. But most marketers stop there, or they sustain the same level of hype throughout their presentation. What they don’t realize is that their prospects are looking for substance beyond the hype. To put it another way, on a blind date, you can crack a joke to break the ice, but you don’t have to crack jokes all evening long. Your “prospect” is looking to you for something deeper.
To market beyond the hype, one must understand how the mind works. According to Al Ries and Jack Trout, authors of the classic book, “Positioning,” people have already made up their minds about what they want to hear. Their values are set and cannot be changed. They are in search of meaning that matches their own life experiences. A marketing campaign based purely on hype cannot connect with such expectations. As a marketing person, what should you do or say next?
The answer lies in this example – the guy hawking kitchen knives at the state fair. He says, “The most incredible, durable, magnificent StaySharp knife easily cuts through hardened steel without a scratch. Look, it can even pierce a brick wall.” The audience gasps. This is hype, no one is going to use a kitchen knife this way. But no one seems to mind either. They were drawn in and entertained on their own free will.
Now that the salesman really has their attention, he continues, “Have you ever seen a knife cut a tomato this clean and fast? With StaySharp, you can prepare an entire gourmet dinner like this one (Ooooh!). Order now, and you’ ll get this child-proof knife container, so you can sleep well at night (Aahhh!).”
Now something clicks. This is the message they’ve been waiting for, whether they know it or not. The salesman just marketed beyond the hype, reaffirming their belief that families should have good food on the table, and that kids should be protected from harm. Out come the credit cards.
Marketing beyond the hype simply means proving to your audience that you understand their value system and that your product is the answer to their needs. Don’t try to change what people believe, or you will fail. At this point, you don’t even have to be entertaining to win a customer. Just talk straight – no superlatives, no word games, no hype.
Marketing collateral should always focus on what people care about. A brochure should talk more about benefits than features. A website should help a customer project his success, rather than brag about the company. Product descriptions should use more verbs than adjectives, because people care more about outcomes that affect them than static product descriptions.
When you market beyond the hype, you can move prospects further in the sales cycle. Just make sure you do have a next step – a call to action, a free consultation, a white paper – or maybe you’re ready to ask for the order.
In the end, you want your prospect to be completely satisfied with the marketing experience, hype being the first and most fun part. When you have successfully positioned your product to meet his needs, he will say, “This is what I’ve wanted all along!”
Ted Fong, General Manager, has worked in high-tech marketing for most of his career. He was Director of Marketing at Interwoven, Inc, an nterprise software company, where he ran marketing communications and web operations. He also worked for Cognex Corporation and Alcatel North Asia Pacific. Mr. Fong has a BS in bioengineering from U.C. Berkeley and an MBA from UCLA. http://www.bomacorp.com
