Anecdote shows you how to get more dream customers

Anecdote shows you how, using simple filtering technics and effective marketing tactics, you can attract more dream customers this year.

Before we start

The most critical ‘want’ for any business is to understand their ideal customer. All businesses have one, they pay on time, they come back again and again and they have reasonable expectations of what you are offering them.

Now once you have spent some time thinking about that and you can almost visualise them in your mind let’s look at ways you can attract more of those types of customers to your business and answer the question of this mini-series.

So, can marketing create a ‘want’?

Well, to be honest, is there any other point? We would argue marketing’s primary goal is to create a ‘want’. That’s what you’re paying your hard-earned money for.

Big businesses get to a point where their brands are seen around the world, and for them, they ‘want’ to make sure humans across the globe will see their product where ever they are, may it be in Africa or downtown L.A, Coke is a great example here.

But the reality for us mere mortals is, the ‘want’ we are creating is to generate leads into our businesses to get and keep customers.

So with that in mind lets look at what a ‘want’ actually is…

What is a ‘want’?

A ‘want’ is an idea created by a business to convince customers to buy a service or product from them.
If you can create a real, authentic ‘want’ backed up with cold hard facts, you are much more likely to gain peoples trust and for them to buy your service or product.

You will be onto a real winner!

But that is easier said than done, so let’s look at a real-world example to give context.

The exciting world of thermostats… Stay with me.

Nest thermostats

Think back to before the smartphone, the thermostat was one of those things which sat on a wall and you mucked about with it at different times of the year to keep your house warm.

Enter smartphones

Whole new industries appeared with the emergence of smartphones. Now connectivity in the home became more than a broadband router. No one knew they wanted a remotely operated thermostat until Nest came along. But how did Nest convince consumers they wanted it?

Creating a ‘want’ for Nest thermostats

Nest looked at the modern family, they worked through daily routes of individuals, families and their children and started to create a picture of what modern living looked like in a multitude of differing circumstances.

Once they had all that information they could then piece together areas in peoples lives where the Nest could ‘plug’ the gap.

For example, it’s raining hard in winter and mum is picking the kids up from school, they’re soaked and freezing on the way home and the heating hasn’t kicked in yet.

Well, mum can now plan ahead to make sure the home is warm and toasty so when the soaked brigade arrives home it’s nice and warm.

This is one example of many daily life scenarios Nest could use to hit their key target customers. You see the same thing happening now with Ring doorbells, no-one knew they wanted one until now.

We hope this example helps you to think more about what a ‘want’ is. So with that in mind, have a think about your business, your products and services and ask yourself what ‘want’ you can create for your business?

Remember it needs to be real, authentic and strike a chord with the audience, so take the time to consider what it could be. It may be one clear and powerful one, it could be a range of ‘wants’ as in the Nest example above, it all depends on the product or service you are offering.

Here’s a statement to think about from a great business leader Nigel Botterill:

‘Sell what people want, not what they need’.

How to create a ‘want’

The first thing to think about is that us humans are sociable creatures who like to feel they are understood. So with that in mind make sure the ‘want’ you create is amplified for that purpose.

Make sure it feels natural and authentic. Once you’ve understood that we can then look at how we can create a ‘want’ and structure it into a viable marketing proposition.

Enter the ADIA structure

ADIA stands for Attention, Interest, Desire and Action. It’s a great way to build out your companies ‘want’ so that it funnels people down to take action.

Attention

Everyone is bombarded all day every day with messages, how will you ‘want’ breakthrough? It needs to be attention-grabbing. It could be an irresistible offer, it could relate to a current news story or could be fun and dead simple. Either way, write a few ideas down and try them out on trusted advisors.

Interest

Now you have their attention it’s time to pique their interest. What’s the benefit of this ‘want’ you are offering. Be clear and to the point, try and connect it into an element of their daily life which will resonate with them to keep them connected in.

Desire

Now you know they’re interested it’s time to take it up a notch. Explain how your want is unlike any other and be specific. Make sure it stands up and let them know that if they don’t find out more they will definitely be missing out.

Action

The important part, they’ve said YES mentally throughout, now it’s time to understand what action you want them to take. It could be filling in a form, or claim a free trial or book a call. Whatever it is make sure it’s super easy for them to do it.

So there we have it, a quick and practical explanation and steps to create a perfect ‘want’ for your customers.
Thank you for taking the time to read this article, we appreciate your time is precious. 

We hope it helps you to better understand your business’s service or product and the ways you can connect with audiences to enable the buying process.