Love vs. Lust: 

Long-Term Marketing Success Trumps the One-Night Brand

By Aimee Woodall

 

 

Oh the thrill of the chase!  When you meet someone new it’s all snap, crackle, and pop.  You’re getting to know each other and it’s EXCITING.  Then things start becoming complacent.  You know your brand has your audience’s attention; so now what?  You need something different; something new.  So you start focusing on grabbing a new audience’s attention and ignore the ones you already have.  Welcome to the life of the one-night brand1

 

Not content to create a lasting relationship with customers, the one-night brand goes after every hot young thing that saunters onto its Twitter feed.  It’s all about flash and dazzle and romancing new conquests.  Like the local bar lothario, the one-night brand fails to invest in its audience, going instead for shiny new customers and ignoring those who are tried and true.  Don’t be like that.  Set your sites on the long term.  Look for a more meaningful relationship with your audience.

  

Here are some sure-fire ways to keep things interesting and make a real connection:

 

Define Your Ideal Match

Is your perfect customer an avid Twitter user?  Or are they more of the strong, silent type, content to just like or follow without describing exactly how their day was in 140 characters?  More importantly, do they share your values; your sense of humor?  Like filling out a Match.com profile, you need to know what you’re looking for before you start to woo.  Look to your customer data and see what trends emerge.  It’s very likely that you’ll be surprised by what kind of people you really connect with.

 

Plan the Perfect “Date”

Once you know who you’re looking for, it’s time to be strategic.  You want to reach your audience in the right ways; planning experiences and interactions that are real, delightful, and engaging.  Don’t just grab some grocery store roses and think you’re sweeping them off their feet; create a plan of action to reach your audiences in the ways they want to be communicated with.  A strategy that contains research about your audience, your core messaging, plans for outreach (online and off), and tactics for executing those plans is essential for making sure your brand is thinking through all the ways you can make your customers feel special.

 

Make a Commitment

With your perfect match in mind and your strategy in place, it’s time to focus on what a lot of brands get wrong - consistency.  It’s wonderful to have a creative, groundbreaking campaign that goes off without a hitch but it’s better to have a creative, groundbreaking campaign that goes off without a hitch AND continues to engage with audiences even after the launch.  Don’t take your audiences to dinner and then never text them again.  That’s just rude.  Make plans to keep your brand relevant to your customers three or six months AFTER your campaign launches.

 

Sometimes It’s Good to Spice Things Up

Finally, it’s important to keep the romance alive.  Include some surprises and little incentives for your audiences such as contests, unique content, or personal outreach.  You’ll be amazed at how much a personal tweet or a small token/gift from a favorite brand can delight a person.

 

In marketing, love and lust are just as confusing as they are in the dating world. Focusing on these areas of your brand will keep the home fires burning in your customers’ hearts.

 

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Aimee Woodall is the owner of the Black Sheep Agency, a Houston-based strategic branding agency specializing in cause-driven marketing, public relations, social media, and community outreach.  You can contact Amy by phone at 832-971-7725, by email at aimee@theblacksheepagency.com, or visit the website at www.theblacksheepagency.com.