The Usual Dilemma For A Marketer
The Usual Dilemma For A MarketerMmmm. See that picture underneath this post. Not the one of the nice legs, but the one under this post of the baby girl taking a step or 2 with her dad holding on, a picture of concentration.
I put that image there because in the blog post I was talking about "The First Steps To A Better Web Site".
Made sense at the time.
Anyway, as a marketer, it was the wrong photo to use. Completely wrong.
Here's The Photo I Should Have Used
Here's the photo I should have used.And the reason I should have used this photo is simple.
More people read this post because their attention is increased by the photo of the nice legs.
As wrong as you might think that is, it's true.
You see, nice legs creates interest. Interest creates awareness. Awareness creates consideration.
And I guess you can try and do what you think is the right thing - like use the little girl as the photo - but as a writer trying to get you to read my stuff, that's not the right thing.
As wrong as you or I think it is, it's the wrong thing if the motivation is to get people to read this stuff.
The Same Goes For Your Marketing
The exact same thing holds true for your marketing.
You have to catch your audience's interest. And in a very cluttered marketplace that can be hard to do.
Sex Sells
I was watching television on Sunday night with my daughter when she flicked across Eurovision. The international song competition had, from memory, 26 singers/bands competing.
It was a pretty common thing for the female singers to strip down to barely anything as they sang. One singer even got down to a skimpy bra and almost-not-there knickers.
It wasn't about the song. Well, maybe just a little.
The reason the female singers do it?
Because sex sells. A gorgeous woman barely dressed gets attention. She catches interest. The act is designed to get as many votes as possible. So they do what works.
Of course we'd all like our products or services or writing or singing to be judged on its merits. But it usually doesn't work like that. That's not great, but that's how it is.
Keep that in mind for your next marketing campaign.
Regards
Brendon
[ comments ]
"As wrong as you or I think it is, it's the wrong thing if the motivation is to get people to read this stuff."
If I read that correctly, you're saying that even if I think something is wrong, I should still go ahead and do it if it will help me succeed. Right and wrong do not fluctuate based on the size of the reward. (i.e. I don't think it's right to use this photo, but because it will help me sell gobs of products, I'll go ahead and do it - even though it's wrong.)
It's this kind of thinking and outlook that gives marketers a bad name.
I don't see a dilema I see a sellout (not you personally, I'm referring to this way of thinking).
Just my 2 cents.
It's a difficult one and one with which we struggle all the time.
The fact is, if you use good looking people in your marketing you'll generally sell more. Every bit of statistical data any way you look at it tells you that.
The issue of "The ends justifies the means" doens't really cut it either - but I guess it comes down to the motivation.
If you use a terrifically obese person in place of an attractive person you're sales will go down.
As nice it would be to be the one to use 'real' people in the photos it's at the increased risk f failure.
And exposing your business to that is even more stupid than people's preconceived notions.
I agree with you. But I don't see a sellout when marketers do it (and we all do) - I see the simple use of what is best for the business.
Probably another example is web design - an attractive web design sells more (it increases credibility).
Sure, we should judge web sites by the content they contain, but it simply doesn't work like that.
It's a really interesting issue. Thanks for your input.
Brendon
"I see a sellout"
That IS the dilemma - do what works best or do what you believe is right?
The given example wouldnt be much of a dilemma to me, but if the sexual images were racier (like eurovision for example), then i might have to think twice about how suitable those images are given my likely audience demographic.
The problem that the eurovision entrants face is that their marketing message (i.e. i'm sexy, vote for me) becomes homogenised because everyone is doing the same thing. I guess this applies across the board. It's no real surprise that a bunch of guys in monster costumes won in the end as the differentiated themselves, despite their song being absolutely awful!
The effect of using sex to sell your products when your potential audience comprises lots of younger children is a whole other debate in itself. Iguess the effect is compounded when every competing entrant (or company) is using sex to sell.