By Noel Peebles

1. Consumers Are Individual Customers

The idea of mass marketing to consumers is outdated. Consumers are individuals and deserve to be called customers. The days are gone when marketers can think of consumers as a mass audience to "push" advertising out to. In fact, wise marketers will remove the word "consumers" from their vocabulary altogether.

Think about it. You can't have a relationship with a consumer; you can with a customer. Customers are individuals.

The fact is that these day's customers are more demanding than ever. They expect more from you. They deserve your respect and expect to be treated like equals. The old fashioned general store knew how to look after their customers. The trick for the modern marketer is to take those old "values" and use the new technology to build a relationship that treats each customer as an individual.

2. Be First In The Mind Or The Marketplace?

It is better to be first in the prospects mind than to be first in the market place. Once somebody else gets into your prospects mind you can't take away their position with money alone. We're all quick to pass judgement and it's difficult to change a mind once a mind is made up. You have to blast your way into the mind because people don't like to change their minds.

Once they perceive you one way, that's it. They put you into a category and file you away in their minds as a certain type of person or business. The only way to change that perception is to become a different kind of person or business in someone else's mind so that the majority overwhelms the minority. You haven't changed their mind, somebody else has.

Marketing is not a battle of products, it's a battle of perceptions. It does not matter if you have the best product or service; it's what people think that counts.

3. Think Of Your Product As A Service

These days there's no shortage of "me too" products and short lived technological advantages. It can be difficult to find a point of difference for your product to own in your customers mind.

So, here's a thought. When thinking about competitive differentiations for your product don't consider only the physical aspects of your product. Instead think of your product as a service. What is the service it provides? What are the "experiences" it offers to a customer? The answers to these questions will be more fruitful in developing your marketing strategy than just focusing on the physical aspects.

Credit: © Noel Peebles, Market Leaders Limited.
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