Getting your message out to the public can be the toughest job when selling your products or services. It can be especially hard when you have a lot of competitors. If everyone is trying to get the same group of customers you will need to find a way to stand out in the crowd.
When I watch television commercials I like to critique the ads. "Just another screaming car salesman!" I'll say, or "Is that supposed to make me want to buy that?" if the spot is boring. Coming from a sales and marketing background, I want to know what is effective and can motivate a potential client into taking action, like picking up the phone for more information.
People won't always remember what you say, but they will remember how you made them feel when you said it. That is why many companies have spokespeople or mascots and infuse humor in their marketing.
Old school life insurance agents will tell you that you have to sell on the emotions of the client. They love to paint the depressing picture of a family who may have just lost a loved one too soon. And many companies still do this. It's neither original nor interesting because we all know by now what the consequences of not having enough insurance are.
This is why you need to set yourself apart from the crowd. One of the best examples of this is the Aflac. If you don't remember (and many people don't) Aflac used to run TV commercials that were sappy and horrible, in my opinion. They would feature a parent, who apparently was widowed, with their child in some setting like a park or the beach. The newly single parent would say something like, "Did I mention he (the child) has his mother's eyes?"
In the late 1990's someone at Aflac decided that if everyone else in the industry was going to zig, they should zag. The next thing you know, their new mascot, a duck of all things, stole the show by "quacking" the company's name over and over. Insurance marketing hasn't been the same since then.
Humor had found a place in marketing. And a good spokesperson, mascot or personality is intricate to part of the deal. Progressive has Flo, and that campaign has spawned an entire set of other personalities who have their own solo commercials.
The Geico gecko of course is another example of a successful "voice" for car insurance. And of course, Jake from State Farm does his part. (If you haven't noticed, there are a lot of car insurance commercials in a highly competitive market. That's a sign that it's a very profitable industry.)
Lest we forget, Toyota has Jan, the perky lady who helps people buy cars, and AT&T has brought back Lily, the cute cellphone salesperson.
Those of us who are small business owners can do the same thing on a smaller scale. For instance, just putting a professional headshot on your business card lets' people put a face with the name. People like to know who they are dealing with and this is why you see realtors with their faces on their marketing pieces, including wraps on their vehicles.
Recently I was taking silly pictures of me and our family cat, Spoon. I call him "Spoonie G" in reference to the old school rapper (who never gets enough respect). Playing around with a graphic design website, I turned the cat into a mascot for my insurance agency. I shared the pictures with a few friends as a joke, and they all said that "Spoonie G, the Insurance Cat" should go viral. Who knew?
Taking a page from the bigger guys, I may keep playing the Spoonie G card on social media until he wears out his welcome. Or he may just become a major influencer.
Chris Castanes is a professional speaker who helps sales people succeed through workshops and humorous presentations. He's also the author of "You're Going To Be Great At This!", a humorous look at sales. For booking information, click here. He's also the president of Surf Financial Brokers selling life and disability insurance in several states.
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