If the word “sales” brings up the notion of door-to-door salespeople with samples of a product under their arm or a call center cold calling people at dinner time, you’re not alone. This was very much the reality for sales for many years, but that doesn’t mean this is still the reality.
Sure, there are still people going from door to door, and there are still plenty of outbound call centers trying to sell a product or service. That doesn’t mean this is either an effective tool or only method of making sales.
The Sales Game Has Changed
The rise of the internet has changed the game. Think of it this way: no one expects or wants a person at the door unless it’s an Amazon or food delivery. No one expects to pick up the phone and have an actual conversation, let alone a sales call. The way people interact with the world around them has fundamentally changed.
More often than not, people will get their news and consume their entertainment on their phones. They jump from app to app, and the attention span is shorter. If people are on public transport, they spend less time looking at billboards as the attention is focused on the screen of their mobile phone, often with headphones to block out noise from the surroundings. People who still watch linear TV seem like a dying breed.
How the Internet Has Broken Traditional Marketing
All this breaks traditional marketing approaches. The times of whiskey drinking marketing executives who come up with a killer tagline and visual imagery or illustrations, to be rolled out across substantial media buys of TV, radio, and out-of-home billboards are gone. Brands have noticed that the internet splintered media consumption across the many rather than the few.
This has also shifted the power balance to the consumers from the big brands. The last few years have seen many rags to riches stories from people selling out of their garage and also the downfall of age-old brands that a few years ago seemed too large to ever fail.
The Consumer Has All The Power
In the age of the internet, national borders seemed to have disappeared. Creating an ultimate free market system in which people are no longer limited in buying what’s in their physical presence, but rather what’s convenient for them to get. Even more so, with the border virtually gone, people have started to find different definitions of belonging, finding groups and niches based on interests, background, and experiences.
Collectively this has resulted in people realizing that they have significant purchasing power and have been wielding this power increasingly so.
What is Attraction Marketing
This is where attraction marketing comes in. Attraction marketing is an approach to marketing rather than a method. It takes into account that consumers have become more skeptical about brands, are willing to do more research, and are ready to switch between brands more easily. Add to that the increasing complexities of media consumption, the manner in which people do so in terms of screen size, experience, and bursts of attention at a time.
Attraction marketing embraces all that and essentially stands for the process of finding your audience, identifying what your connection to that audience is, and creating natural moments to create sales opportunities. It could be anything from a live chat on your website to quizzes – basically anything that secures and strengthens that connection.
Why Is Attraction Marketing An Important Part Of Your Overall Marketing Strategy?
In other words, attraction marketing is all about creating the right context in which the consumer comes to the conclusion they want your product without making a hard sell.
That might sound very much like any other marketing method, but the idea of attraction marketing that you go out of your way to not focus on the product. I.e., in traditional marketing, people would argue that the brand, the product shot, and a robust and unique selling point (USP) are the minimal requirements for any advertisement.
From an attraction marketing point of view, these would be nice-to-haves, but not mandatory. It’s more about the information or fun value of the content, the use of people in the advertisement that people relate to or admire, appropriateness of the advertisement for the platform being used, and using the product as a prop, rather than being the main focus.
- Consumers want to be seen as people and not as a number. See this article on the value of good customer service.
- It costs more to attract a new customer than getting existing customers to convert again. See this article on maximizing the value of existing customers.
- Focusing on building communities rather than shifting products wins in the long run. See this article on how brands build belonging.
This doesn’t mean you only need to do attraction marketing, but rather add it to your arsenal. You can still provide all the usual marketing ads for sales and products you want to push. The attraction marketing approach creates the right context that supports all your marketing activity.
How To Implement Attraction Marketing Correctly
You can get started by exploring the following steps:
- Find your audience
- Create content that fits with that audience
- Make it personal and authentic.
- Engage with your audience where they spend their time
Let’s say you are a DIY company. Traditionally you would engage in above the line marketing channels such as TV and radio, which are very linear. Each year you think this is helping sales, but you don’t feel you have control, and your customer base doesn’t seem to change. In fact, people seem to go to online competitors as time goes by.
- You could organize in-store classes and post online instructional videos
- As a matter of fact, you have someone on staff who is natural and is able to engage the audience
- You could organize live events via Facebook or even post engaging TikTok videos
- Alongside the children watching, engaging, and consuming the content, you will most likely capture their parents as well. It goes from a few people engaging in a fledgling community.
And although you might not have pushed a product aggressively forward in any of the content, most likely, the children and parents would prefer spending their money with your company and brand.
5 Areas of Attraction Marketing to Grow
Once you get started with attraction marketing, there are a few key areas you will need to keep investing in to make sure you get the most out of it.
Take Advantage of Email Marketing
Another way of engaging is by using automated email marketing as part of attraction marketing. It does not always have to be a sales email you send out to your base. It might as well be something you want to share, such as a piece of content you’re proud of or an important topic you feel strongly about.
On the contrary, if you only use your email marketing for sales, that’s how your audience will understand this to be. A sales email that will end up in the email bin. Seeing and using it as another means to engage your audience will avoid that mindset.
Get to Know Your Audience and Stay Close
As your audience is pivotal to effective attraction marketing, it’s important to stay as close as possible. It’s not a one-off process, and you will have to keep up with any shifts in interests and topics, as well as media consumption.
Take Facebook as an example, which a few years ago was “the thing” that defined social media. Nowadays, arguably, Facebook is seen in a different light, and its user base is considered an “older” demographic.
Work on Your Content
Content is king; always has been, always will. Your audience will want content that is “fresh,” original, and authentic. If anything, content is the area you should be willing to invest time, energy, and money.
Also, consider the format in which content is presented. There has been a considerate shift to short-form content such as video content (coinciding with the shorter bursts of attention) as successful forms of marketing.
When the content is engaging and appropriate for the platform on which it sits, the more attention you will get, leading to more leads and sales. For example, video marketing has been booming for a while, and for a good reason. People love watching videos and it translates to higher conversion rates without a doubt.
Work on Your Brand
People like to buy from people, not anonymous brands. It’s important to have people representing your brand. This might be less a spokesperson but more in the area of brand advocates. Make sure you link up with the right people that represent your audience.
This is why influencer marketing will remain an exciting avenue to explore. Next to having people representing or advocating your brand, it’s also important to make sure your brand stands for something. Consumers are increasingly demanding brands to take a stand on societal issues and events.
Brands that remain silent are seen as less personable. This does come with the danger of alienating some, but brands should be willing to lean into their audience completely. There is no such thing as half in and half out. The better the fit between the brand and the audience, the better affection marketing will generate leads and sales, helping your brand stand out in the best way possible.
Step Up Your Social Media Presence
Bringing your brand to life and making it personable also means stepping up your media presence. Your audience will want to hear from you. Being active on social media helps your audience connect with you. Adopting a social media scheduling software is a good first step in the right direction if you’re trying to step up your social media game.
You will be able to get a more significant impact on the content you produce. It also gives your audience a way to engage in a conversation—all these checks all the boxes to create more leads and sales.
Get your audience to want to open your emails because the content is valuable and create another digital touchpoint that makes your brand feel close to them.
Author’s Bio:
Darya Jandossova Troncoso is a photographer, artist, and writer working on her first novel and managing a digital marketing blog – MarketSplash. In her spare time, she enjoys spending time with her family, cooking, creating art, and learning everything there is to know about digital marketing.
