There is no such thing as a boring product; only a boring marketing campaign.
When you are selling a product, the last thing that you want your marketing campaign to do is to be mediocre. Of course, the impact that you want to achieve is interest and excitement among your target consumers. What you do not want is apathy. If the ad is so bad, then it still will generate some sort of attention, even if it is negative. A campaign that is boring will only be a waste of time because it will not get noticed by consumers, create brand recognition, or increase sales. It will disappear without a trace.
Yet, some companies make the mistake of putting out a boring marketing campaign because, at least, it is safe from criticism. It should not be that way. A marketing campaign should be eye-catching and memorable, regardless of whether you are selling a sport’s car or a roll of toilet paper.
Here are ways how.
Know Thy Audience
At the end of the day, the most important step when developing a marketing campaign is to be well-acquainted with the customer. The brand and the marketer have to be aware of specifics such as values, priorities, interests, and hobbies. It is the only way for brands and marketers to craft a marketing campaign that catches the attention and influences positive emotions from consumers.
A marketing campaign, however, becomes boring when it carries universal messaging. For a more effective marketing campaign, brands and marketers should identify the types of audience segmentation in online marketing, especially for digital campaigns, in order to craft a tailored and engaging message that leads to brand recognition and increased sales.
Tell a Compelling Story
People respond to stories, especially about those around them. They want to laugh, they want to fall in love, they want to be curious, and they want to be inspired by real stories of real people. It increases engagement online. Your audience will like, comment, and share a compelling story you have told, further boosting visibility.
Take a PayPal campaign, for example. The financial platform ran a campaign inspired by Humans of New York where they introduced independent business owners. The campaign worked really well. The brand became a faceless entity to a friend to all entrepreneurs. It saw a 327 percent increase in engagement online and a 207 percent improvement in positive sentiment.
Recruit Who is Popular
There is a reason why many marketing campaigns feature famous faces. Consumers pay attention when they recognize and admire whoever is on billboards and screens. Even if there is nothing special in the campaign, the fact that a famous personality is on it makes it eye-catching and memorable.
Verizon has done this. Somehow, they made their fiber optics service more interesting by adding one of the most popular and recognizable directors in Hollywood: Michael Bay. The man behind the Transformers made an otherwise standard television ad “awesome.”
Celebrity endorsements make any ordinary marketing campaign extraordinary.
Offer Something to Teach
Maybe you do not have any budget to hire celebrities or your competitor is already using compelling stories to capture consumer attention. However, one thing that you can offer is expertise in your industry and your audience wants that.
1-800-GOT-JUNK is doing it. The junk removal company regularly posts blogs about home life, taking care of one’s home, and how life would be better with less clutter. It offers tips about decluttering and organization, interior design, and others. The goal may be to sell their service, but their audience follows their social media accounts for the very helpful information they dole out regularly. It not only boosts search engine optimization; it also creates a loyal following.
Defy Expectations
Consumers assume that a boring brand will be boring in its marketing campaign. How else can a company that publishes study guides for classic literature as well as a host of other subjects promote itself?
By being funny on Twitter, according to SparkNotes.
Its official social media account now has over 350,000 followers and its tweets regularly go viral because of their often hilarious takes on well-known and beloved titles such as Frankenstein, Pride and Prejudice, and The Great Gatsby. It is proof that, while the product may be construed as boring by some audiences, a great marketing campaign can make it memorable.
A product’s marketing campaign can drum out excitement among consumers, or turn them away from boredom. There is no boring product as long as the marketing campaign is eye-catching, memorable, and can positively influence purchasing decisions.
