It used to be that you could create a really visually appealing advertising vehicle and in the absence of other competitive noise, people would buy. Today that forum has gotten increasingly busy as the competitive noise from a wide range of media competes for eyeballs and air time. As a result, people are shutting out the noise of even the most visually attractive print, broadcast and electronic displays. They are quickly looking for more information to help establish your credibility as an expert. In the absence of that information coming from you or your company, they are going to turn to your competition and then to their network of friends to help them make an informed purchasing decision.
Your task is to serve as the educator. It’s not enough to tell them what you can/will do. You need to tell them how. How you do it. How it will benefit them. How they can buy. How they can measure. How you compare.
This trending response towards providing more information is driven partly by these emerging buying habits and partly by the search engines which crave content. The appropriate response? Feed the beast. Give them more information. Tell them what you know. Don’t be afraid to share what previously may have been viewed as intellectual capital but what today is recognized is content marketing. Establishing your position as an expert in your space is key to the continued success of your organization in an era where content is king.