“Today’s buyers and sellers rely on digital technology to find and create the information, resources and assistance they need. Companies who humanize their marketing by using my Create for the Human™ philosophy and its four principles to engage consumers will be much more successful. I’m excited to share these with you so you can up your game, market to your clients and customers where and how they want you to, do better business with them, and make more money by serving them and helping them achieve their individual objectives with their purchases.”
—John Lim, Founder & CEO of linknexus™, and creator of the Create For the Human™ philosophy
THE CREATE FOR THE HUMAN™ FOUR KEY PRINCIPLES
The mobile device is your 6th sense.
The mobile device is the first Human sense that we were not born with. Like our other five senses, we learn how to use each sense to live our lives. These senses keep us safe, allow us to enjoy our experiences and give us the ability to explore. Marketers have been using these senses to get consumers to buy their products since the dawn of time. Companies such as Cinnabon, that leverage consumers’ sense of smell so you smell their product before you even see it, and department stores like Bloomingdales that offer cosmetics, perfumes, colognes and skin care products, leveraging consumers’ senses of sight, smell and touch, invoke the human experience to increase their sales.
How many times have you asked—or wanted to ask—the person sitting across the table from you to please put down their cell phone? Gaining someone’s complete attention in the 21st century is increasingly difficult with the prevalence and mobility of technology. In fact, as of 2016, Americans spend 10 hours and 39 minutes each day consuming media (Nielsen Company). That’s a lot of time in front of a smartphone, tablet, computer or television (and often, more than one at a time). It’s also a lot of time your message and your brand have to compete with all the other messages and screens out there.
Whether it is doing research such as WebMD for medical situations or other sites for other topics or keeping in touch with family and friends through social networks from Facebook to Snapchat to Instagram and others, everything a consumer wants and needs is available to them immediately through their mobile device. They use it as a sixth sense so they can live their lives more effectively without thinking about how they are doing it. It is their natural response and action.
The I need it now society.
Google created the “I want it now society” and the mobile device elevated that to the “I need it now society.” To successfully market to a consumer who owns this device, you must understand that they have no time. Leveraging this impulse is paramount to your ability to effectively capture and keep the attention of the person you are trying to attract.
In order to capitalize on the “I need it now society”, you have to build a relationship with the consumer by frequently marketing to them enough times in advance so in the moment when they need it now, they turn to you and your company. It takes seven impressions in order for a consumer to remember a brand. This is an advertising statistic that has been echoed for years. Consumers in their rush to fulfill their needs turn to the brands they know, like and trust that they know they can rely on which are the ones that have built a relationship with them.
Just because you can doesn’t mean you should.
With the World Wide Web of data, marketers have been seduced by the notion that having all this data gives them a greater chance for success. Just because you can use and mine big data to learn about your consumers such as what they eat, what activities they do, and who they do them with doesn’t mean you want to convey to them that you are monitoring their behavior constantly. Consumers want to feel that brands know and understand them while also respecting their privacy. It is a delicate balance we must strike as marketers. We need to engage with the consumer without making them feel uncomfortable since so much of their information is available to us. Keep your messaging at a level that doesn’t make your target consumers feel like you are trolling their every move and their posts on social networks.
In the marketing world, we are consumed by data. First party, second party, third party, big data, new data. It is the new addiction for marketers and has been for a while. Now combine this data with the data and accessibility the mobile device provides. It is like taking an alcoholic to the bar and never letting them leave. When creating for the Human, take the data and device out of the equation.
In fitness tech, Under Armour figured this out by understanding that the more active someone is, the more likely they are to purchase athletic apparel and footwear. They developed a biometric tracking shirt, Armour39, and an associated app called UA Record. Instead of continuing to focus on technology, Under Armour determined it was better off focusing on its core competency of making shirts and shoes. Their entrée into the communities they wanted to reach then came from their partnerships and eventual acquisitions of three existing apps that had already built relationships with the consumers they wanted to reach. Just because they could build their own app didn’t mean that they should. Their Connected Fitness platform, consisting of MapMyFitness, MyFitnessPal, Endomondo and UA Record, shows them the millions of new unique users every month as well as how many million workouts were completed. Interacting with their consumers and continuing to develop their communities strategically are better investments in activities that help them increase revenues by supporting and integrating with their target customers’ lives.
Leverage the Platinum Rule.
“Treat others the way they want to be treated.” – Dr. Tony Alessandra.
Most of the modern world grew up on the Golden Rule that states: “Treat others the way you want to be treated.” Humans are innately selfish and marketers are human. We want the consumer to click on this ad, like me on this social network or enter in your information with this special form. “Market to consumers the way they want to be marketed to.”
In order to create for the Human, you must not discriminate or force them into your brand your way. It is about them now – what do they want and where do they want to receive it, explore it, buy it or use it. It is a higher level of service which leads to a higher level of relationship and, ultimately, higher levels of engagement. By simply changing this paradigm and approach, you will begin creating campaigns for the Human behind the device.
A great example of leveraging the Platinum Rule is Taco Bell’s Taco Snapchat filter. In 2016, Snapchat let its over 100 million users celebrate Cinco de Mayo in a special way: by becoming a taco. This engagement by Taco Bell shattered Snapchat records with the number of views and engagement its Cinco de Mayo filter received. More than 224 million people interacted with and looked at Taco Bell’s snap filter. You can attribute this success to the fact that Taco Bell and Snapchat partnered to communicate to the consumer in a way that the consumer communicates.