As a marketing professional, my focus is typically on generating attention and driving traffic to websites and retail locations.  While traffic is great, nobody eats till you close the sale.   I was reminded of this when I read a great post by Liz Strauss in which she says:  Getting my attention doesn’t mean I’ll buy.

To win their thinking, emotional investment and participation in the process and ultimately earn the sale she argues you must tell customers how:

  • your product makes their life smarter, faster, more efficient  – (intellectual)
  • your product makes their life more fun, more entertaining, more meaningful – (emotional )
  • it seamlessly and easily integrates into my life – and you’ll win my (participation).

As I read her suggestions I realized the more things change, the more they remain the same.  Her comments could have been written thirty years ago…or one hundred and thirty. While how you do these things is new, the basic idea of taking care of your customers so they will take care of you is as old as the very first marketing activities.

So how do you accomplish these goals?  How do you tell your story in a way that is meaningful, and engaging to your prospects and clients?